Hi, does anyone know how long it usually takes to send money to a Spanish bank? I did a transferencia bancaria last Tuesday (the 25th of June) and my university hasn't received it yet. It had to go from Hawaii to New York to Madrid. The first time that I did it, it only took a few days. Does it take longer if you send a bigger amount? Thanks.

Hi ilovemadrid! It's good to see you here again.

I recently had the need to transfer money from my bank account to a bank account in Spain. And let me tell you, it was a pain in the @$$!! Seems we here in the USA are not well equipped to transfer cash to banks in Europe unless you are loaded with all sorts of information.

I tried it from my bank account and they asked me through which city/central bank in the USA was the money transferred in order to get to Spain. WHAT?!! Wouldn't the bank know this?? Apparently not.

The "go-through" USA-city/location depends on the bank in Spain because, it seems, different banks in Spain use different USA bank-Portals before it meets the bank in Spain. Anyway, I would have had to contact the bank in Spain to ask them through which "point" they passed from the USA to read them in Spain. Anyway, it was going to be like $40 to make this transaction so I just threw up my hands.

Instead, I did a money transfer through Western Union online. The cash transferred and transaction fee (ended up also being $40 - but it depends on the amount transferred) was charged to my Visa credit card (they also accept Master Card, but NOT American Express). They also tell you that your credit card company could charge you a cash advance fee which mine did.

But still, there are apparently MANY Western Union "windows" all over Spain and the recipient only needs to show identification to pick up the money. You can give them the "approval number" too, but we didn't need it in my case.

The transaction was made within 24 hours. I think a bank transfer could take 24-48 hours.

If you get it done please tell us how it went so others will know what they can do. Thanks!

Saludos, MadridMan

I'm waiting for a transfer so I can rent my apartment and because of @#$*!! 4th of July it is taking longer! If it's not there Monday I'm going to flip out because I'm in a hostal and running out of laundry!

When I transfer money from here to the States, it takes 2 business days, and that's to a tiny bank in Philadelphia with no swift code or anything. Going the other way to huge Banesto it better damn well get done soon.

I'm glad Asterault mentioned the SWIFT code. I'd forgotten to say anything about that. The SWIFT code is the code by which any bank is known in the world. You'll need this code before placing the transaction with your domestic bank. But still, when transferring to outside of the USA you also need the name of the go-through bank here in the US.. usually it's in New York.

Thanks MM for the response. When I did this the first time in April or May, the bank in Honolulu asked ME which is the corresponding US bank to the Spanish bank that my university uses, I was all, how would I know that? so they had to look through big binders and make some phone calls before they found out. Now I am back in my small little hometown on another island and although I showed them the form that the previous bank had filled out, they still were confused, and I don't know why they didn't just copy the information directly (the woman wrote it a bit differently). Today I went back to check and they're going to "look into it" on Monday. I hope that it works out. It probably would have been better to go through Western Union.

Hi again, ilovemadrid! I was the same, "Ummm. How would I know that??" heheehe.. My bank also did some checking, but couldn't come up with the appropriate go-throug bank or numbers or whatever. SO.... I decided to pay the extra $5 (or whatever the cost) and do it all online through Western Union as opposed to waiting the extra days and getting the extra headaches, etcetera. I think my bank was going to charge me $40 for the bank-to-bank-to-bank transaction and it ended up being about $46 through Western Union after my credit card company charged for the "Cash Advance" transaction. Humph!

I read on the newspaper that they EU has forced european banks to charge the same comission for a money transfer within EU countries as if it was within the same country.

Obviously, banks don't like this even though an electronic transfer it's really cheap for them specially now that most EU countries share the same currency. In fact, they say they would rise the commission for "domestic" transfers so that European ones have the same price.

This enforcement began this month. Does anyone knows if their bank charges the same to send money between two EU banks as for a transfer within the same country?

My bank (banesto) charges domestic and international, EU nonwithstanding.

For transfering money there is also paypal but they hit you up with a fee as well. It seems there's no way around this timo.

Welcome to the sierra Asterault!

Hi again, my university in Spain has finally received the money that I sent on the 25th of June, it took more than two weeks. I guess that having to pass through three different banks is what made it take so long. I had to pay $45 to my bank in Hawaii and it appears as if the bank in New York took a small fee as well for the transaction. The important thing is that it arrived, so now all I have to wait for is the visa.