I'm looking for a reliable way to send money to the Philippines. Western Union costs to much and to many hassles for the recipient. Any ideas?
If you want to send via paypal I suggest you try Union Bank's EON cyber account. You'll get a visa debit card where you can withdraw your paypal funds.
Money Gram is like Western Union but it's only $10 to send up to $500 and the exchange rate isn't that bad. The money is available for pickup in just minutes. Just get down to your local walmart plunk down your money and in just a few minutes, the money is available for pickup in the Philippines. Paypal works, but when someone needs to withdraw it, they have to pay $5 and wait anywhere from 4 to 35 days to get it. During that time, no one knows anything. Then there is the account setup......spend more than a week getting the bank account set up. Xoom is good, but it's only cheap when you are sending it using your checking account with adds several days to the time it takes to get it. If you send using paypal or credit card, the price is more expensive than Money Gram. You mention that Western Union is too many hassles. Xoom offers direct deposit into a bank account, but the easiest way of all is if you have an LBC office near you. They offer two over the counter money transfer options. 1st, you can deposit money directly into any bank account in the Philippines for $12 and the amount can be any amount you want it to be. All you need to know is the bank account number, bank name, bank account name and branch. 2nd, the second option they have is ATM Bilis. You go in and apply for an ATM Bilis card for the person. 5 days later the person receives there ATM card and you can send any amount of money they want for just $10. It instantly appears and they can withdraw it immediately.
Send money as Pick Up via XOOM.Your recipient will get the money within few hours after XOOM shows payment authorization messege.