#wiretransfer — Public Fediverse posts

@scruss

Yup! Trying to do any sort of transaction directly with another party was a nightmare in Canada/USA. Europeans just say "Well, just enter your IBAN, what's difficult?"

Institution number? Routing number? Account number? Everything's the wrong number of digits, which of these need to be padded? What do you mean I have to put my bank, then some other bank I've never heard of, and then finally J.P. Morgan in NYC onto this wire transfer form? etc etc

#IBAN #WireTransfer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Catholic Diocese of Columbus is warning parishioners about fake accounts impersonating Bishop Earl Fernandes on social media.

An article on "The Catholic Times" website described some of the alarming activity associated with the phony profiles including requesting funds from online followers.

“We were made aware of several social media accounts that were impersonating him, asking people directly for money, or to do personal favors, directly through messages,” Andrew Zuk, the associate director for the Office of Communications said in the notice.

According to Zuk, the accounts might seem legitimate with “general, positive Christian messages" being posted and similar direct messages sent to users. The connection often begins with a “friend request.”

“They will hook people in by sending a general, positive message, and then, after that, saying, ‘I need money now, personally; here’s this link to gift cards. Could you send me a wire transfer?’" said Zuk.

"Typically, it’s in the thousands-of-dollars range, and it’s a message of urgency, which is typical among fraudulent accounts. They’ll make a sense of urgency – a false sense of urgency – to whomever they’re trying to scam so that person acts quickly and doesn’t have enough time to think about it.”

The apparent victims of the scammers are said to be "older adults or retirees" who are sometimes perceived to have "less technology experience."

Red flags for imposter accounts include incorrect spelling and poor grammar.

“I want to emphasize that fraudulent accounts that are impersonating somebody like Bishop Fernandes will typically pressure somebody to take action, whether it’s giving personal information, asking for money or meeting in person,” he said.

“We’ve reported it," said Zuk. "We’ve asked anybody who sees these accounts to report them and to not click any links that they might have.”

Anyone who identifies a fake account should report it using Facebook's tools. Individuals are also requested to "contact the Diocese of Columbus in the event of receiving an odd request online from an individual who appears to be a diocesan employee."

Bishop Fernandes’ official accounts online are Facebook.com/Bishop.Earl.Fernandes and Instagram.com/BishopEarlKFernandes.

The “Columbus Catholic” official Diocese of Columbus social media accounts are Facebook.com/cbuscatholic and Instagram.com/columbuscatholics. Information about other profiles can be verified on these accounts.

Freelance life can involve some uncertainty about when a client will pay out an invoice, but the wait after that funds transfer commences should be minimal–unless the client sits on the other side of an ocean, in which case I’ve lately found myself thinking that it might be faster for the other company to hand an envelope full of cash to a courier.

I wish I knew why this were so. But while credit and ATM cards work overseas as if I were in a 51st state of America, international interbank transfers via the SWIFT network have become snakebit for me.

As far as I can figure out (which is very little), the problem may be rooted in my keeping a business banking account at a small, local institution that does not have its own alphanumeric SWIFT code. After many years of the occasional international wire landing in my account without incident (don’t ask me how), I had a couple of clients insist on a SWIFT transfer.

Not wanting to dump the bank that I’ve relied on since 2011, I first took advantage of a lucrative sign-up offer for a no-fee account at an online-only business bank called Brex. But after three successful SWIFT transfers, I not only had two subsequent attempts fail but learned afterwards that the bank had somehow charged the client €20 each time for this opposite of service. (The client was not amused.) And then Brex closed my mostly-dormant account as part of a decision to focus on startups at “some level of scale”.  

The latest round of attempts have involved another online business bank, Mercury, that also touted no fees to receive international wire transfers via SWIFT. But when I sent a different client a PDF of this bank’s detailed and personalized instructions–they include three different account numbers or codes to account for the “receiving bank” that relays the wire transfer to the “beneficiary,” the bank you actually use–the money never reached me.

Two other attempts failed as well, one involving yet another U.S. bank account, each time after more than week of waiting to see if the money might materialize. After some back-and-forth banter over e-mail, I then learned that the client’s own form to send an international wire doesn’t seem to include fields for some of those account codes or numbers. This has me wondering if the issue here might be that the client’s systems assume the U.S. institution won’t need a receiving-bank intermediary (which seems to be the case with the largest American banks), but we’re still figuring this out.

I have also since learned through online and offline conversations that it’s not just me finding SWIFT a frustratingly fragile funds-transfer mechanism. From chats with friends, it seems that my best option might be Wise, originally known as TransferWise–assuming a client uses that company’s services. I’ve also had quick international transfers via PayPal, but they came at a price in commercial-transaction fees that eat up about 5%.

It’s enough to make me question how international commerce is even possible–and to make me wonder if I’ve gotten trapped inside an ad for cryptocurrency services.

https://robpegoraro.com/2023/12/21/yet-another-first-world-problem-getting-payments-from-clients-overseas/

#ACH #bankTransfer #Brex #cryptocurrency #fintech #internationalWire #MercuryBank #PayPal #SWIFT #SWIFTCode #wireTransfer #wiseCom

Freelance life can involve some uncertainty about when a client will pay out an invoice, but the wait after that funds transfer commences should be minimal–unless the client sits on the other side of an ocean, in which case I’ve lately found myself thinking that it might be faster for the other company to hand an envelope full of cash to a courier.

I wish I knew why this were so. But while credit and ATM cards work overseas as if I were in a 51st state of America, international interbank transfers via the SWIFT network have become snakebit for me.

