Incoming international payment advice

EnderZaMan

EnderZaMan

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Johannesburg, South Africa
Hey guys,

I work as a contractor for an American company, I get paid every other 2 weeks.

I currently get paid via Swift, and as you know, I get completely nailed by fees, especially if the payment occurs so regularly. I'm in a Junior position so the pay isn't the biggest, but the R160-250 fee every two weeks seriously does add up. :(

I've queried if they'd be able to pay via PayPal, that way I can take money out when needed and let it accumulate and take it out every month instead however they seem quite firm on their wire transfers.

I've looked at TransferWise and it appears that it isn't available fully here.

Do you have any suggestions or am I dead out of luck?

Thanks in advance!
 
No experience on this, but have you looked into Payoneer? That sets up a US bank account for you, which they can pay directly into.

In terms of your costs, I think it's a $35 annual fee, and then small transaction fees for withdrawal. But from what I've seen, you get a Visa debit card with it - which you can use locally.

As I said, I've not used the service yet, but do some research to check if it could work for you.
 
Open a US brokerage account (which you can without being there in person), and have the company pay into that. I think TD Ameritrade will still open accounts for South Africans, with no minimum deposit.
 
Just out of interest, are you actually physically outside the country when you are doing the work for which they pay you?
 
Paypal could work out to be more costly, depending on the amount you're getting paid.

Also you're not allowed to leave funds in a PayPal account for more than 30 days - it needs to be withdrawn to a South African bank account.

Just do the calculations - PayPal has a percentage fee, work this out as well as the cost to withdraw the funds to your bank account and see if that's better than the Swift charges.

Edit: in my case it's a lot cheaper to use the direct wire.
 
A Foreign Currency Account in the same currency should work. There shouldn't be fees receiving money, only when paying out. But you can let is accumulate until needed. Maybe chat to your bank to see what they offer, and whether there's any kind of legal hurdles in terms of exchange control (I know businesses can receive income into a FCA, but may be different in a personal capacity). Bidvest are also pretty good when it comes to forex, if your bank can't help.
 
Praemon said:
A Foreign Currency Account in the same currency should work. There shouldn't be fees receiving money, only when paying out. But you can let is accumulate until needed. Maybe chat to your bank to see what they offer, and whether there's any kind of legal hurdles in terms of exchange control (I know businesses can receive income into a FCA, but may be different in a personal capacity). Bidvest are also pretty good when it comes to forex, if your bank can't help.
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Unless the FCA is in the same country from where the payment is made, he will still have to pay a SWIFT fee. As long as a transfer is made across borders, even if into an FCA, you have to pay the SWIFT fee. SWIFT fees are kind of unavoidable for cross border transfers.
 
8BitLife said:
Unless the FCA is in the same country from where the payment is made, he will still have to pay a SWIFT fee. As long as a transfer is made across borders, even if into an FCA, you have to pay the SWIFT fee. SWIFT fees are kind of unavoidable for cross border transfers.
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True. I guess it depends on whether the sender is covering both fees. However, the incoming SWIFT fee is generally low. I've encountered fees as low as R50, but I guess it depends on the parties involved, and amounts involved.
 
Fly to the US for a short holiday and open a bank account at any of their major banks.

As a foreign visitor to the US you can open an account there. Just take along your South African proof of residence. The rest of the documentation you will in any event have with you.

I opened a Cheque account at Wells Fargo in Orlando while on holiday. I withdraw all my Paypal payments, as well as my Google Adsense payments to this account. Monthly account fees are US$10. You do get a temporary card at the bank, but you also get a cheque card posted to you in South Africa and you can use it locally if needed.

* Important note: If you ever do decide to do this, remember, while you are inside the bank, to ask them to activate foreign payments on the card. If you do not do this, you will not be able to use your card abroad (outside the US). They cannot activate the card online or through their Internet Banking. You have to do this physically inside the bank.
 
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EnderZaMan said:
Looks like Payoneer solved my problems.

$3 fees, received into my Capitec account in less than 3 hours.

Thank you to everyone who contributed.
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What spread are they giving you? Many financial providers love to talk about their low fees but don't mention anything about how they are killing you with fees hidden inside the spread.
 
Paypal has the restrictions of needing to withdraw the money into an SA bank account within 30 days. When you withdraw, remember that you also have to pay SARB a commission. Probably the same as Swift payment to bank account. Foreign bank account as mentioned probably works better but you still have to cross SARB if you want to send money into SA.
 
INOfentse said:
Paypal has the restrictions of needing to withdraw the money into an SA bank account within 30 days. When you withdraw, remember that you also have to pay SARB a commission. Probably the same as Swift payment to bank account. Foreign bank account as mentioned probably works better but you still have to cross SARB if you want to send money into SA.
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I think Payoneer covers it.

I got asked what the funds were for on some weird south african clearance site.

I'm sure they would have notified me if there was other fees
 
EnderZaMan said:
I think Payoneer covers it.

I got asked what the funds were for on some weird south african clearance site.

I'm sure they would have notified me if there was other fees
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I will have a look at Payoneer.
 
EnderZaMan said:
I think Payoneer covers it.

I got asked what the funds were for on some weird south african clearance site.

I'm sure they would have notified me if there was other fees
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I doubt they cover the SWIFT fee. And that is the BOP form. Every time money enters or leaves our border you have to do a BOP form to declare why the funds are coming in or leaving.
 
Daruk said:
Fortunately my bank handles that. They just phone or email and ask what the money is for. I haven't been charged a cent for incoming transfers for the past year... not sure if they've upgraded my account or something.
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You can pay the SWIFT fee in one of 3 ways. It can either be set as 'OUR' which means it gets paid on the other side before it gets sent. Then it can be set as 'SHA' which means half of it is paid on the other side and the rest is paid on this side. Then you can set it as 'BEN' which means it gets paid fully this side. Your SWIFT has probably always been set as 'OUR'.

And what spread is your bank giving you?
 
If I do inward remittance from my UK based account to my SA based account, is that taxable under normal income bracket ?
 
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