Most adults now hold several bank accounts. A student account opened at nineteen still carries a balance. A second account arrived with the first payroll deposit. A joint account serves household expenses. A fourth locked a twelve month certificate at 4.75 percent. At some point the owner needs to move dollars from one of those accounts to another.
Physical cash, paper checks, bank drafts along with wire transfers all require the recipient’s routing number and account number. Each method attaches a fee schedule. Domestic ACH transfers cost nothing at most banks. Same-day wires cost fifteen to thirty dollars. International wires cost thirty five to fifty dollars and a margin on the exchange rate. Cash withdrawals cost nothing at the owner’s bank but expose the carrier to loss or theft.
A teller executes an ACH transfer at no charge. The customer supplies two account numbers and the dollar amount. The debit posts to the source account the same business day. The credit posts to the destination account within one to three business days. Online banking portals replicate the teller process without a signature card.
International wires demand more detail. The sender supplies the beneficiary’s full street address, the receiving bank’s SWIFT code, and the IBAN. A wire in U.S. dollars costs forty five dollars at the four largest retail banks. A wire in foreign currency costs thirty five dollars. Exchange-rate margins range from two to four percent above the interbank rate.
Zelle operates inside the websites and mobile applications of more than one thousand U.S. banks. Enrollment links a mobile telephone number and an email address to a checking account. The sender enters the recipient’s telephone number or email address. The network routes the payment through the ACH rails. Settlement completes within minutes. Zelle charges no fee. A minority of banks impose a one dollar outbound fee.
PayPal, Venmo, Cash App in addition to Apple Cash move balances between personal accounts at no cost when the sender funds the transfer from a linked bank account or an existing PayPal balance. Instant transfers to an external debit card cost one percent of the principal, capped at ten dollars. PayPal charges 2.9 percent and thirty cents when the sender uses a credit card.
Western Union but also MoneyGram maintain storefronts, grocery kiosks next to online portals. A two-hundred-dollar transfer within the United States costs twelve dollars for same minute pickup and eight dollars for next day pickup. A two-hundred-dollar transfer to the United Kingdom costs twenty two dollars at an agent location and fifteen dollars online. Exchange-rate margins add another three to six percent.
Wise lists the real time mid-market exchange rate and charges a flat fee. A one-thousand-dollar transfer from the United States to the Philippines costs 6.93 dollars and converts at the mid market rate. Revolut offers the interbank rate up to a monthly ceiling – adds a 0.5 percent margin. Payoneer issues receiving accounts in USD, EUR, GBP, JPY – charges a 0.5 percent conversion fee.
Cash remains the simplest zero fee method. The owner withdraws the exact amount at a branch or an in network ATM. The recipient deposits the same bills at another branch. The deposit posts the same day. The risk of loss or theft accompanies every cash movement.
Bitcoin, Ether along with Litecoin move on public blockchains. The sender transmits the coins from a software wallet to the recipient’s alphanumeric address. Network fees fluctuate with congestion. A median Bitcoin transaction costs one dollar. A median Ethereum transaction costs four dollars. Regulatory restrictions block or penalize crypto transfers in China, Morocco in addition to Bolivia.
A personal check costs nothing when the account offers free check stock. The payee deposits the check through a mobile application or at a branch. Funds become available the next business day. A cashier’s check costs five to ten dollars and guarantees settlement. International checks clear slowly. Banks in Germany, Japan next to Mexico often refuse foreign checks denominated in U.S. dollars.
Money orders cost three to nine dollars at post office branches and ten dollars at commercial banks. The maximum face value is one thousand dollars. Bank drafts cost ten to fifteen dollars and carry no upper limit. Both instruments settle through the same clearing networks that process checks.
Email money transfers dominate consumer-to-consumer payments in Canada. Interac charges the sender 1.50 CAD. The recipient receives an email with a security question. Correct entry of the answer releases the funds. Settlement completes within thirty minutes.
Brokerage houses transfer securities through the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service. The customer completes a transfer form listing the delivering firm, the receiving firm, the ticker symbols. The process takes three to six business days. ACATS prohibits partial transfers of mutual fund positions.
ACH transfers clear in batches through the Federal Reserve. Wire transfers clear individually through Fedwire or SWIFT. ACH suits payroll, utility bills along with routine transfers. Wire transfers suit real estate closings, vehicle purchases in addition to emergency funding.