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4 Ways to transfer money from one bank to another – What to keep in mind

Source: Finance Derivative

Lyle Solomon

The days of returning money in cash to a friend or relative are long gone. Several easy solutions are available for moving those monies from one bank to another. In this post, we will discuss that and more.

How can you transfer money from one bank to another?

You may need to transfer money from one bank to another for various reasons. For instance, you may need to transfer money to the creditor for credit card debt settlement. Or you may need to transfer money to a friend urgently. But how can you do it and that too fast? Let’s find out.

Wire transfers

One of the fastest ways to send money electronically between two people is through a wire transfer, which can be done through a bank or a nonbank provider.

You’ll need the routing number, account number, recipient’s name, and maybe the recipient’s address for a domestic wire transfer. You can arrange a domestic wire transfer online or in person at a branch or office.

While speedy and possibly allowing you to send more money than other ways, wire transfers can also be pricey.

Remember that wire transfers cannot be sent on weekends or bank holidays and may have a weekday deadline set by your bank.

 Internal Electronic Fund Transfers

It is easy to transfer money between accounts if you have more than one at the same bank, such as a checking account and a savings account. It’s called an “internal transfer” in this case. Look for methods to transfer money on your bank’s website or mobile app. You may typically set up a one-time or recurring transfer between related accounts, and most internal transfers settle instantly or within one business day.

External Electronic Funds Transfer

Let’s say your checking account is at one bank while your online savings account is at another. You can establish an “external transfer” by linking your savings and checking accounts. You usually need both your account number and the routing number of the external bank to transfer money to an external account. After they’ve been linked, you can transfer money between the accounts whenever you’d like.

Paper checks

Writing a check and depositing it at a bank branch, online, via a mobile app, or by mail is a conventional method for transferring money between banks. An official cashier’s check can be used to transfer money and is deposited similarly to a regular check.

Peer-to-Peer Transfers

Online P2P payment platforms like PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, and others are available nowadays. These tools can be helpful if you need to send money to someone or your bank does not provide bank-to-bank transfers.

Your checking account and routing information must be used to link your bank account to the payment app or service to create the accounts. For instance, while using PayPal, the money you send is automatically taken out of your bank account.

Following that, PayPal transfers this cash to the recipient’s PayPal account. The recipient can then use PayPal to make purchases or send the funds to their bank account.

Email Money Transfer

Using an individual’s email address, money can be sent and received using this manner. The involved banks email the recipients to inform them of the transfer before using a secure fund transfer network to transmit the funds. One of the most popular systems for email money transfers is Venmo, which is utilized alongside Zelle, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

Cash transfer 

Even though most banking is now done digitally, a straightforward cash transfer is still a viable option. Even if it doesn’t always make sense to withdraw and deposit cash, such as when moving enormous sums of money, there are some situations where it might be a convenient and cost-effective option. Cash can also be viable if you need to move the funds immediately.

Your best option is to make a cash withdrawal in person at a branch of your local bank or credit union to avoid fees. You can be charged a transaction fee by your banks or the bank that operates the ATM if you use it.

Are there fees involved?

On average, wire transfer costs range from $25 to $30 for transfers to US bank accounts and $45 to $50 for transfers outside the country. Additionally, if you are receiving money, there may be fees. Some banks charge a fee for wired funds, while others don’t.

Generally speaking, online transfers are free. However, some banking institutions may charge fees.

What’s the fastest method of doing this? 

There isn’t a single response to this query because it will vary according to your bank, the destination country, and the amount of money you want to send. The quickest choices are typically wire transfers or online applications. You can consider the following payment options:

Zell – You can access Zelle online or through a mobile app. You may quickly link to your bank account for quick transfers because it has partnerships with most US banks, including Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo.

PayPal – PayPal is also another well-liked choice. Although sending money from one PayPal account to another is almost immediate, sending money between banks may not be the fastest method.

Venmo – A peer-to-peer app that is partnered with PayPal and made to facilitate transfers is called Venmo. Users can be added as contacts so that you can quickly and effectively pay money to them.

Western Union – Western Union, is the most widely used choice when sending money online through wire transfers. The funds will be transferred immediately into the recipients’ bank accounts.

One of the apps mentioned above is your best option if you need to transmit money quickly. Check whether your bank already has an app for quick money transfers since many of these are associated with banks. Be careful to evaluate fees, especially if sending money to foreign bank accounts or utilizing several currencies. To keep your banking information secure, you should also be careful to create a strong password and PIN.

