Hello Misterben,
I saw your previous questions and noticed that various cautions have
been expressed by various of the commenters. In this question, you
make clear that you are sending money to a friend – which is very
commendable. There simply are so many scams seemingly originating in
Nigeria these days that an abundance of caution is always well advised
when dealing with inquiries as this.
In any case, I am glad to respond to your question:
TO USE A BANK FOR THE WHOLE TRANSACTION:
Step 1: You have to turn your plastic into cash, which is to say you
have to draw money from your Visa Card Account. There are generally
three ways to do this: (1) through an Automated Teller Machine (ATM)
assuming that the capability exists on your card; (2) by using a
pre-prepared check that Visa may have provided you with for such
purposes; or (3) the fool-proof way of actually going into the bank
(any bank will usually work) and requesting a cash advance on that
Visa card.
Please know that cash advances are very expensive. Interest begins to
accrue on cash advances immediately – there is no grace period.
Secondly, most (but not all) issuing banks charge a higher interest
rate on cash advances than they do on outstanding charges – some by as
much as 5% or 6% more. Lastly, the bank will probably charge a “cash
fee” of up to 4% or 5% of the proceeds. Again, this is a very
expensive proposition.
Step 2: Arrange for the actual transfer of funds to Nigeria. As for
the bank services, you can inquire about this at your bank, or any
bank that is of sufficient size to be able to initiate such
transactions. For this purpose, the larger the bank, the better –
smaller banks will just have to use one of their larger correspondent
banks and you will have to pay higher fees for the privilege. Any of
the large national banks can initiate these transactions.
USE WESTERN UNION FOR THE WHOLE TRANSACTION
Western Union is a reliable and relatively inexpensive way to send
money, either domestically, or internationally. Their fees for $1000
from New York to Nigeria, for example, would approximate $60.
http://www.westernunion.com/homePage.asp
This fee DOES NOT include the VISA cash advance fee. You will have to
ask Western Union about that fee. I would suggest that you call them
at 1-800-325-6000, anytime day or night.
Western Union will take a credit card and charge the cash advance
directly to it. The same cautions apply here as stated above in the
bank section concerning interest rates and other charges on cash
advances.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE in sending money in a hurry through a reliable
and safe system is that Western Union is readily accessible – they
have locations in almost every K-Mart or Wal-Mart, and they have
plenty of agents in the foreign locations as well.
Be prepared to offer identification and lots of it, particularly for
foreign transactions. The officials have become very careful after
9/11.
I hope this answers your question satisfactorily. Please ask for
CLARIFICATION if you have any further questions. If you do ask for
clarification, please tell me what city you are in, what city your
friend is in, and how much money you are thinking about sending.
Good luck,
Weisstho-ga
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