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Ask HN: Paying Overseas Employees

9 points by Mizza 16y ago

Hello, HN! Today, I hired my first employee! The problem we've encountered is that he's in Europe and I'm in the US and that European banks want to charge massive fees to process US cheques. Is anybody here in a similar situation? What's the best way to go about doing this. Paypal seems like one option, but it seems very unprofessional and I don't trust them very much. Would very much appreciate your input! M

pcc 16y ago
I've had a similar situation (Canada to South Africa) and at the time the best thing was to go in to the bank to do a wire (swift) transfer. There are various options; eg what currency you want to send the funds in (ie who bears the currency risk), and on what side the charges are paid. There are still some overheads this way, so we found it most practical to pay 2 months at a time and do the wire every other month. You can also try finding out about the cost of you just drawing a banker's draft on your bank directly in the foreign currency.
sjtgraham 16y ago
I have a USD denominated checking account with Citibank UK, any EU citizen can open one, and there are no fees for paying in USD cheques. I also have a US bank account with Chase. I'm an EU citizen. I just walked into a branch in Midtown Manhattan and said I needed an account to receive approximately $10,000 per month and suddenly the need for a US passport, SSN, etc evaporated. YMMV.
scorpioxy 16y ago
I've received international payments before from clients using Paypal, Moneybookers and Western Union as well as direct bank transfer. Mostly, the direct bank transfer was the easiest. I paid $30 as a transaction charge. Paypal is not supported in my country so that money is stuck in paypal and i can only use it online. But Moneybookers supports bank transfers and it is much easier to deal with in my country. This is all relative of course. Larger companies for example will already have a process in place for bank transfers, while smaller ones or individuals will prefer something like Paypal.
mattm 16y ago
Use XE Trade. Get his bank information and transfer the money directly into his bank account.

9 points by Mizza 16y ago

pcc 16y ago

I've had a similar situation (Canada to South Africa) and at the time the best thing was to go in to the bank to do a wire (swift) transfer. There are various options; eg what currency you want to send the funds in (ie who bears the currency risk), and on what side the charges are paid. There are still some overheads this way, so we found it most practical to pay 2 months at a time and do the wire every other month. You can also try finding out about the cost of you just drawing a banker's draft on your bank directly in the foreign currency.

sjtgraham 16y ago

I have a USD denominated checking account with Citibank UK, any EU citizen can open one, and there are no fees for paying in USD cheques. I also have a US bank account with Chase. I'm an EU citizen. I just walked into a branch in Midtown Manhattan and said I needed an account to receive approximately $10,000 per month and suddenly the need for a US passport, SSN, etc evaporated. YMMV.

scorpioxy 16y ago

I've received international payments before from clients using Paypal, Moneybookers and Western Union as well as direct bank transfer. Mostly, the direct bank transfer was the easiest. I paid $30 as a transaction charge. Paypal is not supported in my country so that money is stuck in paypal and i can only use it online. But Moneybookers supports bank transfers and it is much easier to deal with in my country. This is all relative of course. Larger companies for example will already have a process in place for bank transfers, while smaller ones or individuals will prefer something like Paypal.

mattm 16y ago

Use XE Trade. Get his bank information and transfer the money directly into his bank account.