A bank-to-bank transfer can be your best option if you need to move money between two of your accounts. This digital transaction often functions as an ACH transaction.

Many banks enable free bank-to-bank transfers if you send money to another account you own. Just connect the two accounts, that’s all. Typically, you can do this via your bank’s online banking system. Some banks require you to phone or go to a branch, especially those with a small internet presence.

You’ll need the account numbers, routing numbers, and documentation proving your ownership of both accounts to link two accounts. After you establish the connection, sending money between the two banks will be simple.

What should you remember when transferring money from one bank to another?

There are a few things you must keep in mind when transferring money from one bank to another. Here are a few of them.

Consider speed: Determine how soon the funds must reach the other bank.

The time it takes for the money to flow can range from a few seconds to many days, depending on the type of bank transfer.

Check out the fees: A wire transfer may occasionally be a good option for quickly sending significant sums of money, although it won’t be free. Other techniques, like Zelle, can be quick and cost nothing.

Recheck the recipient’s bank account details: You’ll likely need, at the very least, the recipient’s name, cell phone number, and account number. On the other hand, Zelle merely requires the user’s phone number or email address.

Check out the savings withdrawal restrictions:  A rule limiting the number of transactions and withdrawals from savings deposit accounts was removed by the Federal Reserve in April 2020.

The number of transactions in these accounts may be limited by your bank, even though this requirement is no longer necessary. Going above your bank’s withdrawal limitations may incur charges.

Conclusion 

A quick and simple way to move money from one account to another is through an external transfer. It’s crucial to examine your options so that you are aware of their costs and the time to transfer money.

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Business

How can a payments strategy support business growth?

Source: Finance Derivative

Following the global economic upheaval brought on by the pandemic, businesses are once again prioritising growth on a global scale. While every business recognises the importance of expansion, their methods, obstacles, and risks differ greatly.

In the following article, Sonya Geelon, Chief Commercial Officer at Conferma, explores some of the most common challenges holding businesses back, and how by including innovative payments solutions in your payment strategy, you can successfully position your business to expand into global markets.

Barriers to global expansion

At Conferma, we wanted to know what businesses felt stood between them and their growth ambitions, so we spoke to 400 financial decision makers to find out.

The research, shared in our new Growth Ignition Index report, identified global expansion as a key priority for businesses looking to grow across all regions. Significant drivers included increasing customer demand (46 per cent), maintaining a consistent cashflow (36 per cent) and undertaking digital transformation (34 per cent.) Businesses also highlighted a number of barriers, such as identifying valuable markets to expand into (27 per cent) and navigating complex cross-border payment systems (13 per cent.) The following sheds light on some of the factors that businesses perceive to be hindering their growth.

Operational inefficiencies

It’s a well-known fact that operational efficiency is crucial for giving businesses the competitive edge. If your processes run smoothly and effectively, you’re likely in a good position to grow. However, a third (33 per cent) of businesses identified operational inefficiencies as a significant sticking point, particularly among small-and-medium sized organisations. This perhaps indicates that larger companies have already invested in boosting efficiency to a degree, however, the issue was noted across businesses of all sizes.

Complex cross-border payments

Successful growth relies heavily on being able to make fast, seamless transactions, however, recent research from Rapyd found that 38 per cent of businesses experience delays of five days or more when sending or receiving international payments.[1] Costs and delays in cross-border transactions can have a significant impact on growth, cutting into revenues, restricting cash flow and complicating financial planning. Our own research highlighted this, with 14 per cent of businesses reporting slow and/or complex cross-border payments as a significant barrier to expansion.

So how can businesses overcome these challenges and unlock global growth?

Taking your payments strategy virtual

Amid the array of payment options available in the market, virtual cards have emerged as a versatile solution, valued by users globally. According to Juniper Research, the global value of virtual cards will increase over threefold in just 5 years, climbing from $1.9 trillion in 2021 to a staggering $6.8 trillion by 2026.[2]

So how do they work?

Virtual cards are essentially digital versions of traditional credit cards. The technology generates a 16-digit card  number, allowing an employee to make payments without having to physically hand over a card. Instead, they provide the virtual card number, expiration date, and security code, just like they would with a regular credit or debit card.

Virtual cards come with built-in fraud and security features, enabling restrictions on usage. For instance, users can set a specific date range or limit usage to certain merchants. This ensures that any attempts to exceed the set amount, use the card at unauthorised merchants, or spend beyond the specified date range will result in a declined transaction.

