International Money Orders are pretty expensive, I've done that once or twice.
How about this: I can add money to my Paypal account for free through a bank transfer (credit card is only needed for registration). All thas is needed is the Paypal bank account number and an customer account specific acces code. I'll copy Paypals explanation below.
This is business as usual for Europeans who as said before are used to electronic bank transfers.
So maybe we could open a Wikimedia Paypal account in several countries. Electronic transfer to a US Paypal account would be uneconomical due to high bank fees.
Erik Zachte
--------------------------------------------- To add funds to your PayPal account, you will need to go to your bank to complete a bank transfer from your bank account to your PayPal account using the information provided below. Be sure to include your Bank Transfer ID, which is used to direct the funds into your PayPal account.
Transfer funds to the following account:
Name on Account: PayPal Inc PayPal's Account Number: 266566472 Bank: Bank of America, N.A. Amsterdam, Netherlands
Important Note: In addition to the information above, be sure to also include Your Bank Transfer ID on your bank transfer form.
(a 13 char alphanum code is shown here)
On your bank transfer form, specify the amount you would like to transfer to your PayPal account. Your transfer must be a minimum of 1 Euro.
Your deposit must be in Euros. If your deposit is not in Euros, the bank will convert the funds to Euros prior to transferring the funds to PayPal. If you have a Euro balance, your funds will be added to that balance. Otherwise, your funds will be converted to the currency of your primary balance. To calculate converted currency amounts, use the Currency Converter.
It typically takes 3-4 business days after you initiate the transfer for the funds to appear in your PayPal account. After your funds have been successfully transferred to your PayPal account, your Sending Limit will be increased by the amount of the transfer
Erik Zachte wrote:
So maybe we could open a Wikimedia Paypal account in several countries. Electronic transfer to a US Paypal account would be uneconomical due to high bank fees.
I'm perfectly willing to do that, if that's the right thing to do, but my reading of the Paypal website doesn't suggest that I really need to do it. Is there something that I'm not understanding?
I think you can send me Euros, Pound sterling, Canadian dollars, Yen, U.S. dollars, and it'll be just fine. There's certainly some slippage when they convert the currencies, but until I see how that works out in practice, i.e. what rates they use for conversion, I can't really judge how expensive that will be.
--Jimbo
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