As far as I can figure out (which is very little), the problem may be rooted in my keeping a business banking account at a small, local institution that does not have its own alphanumeric SWIFT code. After many years of the occasional international wire landing in my account without incident (don’t ask me how), I had a couple of clients insist on a SWIFT transfer.

Not wanting to dump the bank that I’ve relied on since 2011, I first took advantage of a lucrative sign-up offer for a no-fee account at an online-only business bank called Brex. But after three successful SWIFT transfers, I not only had two subsequent attempts fail but learned afterwards that the bank had somehow charged the client €20 each time for this opposite of service. (The client was not amused.) And then Brex closed my mostly-dormant account as part of a decision to focus on startups at “some level of scale”.  

The latest round of attempts have involved another online business bank, Mercury, that also touted no fees to receive international wire transfers via SWIFT. But when I sent a different client a PDF of this bank’s detailed and personalized instructions–they include three different account numbers or codes to account for the “receiving bank” that relays the wire transfer to the “beneficiary,” the bank you actually use–the money never reached me.

Two other attempts failed as well, one involving yet another U.S. bank account, each time after more than week of waiting to see if the money might materialize. After some back-and-forth banter over e-mail, I then learned that the client’s own form to send an international wire doesn’t seem to include fields for some of those account codes or numbers. This has me wondering if the issue here might be that the client’s systems assume the U.S. institution won’t need a receiving-bank intermediary (which seems to be the case with the largest American banks), but we’re still figuring this out.

I have also since learned through online and offline conversations that it’s not just me finding SWIFT a frustratingly fragile funds-transfer mechanism. From chats with friends, it seems that my best option might be Wise, originally known as TransferWise–assuming a client uses that company’s services. I’ve also had quick international transfers via PayPal, but they came at a price in commercial-transaction fees that eat up about 5%.

It’s enough to make me question how international commerce is even possible–and to make me wonder if I’ve gotten trapped inside an ad for cryptocurrency services.

https://robpegoraro.com/2023/12/21/yet-another-first-world-problem-getting-payments-from-clients-overseas/

#ACH #bankTransfer #Brex #cryptocurrency #fintech #internationalWire #MercuryBank #PayPal #SWIFT #SWIFTCode #wireTransfer #wiseCom

Freelance life can involve some uncertainty about when a client will pay out an invoice, but the wait after that funds transfer commences should be minimal–unless the client sits on the other side of an ocean, in which case I’ve lately found myself thinking that it might be faster for the other company to hand an envelope full of cash to a courier.

I wish I knew why this were so. But while credit and ATM cards work overseas as if I were in a 51st state of America, international interbank transfers via the SWIFT network have become snakebit for me.

As far as I can figure out (which is very little), the problem may be rooted in my keeping a business banking account at a small, local institution that does not have its own alphanumeric SWIFT code. After many years of the occasional international wire landing in my account without incident (don’t ask me how), I had a couple of clients insist on a SWIFT transfer.

Not wanting to dump the bank that I’ve relied on since 2011, I first took advantage of a lucrative sign-up offer for a no-fee account at an online-only business bank called Brex. But after three successful SWIFT transfers, I not only had two subsequent attempts fail but learned afterwards that the bank had somehow charged the client €20 each time for this opposite of service. (The client was not amused.) And then Brex closed my mostly-dormant account as part of a decision to focus on startups at “some level of scale”.  

The latest round of attempts have involved another online business bank, Mercury, that also touted no fees to receive international wire transfers via SWIFT. But when I sent a different client a PDF of this bank’s detailed and personalized instructions–they include three different account numbers or codes to account for the “receiving bank” that relays the wire transfer to the “beneficiary,” the bank you actually use–the money never reached me.

Two other attempts failed as well, one involving yet another U.S. bank account, each time after more than week of waiting to see if the money might materialize. After some back-and-forth banter over e-mail, I then learned that the client’s own form to send an international wire doesn’t seem to include fields for some of those account codes or numbers. This has me wondering if the issue here might be that the client’s systems assume the U.S. institution won’t need a receiving-bank intermediary (which seems to be the case with the largest American banks), but we’re still figuring this out.

I have also since learned through online and offline conversations that it’s not just me finding SWIFT a frustratingly fragile funds-transfer mechanism. From chats with friends, it seems that my best option might be Wise, originally known as TransferWise–assuming a client uses that company’s services. I’ve also had quick international transfers via PayPal, but they came at a price in commercial-transaction fees that eat up about 5%.

It’s enough to make me question how international commerce is even possible–and to make me wonder if I’ve gotten trapped inside an ad for cryptocurrency services.

https://robpegoraro.com/2023/12/21/yet-another-first-world-problem-getting-payments-from-clients-overseas/

#ACH #bankTransfer #Brex #cryptocurrency #fintech #internationalWire #MercuryBank #PayPal #SWIFT #SWIFTCode #wireTransfer #wiseCom

Bitcoin will bring global payments out of the ‘fax era' — Ex-PayPal boss - Marcus said there’s still no universal protocol when it comes to ... - https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-lightning-bring-global-payments-from-fax-era-former-paypal-president #internationalpayment #wiretransfer #davismarcus #japaneseyen #lightspark #u.s.dollar #euro

I am a tad confused that #MAGA #Republicans seem to think that there can only be one #news story a month. But it's really good timing on the part of the #BidenFamily to have timed all of these grand juries to come to a head at just the same time as the news of this #Biden #Wiretransfer story.

#GOPShite #Insanity #Conspiracy #MTG #Crime #Poor #PresidentTrump #WaaWaaWaa #1023Forms #Stupid #Politics