Sending money internationally

The nephew will be spending the upcoming fall semester in Berlin. I'd like to send him a little spending money every month. What's the best way to accomplish this while minimizing exchange costs? Maybe a prepaid card that I can reload and he can see the balance online?

Bitcoin.

No, really.

RobB said:
Bitcoin.


No, really.

Really? I'm game. How would that work?

kthnry said:
The nephew will be spending the upcoming fall semester in Berlin. I'd like to send him a little spending money every month. What's the best way to accomplish this while minimizing exchange costs? Maybe a prepaid card that I can reload and he can see the balance online?

Simply transfer to his account in the US. Then he can draw in Europe, using his ATM card.

Coinbase is probably the easiest and most reliable. Fees will run you around 2% total. Though for 3% you can use a BoA ATM card at Deutsche Bank.

if he has a US-based bank account with a debit card, i recommend making a monthly deposit that he can access from a european atm. Just make sure he's aware that his debit card PIN should be 4 digits for a european atm.

If you pay your bills on-line through your bank, you may be able to set him up as one of your payees. Then the deposit would go right into his account.

I haven't actually done this. But once when I wired money to a relative via Western Union, I did a headslap after a big hassle with WU, realizing I probably could have done it this way.

No idea if the deposit would be available to him in euros, or if there are fees involved in making the exchange. My bank accounts are also set up so that I don't have pay a fee for on-line banking.

Let us know how he likes Berlin!

Prepaid cards are a ripoff. Do not use one. The advice that shestheone gives seems best to me. My (adult) daughters and I all have Bank of America checking accounts, and we set things up so we can do direct transfers between each other instantly. Even if you and your nephew don't use the same bank, some banks let you do electronic transfers without a fee, though it probably won't be instant.

Failing either of those, you can walk up to a teller and make a deposit into his account.