Conference 7.286::dcu

I've noticed that institutions that can do the actual transfer seem to charge
less than those that offer the service, but actually use another institution
to perform the transfer.  Perhaps DCU contracts with some financial institution
to perform the actual transfer, and thus pays the other institution a fee that
includes a profit for the other institution, and then tacks on whatever it
costs DCU to process the transaction at DCU, plus their profit.

Bob

    
    I posted EFT charges as one of my MAJOR complaints with the DCU.
    The $17.50 for domestic and $30.00 for foreign EFT applies no matter
    what amount is being transfered. Frankly it is a ROBBERY!
    
    When I was local the pain of getting an EFT done was less; I merely
    fill in the same form over and over each time by walking into a DCU
    branch, but now as a remote user, I have to FAX the DCU each time to
    accomplish the same. I don't understand why the DCU cannot record the
    particulars for repeated EFTs which I do.
    
    I don't think the DCU cares a hoot about listening to a member's 
    dissatisfaction like this because (my guess is) requests for EFT
    must be quite low. 

Re: .2

Can you tell us more about your repeated EFT's?  I must admit, I don't
understand what kind of transaction you are talking about, and why they are
so costly to do.

Elaine

Elaine,

If you are saying you don't understand what a wire transfer is, I'll try to
explain, otherwise, ignore the rest of this.

A wire transfer is an electronic transfer of funds from an account at one
financial institution to another account at another financial institution,
anywhere in the world.  Banks and other financial institutions routinely
transfer billions of dollars in funds, all over the world, in this manner on a
daily basis.  If an amount is wired to your account, you have immediate access
to all those funds, just as if you had walked in with cash and made a deposit.
Due to this and the very large sums of money involved, there is very heavy
security for these transactions.  Not all financial institutions have direct
access to this particular network, as the cost is rather high to pay for all
the security, etc.  As such, many smaller institutions contract with larger
financial institutions for this service.

I believe that .0 is sending $X from his DCU account to an account in another
country on a regular basis.  Given that international checks can take weeks
to clear and can be affected by unexpected currency fluctuations, a wire
transfer is the best way to ensure the money arrives in a timely fashion, with
a known currency exchange rate.

I did a wire transfer once, to pay off a loan.  Now, you might ask, why didn't
I just write a check?  Because the cost of the wire transfer was less than
half of the additional interest that would accrue while the check was in the
mail.

HTH,

Bob

    wire transfers are probably orphan services.  I believe the bod is back
    in some sort of planning stage.  If this is important you should
    address it with them directly.
    
    there are creative ways around this problem.  the stock broker doing it 
    is one way.  it probably benifits him, so he will keep the cost down.
    wire xfer to a foreign country can be done [for free, well, nearly] via 
    visa accounts.  for the past 6 years we have worked that way.
    
    I have been trying to encourage board members to jump us into the
    furture via PC access, pc checks, internet posts.
    
    ed
    

Re: .5

Thanks for the explanation.  It answered the question I was really asking, which
is if something is so expensive, why would anyone want to do it?

Re: .6

I, too, would like to see a leap into the future.  Why not?  We're a credit
union with an awful lot of technologist members.  We need to be financially
conservative, but that doesn't mean we have to be old-fashioned.

Elaine

    
    Elaine,
    
    In addition Bob's explanation, I am captive to EFT because:
     -- very few banks in the USA interact internationally, so
        the Amex Money Order that I purchase from the DCU for example
        is a DOMESTIC MO , which I found out is almost next to
        impossible to cash out in local (foreign)  currency. In fact
    	one cannot purchase an I'nal MO from the DCU.
    
     -- Cashing mailed Travellers' Checks aren't always acceptable or
        easily done either, even though those checks are already
        paid for.
    
     -- EFT via Western Union is not only as expensive (or more since it
    	depends on amt being transfered), it may not be an option in
        cities/countries where Western Union do not operate.
    
    DCU's real shortcoming is its' extremely provincial attitude in
    services. Let's forget complicated, expensive foreign EFTs for a 
    minute... the DCU actually assumes that its membership only exists in
    the Greater Maynard Area, nothing beyond! Being in Calif, how do I
    get to a DCU ATM machine?! For instance, EVERY transaction (and that by
    definition is whenever you answer 'YES' to "do you want another
    transaction" prompt) will cost you $1.00!!
    
    The DCU needs to move on to the latter 20th Century, if not the 21st!