Intermediary Banks for receiving payment from the US

[shmootz]

Hi,

I am receiving payments to my bank in Australia from the US every month, however it seems that some intermediary bank (I think CITY bank) is charging me $20 per transaction.

The sender is giving me the option of choosing my own intermediary bank although neither my bank in oz nor their bank can give me any advice on the cheapest intermediary bank.

Anyone know of a way to avoid these fees or of an intermediary bank that charges less than $20 (HSBC?). I would open up a PayPal account, but being under 18 I am unable to do so, and using my parents' is just a pain...

Thanks a lot!
Adam

[rogercbryan]

Nope... I use World First and they have similar fees. Even American Express charges for transactions like this. It's normal and there is no way around the fee. The only option is to let money accumulate for a while so that when you do the transfer it is not such a significant percentage of the money you are sending.

Hope this helps