Options to Transfer Money to Brazil
Thursday, November 11th, 2010Have you ever attempted to send money to Brazil but found yourself hesitant because of the ridiculously high price? Or even worse, have you tried to wire to someone who doesn’t even have access to a financial institution to obtain the cash?
If you absolutely needed to send money to Brazil today, you’d only have a select few options. Luckily, the money transfer industry will change greatly over the next couple of years.
If you still need to send cash to Brazil, you can use a bank’s wire system. For international transfers banks created the SWIFT system, which has been around since the mid-seventies after seven international banks needed to transport money and decided to create a system that would allow people to transfer money all around the world.
One downside however is that both parties must have bank accounts – the sender in the country they’re transferring the cash from and the receiver in the receiving country. If one of them is not in their native country it will be difficult since they most likely will not have a bank account in a foreign country.
Another system does not require a bank account, you simply send money in the name of the other, and give the person who’s meant to get the money a code which allows them to get the money. Though a great way to send money, it was once the primary most popular way for terrorists to wire money internationally. But since September 11th, efforts have been made to tighten security, so now both members in the transfer are required to present some form of identification.
With the growing popularity of cell phones all over the world, things will be changing left and right causing the world of sending money wirelessly to change dramatically. Many wireless companies are now letting their customers transfer funds from mobile to mobile.
Soon, if you want to send money to Brazil, all you must do is input the amount and the phone number you want the money sent to and in a blink the money is there. Some pre-paid wireless phones already have a similar system in place so that you can add minutes to your pre-paid cell from anywhere in the world. The only difference is the way the recipient goes about collecting the money.
The groundwork has already been laid for mobile-to-mobile transfers, all that’s left is to make the process completely viable from an international standpoint.
Today it’s already possible to use your phone to buy things, and some banks have even started using a credit card that’s an actual part of your cell phone. Although it’s only available on the iPhone, it’s a sign of things to come and soon enough wiring money to Brazil will be as easy as pressing the green send button on your Blackberry.