My daughter is trying to receive money from a Canadian publisher and neither of her credit unions will accept foreign currency, whether by wire or a check. She can ask them to send an equivalent amount in US dollars, but if they can’t or won’t, then what else can she do?
I’d shop around for a CU that will accept CA dollars. Failing that, the next-best choice would be a bank and as a last resort XE.com.
Where to Exchange Currency Without Paying Huge Fees - NerdWallet.
The best foreign currency transfer services are probably Wise.com (aka TransferWise) and Revolut.com
Thanks for the suggestions. Wise looks interesting, but I’m not getting enough details from their web site to know if that’s a good solution. Thought about the bank idea already…it would be more work to research which banks would accept Canadian dollars. I thought one of her credit unions would since they have a fee for foreign wire transfers, but a human on the phone said only U.S. dollars. Even our large credit union won’t deal with funny money. Daughter is now investigating plan C – having the money deposited into her student account. I guess universities have the magic swift code to accept foreign currencies on behalf of students all the time. Might be the easiest solution.
Update…I found out by asking in person at a branch of one of her credit unions that they would accept a check in Canadian dollars (despite the contrary on their web site) on the condition that she send the check to the accounting department at the headquarters office. The processing took about 6 weeks (!?!) and she got an exchange rate of $0.725. This was way more hassle than it should have been, but we got it done.
I guess your daughter could explore alternative methods for receiving payment, such as using online money exchange https://rates.fm/ services. These platforms often offer currency conversion at competitive rates and can transfer funds directly to her bank account in USD, providing a convenient solution for receiving foreign payments.