A wire transfer is the electronic transfer of money from one place to another. In a bank to bank transfer electronic balances are adjusted but to actual hard cash is exchanged. This is a very safe and secure method of transferring funds as you need to verify your personal information in order to complete a wire transfer.
Banks use wire transfers to exchange money between a savings and checking account. Credit card companies can use it when you make a balance transfer from your card to a bank account. Wire transfers are also used every time you use your debit card at a retailer. Funds are transferred from your account to the merchant’s account. This type of wire transfer is usually free, but other types require a fee to process. The fee can either be percentage based or a standard rate may apply depending on the bank’s wire transfer policy.
Western Union offers an anonymous wire transfer service. Western Union has stores throughout the world and it may be convenient to send funds to a particular location. Since wire transfers are done electronically this form of sending funds is extremely fast.
Wire transfers can sometimes be used for fraud if the seller of a good provides false information on the receiving end of the wire transfer. The seller can then collect the money and disappear without ever sending whatever goods you purchased.
To avoid this you should always make bank to bank wire transfers when needed to purchase an item. Bank wire transfers are the most secure types of wire transfers. Wire transfers also have the added benefit that they don’t waste paper, so it’s a very green form of banking. If you have an internet bank account than you’re really banking green. You can also use wire transfers to setup automatic bill payments. If you’d like to set this up you should contact your bank for more information.