Wiring money can be dangerous, especially if you’re a traveler. Here’s how to avoid the problems.
More travelers than ever are wiring money — to vacation rental owners, tour operators, and each other.
It doesn’t always work.
Jermaine Amado, a photographer based in Denver, recently recently booked an excursion for an excursion in Colombia. The tour operator agreed to accept a money transfer from PayPal.
When he initiated the transfer, PayPal blocked him. It turns out Colombian accounts were restricted — according to locals, because of fear of money laundering. “I didn’t get to go on the excursion,” he says.
That’s lesson one about traveling and sending money: Some restrictions apply.
I’ve had trouble using PayPal in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. And on a recent trip to Turkey, I found that I couldn’t use PayPal at all.
Now more than ever, wiring money is fraught with challenges. Consider the recent problems with Zelle scams. Criminals routinely dupe travelers through the peer-to-peer payment app. A class action suit against Bank of America claims the financial institution downplayed a “huge” security risk of linking Zelle to its customers’ bank accounts. And the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is about to release new guidance that would require banks to reverse fraudulent transfers made through Zelle.
Strictly speaking, wiring money is the act of sending money from one bank account to another…
