On all my bank accounts, I have options on the web to add external accounts, but they have to be accounts that I own. Typically, the bank sends some trial deposits and I confirm the amounts to verify that I own the account. Then, I can initiate ACH transactions.

Please provide more detailed information on how you are able to do an ACH to a 3rd party with your bank, and which bank it is.

You can use RME with the Abundant Living System providing the inviter accepts RME. I love RME despite the 2500 monthly limit. It’s not a bad thing to actually have a limit in place, as I have heard horror stories from those who had been fxxked from using paypal and how some people had thousands of dollars stolen from paypal via false complaints from buyers on sites like ebay and such.

If you do this, please cover the money with a covering letter or two, so you cannot see the money through thin envelopes. Also no coins.

That being said, I also have my own accounts to which she is not a party.

I’ve also been in the Money Transfer pinch, though. I opened a Wells Fargo account for the same reason (i.e. my mum could deposit money, which I could then take out) for when I was in Europe. I was explicit about all of this signing up for the account. Lo and behold, I get to Europe, and can’t get any money out. It wasn’t just my account, either – my parents called and the entire Wells Fargo system wasn’t working in Europe. Needless to say I don’t have an account with them anymore.

And boy, those money transfer fees were insane.

Usually banks have a limit on how much money can be moved around from an account over a single day so check this ahead of time before jumping straight in. Also, each bank and banking packages have their own fees and restrictions, so best to check ahead of time, but certainly an option.

Electronic Funds Transfer, just to define it further can be defined between the low value and high value clearing system. Most of us use the low value (ACH) clearing system for our bill pay and companies use it for such things as direct deposit of pay checks.

The high value clearing system, i.e. wire payments provide instant clearing between bank accounts and is usually the easiest way for any cross border transactions. Costs can be all across the board. For individuals they can charge you anywhere between 25 and 50 dollars to send and another 10-25 dollars to receive. Companies have more leverage. One of my companies I had negotiated an 8 dollar wire fee.

I also have a paypal account with a debit card, which helps especially if you are traveling internationally, as paypal charges less than US$1 for currency conversions!

Paypal works well, but your recipient needs to have a Paypal account. If you want cash quick, they’ll need a Paypal debit card.

The other way we’ve done it is to drive to our nearest branch of the recipient’s bank. Armed with only their name and account number … and a guess at their age in case of two similar names … if I deposit cash they can access it with a debit card or at their bank in literally seconds.

I’ve done this with Commerce bank, PNC Bank, and Wachovia.

Nobody else has experienced this? It’s even stated clearly on their website.

I finally went to a grocery store and it went smoothly.

Western Union is a disaster in my opinion.

In that case, it would seem that Western Union or Moneygram (available at WalMart and some other places) would be the only option, but perhaps other banks work differently.

I sometimes have to offer two forms of ID at my own bank to access my own account. This has puzzled me for a long time. They have my info on file, including a signature card, why then do they put me through the wringer to access my account? And yes, I’m with one of the big banks, but when I first opened my account back in junior high school they were a tiny little local bank.

I also love the feature where Chase will send out the checks for you. I think this is an awesome way to save time and money because you don’t have to worry about the stamps and you don’t have to order any checks!