Using a virtual card provider allows access to extensive, pre-existing payments ecosystems. For example, Conferma connects 75+ card issuers and banks across the world. This enables businesses to use virtual cards in 62 different currencies, making international payments frictionless while mitigating costly cross-border fees. Virtual cards can also help boost cashflow and improve operational efficiency, automating reconciliation and cutting lengthy processing times. By removing convoluted payment processes, virtual cards give businesses the freedom to grow in the markets they deem most valuable, not just most accessible.

Of those surveyed, four out of five  respondents (82 per cent) plan on expanding their virtual card usage in the next twelve months, with 64 per cent extending usage to additional payment needs. Businesses already using virtual cards also anticipate a substantial increase in the volume of payments they make virtually, with our data projecting a rise from 45 to 57 per cent of all payments being made using virtual cards in the next 12 months.

Virtual cards offer a compelling solution to the challenges limiting international growth by offering enhanced security, streamlined operational processes, and seamless cross-border transactions. By embracing virtual cards as a strategic tool, organisations can unlock opportunities for growth and innovation, empowering them to navigate the complexities of international commerce with ease.


[1] The 2023 State of Cross-Border Payments, Rapyd, 2023.

[2] Virtual Cards: B2B and B2C Applications, Competitive Analysis & Market Forecasts 2021-2026, Juniper Research

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Business

How can businesses make the cloud optional in their operations?

Max Alexander, Co-founder at Ditto

Modern business apps are built to be cloud-dependent. This is great for accessing limitless compute and data storage capabilities but when connection to the cloud is poor or shuts down, business apps stop working, impacting revenue and service. If real-time data is needed for quick decision-making in fields like healthcare, a stalled app can potentially put people in life-threatening situations.

Organisations in sectors as diverse as airlines, fast food retail, and ecommerce that have deskless staff who need digital tools accessible on smartphones, tablets and other devices to do their jobs. But because of widespread connectivity issues and outages, these organisations are beginning to consider how to ensure these tools can operate reliably when the cloud is not accessible. 

The short answer is that building applications with a local-first architecture can help to ensure that they remain functional when disconnected from the internet. But then, why are not all apps built this way? The simple answer is that building and deploying cloud-only applications is much easier as ready-made tools for developers help expedite a lot of the backend building process. The more complex answer is that a local-first architecture solves the issue of offline data accessibility but does not solve the critical issue of offline data synchronisation. Apps disconnected from the internet still have no way to share data across devices. That is where peer-to-peer data sync and mesh networking come into play.

Combining offline-first architecture with peer-to-peer data sync

In the real world, what does an application like this look like?

  • Apps must prioritise local data sync. Rather than sending data to a remote server, applications must be able to write data using its local database in the first instance, and then listen for changes from other devices, and recombine them as needed. Apps should utilise local transports such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Peer-to-Peer WiFi (P2P Wi-Fi) to communicate data changes in the event that the internet, local server, or the cloud is not available.
  • Devices are capable of creating real-time mesh networks. Nearby devices should be able to discover, communicate, and maintain constant connections with devices in areas of limited or no connectivity.
  • Seamlessly transition from online to offline (and vice versa). Combining local sync with mesh networking means that devices in the same mesh are constantly updating a local version of the database and opportunistically syncing those changes with the cloud when it is available.
  • Partitioned between large peer and small peer mesh networks to not overwhelm smaller networks if they try to sync every piece of data. In order to do this, smaller networks will only sync the data that it requests, so developers have complete control over bandwidth usage and storage. This is vital when connectivity is erratic or critical data needs prioritising. Whereas, the larger networks sync as much data as they can, which is when there is full access to cloud-based systems.
  • Ad-hoc to enable devices to join and leave the mesh when they need to. This also means that there can be no central server other devices are relying on.
  • Compatible with all data at any time. All devices should account for incoming data with different schemas. In this way, if a device is offline and running an outdated app version, for example, it still must be able to read new data and sync.

Peer-to-peer sync and mesh networking in practice

Let us take a look at a point-of-sale application in the fast-paced environment of a quick-service restaurant. When an order is taken at a kiosk or counter, that data must travel hundreds of miles to a data centre to arrive at a device four metres away in the kitchen. This is an inefficient process and can slow down or even halt operations, especially if there is an internet outage or any issues with the cloud.

A major fast-food restaurant in the US has already modernised its point of sale system using this new architecture and created one that can move order data between store devices independently of an internet connection. As such, this system is much more resilient in the face of outages, ensuring employees can always deliver best-in-class service, regardless of internet connectivity.

