My friend Jackie just wrote to me. A young Mexican woman she met some years ago returned to Mexico and is now getting married. Jackie wants to send her money as a wedding gift and asked me if I knew how to do that. We do this often and this is how we manage the transaction.
- You need to get the complete first and last two names of the person you want to send money to. Make certain of the spelling. Sometimes “s” and “z” are interchangeable and it needs to be exactly as it appears on their legal documentation.
- Ask them what bank is closest to them where they either have an account or conduct banking transactions — where it is most convenient for them to pick up money. They do not have to have an account. It just needs to be the name of the bank and the location (village or district or street address).
- Go to your bank and tell them you want to wire money to Mexico. You tell them the name of the bank and its location (city, address). My bank (Bank of America) has a service called Safe Send. I can wire up to $1,500 USD per month to Mexico with no charge.
- You give your bank the money.
- They fill out a form on the computer. They give you a “key code.” You send the key code to the person who you want to receive the money in Mexico. I do this via email.
- They go to their bank and give the teller the code and show their ID with their complete name (as above).
- They receive their money.
Note: You might want to check with your bank FIRST to see which banks they can send money to in Mexico. See where the bank locations are in the city or town where the recipient lives. Find out which branch is easiest for your recipient to get to before you do the transaction. Decide this together.
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