The vast power of cloud-optional computing is showcased in healthcare situations in rural areas in developing countries. By using both peer-to-peer data sync and mesh networking, essential healthcare applications can share critical health information without the Internet or a connection to the cloud. This means that healthcare workers in disconnected environments can now quickly process information and share it with relevant colleagues, empowering faster reaction times that can save lives.

Although the shift from cloud-only to cloud-optional is subtle and will not be obvious to end users, it really is a fundamental paradigm shift. This move provides a number of business opportunities for increasing revenue and efficiencies and helps ensure sustained service for customers.

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Business

When something personal fills an important gap in the market 

by Cécile Mazuet-Eller, founder of NameSwitch

There aren’t many business ideas that go from a personal experience to filling an important gap in the market. However, this is certainly the case for NameSwitch, the UK’s pioneering and only name changing support service launched in 2018. But what inspired its inception and what challenges did it face? Here, Cécile Mazuet-Eller, the founder of the company, in its seventh year, explains.

My entrepreneurial journey is a bit unusual in that it started from my own experience of going through a divorce, which became a pivotal turning point for me not only emotionally, but practically too. I wanted to remove my married name, and I had a visceral reason to do so as I really didn’t want to keep it. Feeling extremely frustrated at still receiving letters and official documents featuring my previous name, I was desperate to change it but like for so many people it became a stop-start, arduous task.

Once I started the process, I realised it was taking up far too much time I didn’t have; being a single mum to two young children and working full-time is no mean feat, so when I embarked on the name changing process I realised it wasn’t going to be easy.  Searching for a solution to help, all I came up with was a service covering the US and Canada, but nothing that worked for the UK, so in the end, I spent a whole year to get everything changed that had to be, which proved long and stressful to say the least.

Nurturing the idea

In the early days I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by positive people who had good contacts, and who saw the viability of my idea. Living in a small community filled with intelligent and well-rounded people, I wasn’t short of encouragement from them and friends, who recognised as well as I did there was a definite gap in the market. Working with a web development team in Serbia which was also recommended, I enlisted additional help from a university student on some research.

I always wanted to run my own business, and there were several reasons why I needed to embark on something new. As the only breadwinner in the house, there were mounting bills while balancing the demands of motherhood and other financial responsibilities. Cash was limited but what little I had was used carefully which I put into the business.

In the early stages, which included the development of the unique technology that underpins the service, I carved pockets of time at night and on weekends to create a strong foundation for the business. Creating something completely from scratch was like a form of healing, which is why it was and remains such a personal project.

Mulling over the idea for at least two years following the original lightbulb moment, the business was registered in 2015, with time needed for building the robust platform in order to  create a viable product. Drawing on my previous experience, I investigated overseas equivalents, financials and marketing intelligence ensuring there was a genuine need for the service in the UK. Fortunately enough I was able to share my plans with my employer at the time, who turned out to be my biggest supporters, becoming my first paying customer who purchased a NameSwitch for his ex-wife, who was getting married to someone else!

With a career in telecommunications and a degree in marketing, I was already used to hard work and having the support and encouragement from my telecoms team was extremely helpful.   

Support and coaching

Coaching was an important element of the start-up process, obtained through a wider network and some financial support from family,  with no other funding or investment being available.

The challenges

Presented with certain obstacles like all businesses are, there was a lot to juggle and at times it felt like too much but I managed to navigate the complexities involved. When Covid hit that was a huge set-back, given that our biggest target market was and still is, newly-weds. With all weddings being banned, it hit NameSwitch hard, but our saving grace were the people who used the time to change their name’s in lockdown, by doing something they previously didn’t have time for. Being 100% employed by the business by this stage, it turned into a year of survival and another big challenge.  

In 2022-2023 we concentrated on growth for NameSwitch, when me and my dedicated team were satisfied with the service, it was time to consider investment into PR, advertising and partnerships to increase brand awareness to reach the revenues that were needed.

In 2022-2024, it was forecast that 285,000 – 415,000 weddings will take place resulting from the pandemic, which has reflected well on the business in recent years. And amidst the trials and tribulations it’s proved to be both exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure.

With hindsight, there are certain things I’d have done differently, such as bringing in a partner early on to put us in a stronger position sooner, and adding more resource  to improve growth, but I know that’s all part of the steep learning curve and something to take with me to projects in the future.

Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

For anyone contemplating their own entrepreneurial endeavours, I’d recommend to ‘one hundred percent go for it’ – but do not bet the house on it and whatever happens, embrace the journey.

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