Not so at Sberbank any more. I think it’s still cheaper than other banks but the transfer price is considerably more than $15, and it still takes a lot of paperwork and sometimes waiting for a line of people. It looks cheap at first glance, but the trick is that they charge one low price on this end, but an additional percentage based price on the other end, which they tell you is being charged by your bank, not by them. I knew my bank didn’t charge a fee for receiving wires, so I agreed to that, and then got a large percentage fee at the other end. I duly complained and it turns out that it isn’t your bank’s charge on the other end but Sberbank’s correspondent bank. You can get out of the percentage based charge on the other end by agreeing to pay an extra (more than double) fixed charge on this end, and should probably do so if the transfer is anywhere over about $3000.
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dustin Paul Richard Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 6:15 PM To: The Moscow Expat List Subject: Re: Expat List Are There Any Banks in Moscow that Are Any Good? I haven't lived in Moscow for about four years now. But I recall being able to send any amount of money to my US bank account for $15 via Sverbank with no percentage. It took at least four pages of paperwork and an hour of waiting for them to figure out how to do it each time, not to mention being consistently admonished for my poor handwriting, but for that rate I was able to suck it up and just get it done. Good luck! On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 12:12 PM, Bruce Hoult <[email protected]> wrote: I can't help much with your question, I'm afraid, but I have a related one. I've been in Moscow four weeks (today), now have a "salary account" at Citi, and expect my first salary payment into it on Wednesday. The Citi representative (Anna Rubashevskaya, I can give phone/email if desired) who visited me at work to set up the account seemed very competent and easy to communicate with. What I now want to know now is whether some other bank has a better fee structure for wiring money overseas. If for no other reason than I'll have a nearly NZ$20,000 a year income tax obligation in NZ -- even after deducting the tax already paid in Russia -- until and unless I lose my NZ tax residence. Which requires, at minimum, not having set foot in NZ for 366 days. Which may not happen for some time or at all as I will visit NZ in August and (probably) February. Citi wire transfer fees are 1% of the sum transferred, with a US$15 minimum and US$150 maximum. At banks in NZ (and USA, and Australia) I'm used to a flat fee for wire transfers, generally in the $20 range. Do any banks in Russia have a flat fee for international wire transfers (via SWIFT or otherwise)? Or, do any charge less than 1%? On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 1:09 PM, Nick Hodgkins <[email protected]> wrote: Anyone know of a Russian 'high street' bank that's any good (savings, mortgages...)? If so, it'll get my business immediately. One with competent staff above the age of, say, 20, who know the basic transactions and procedures that tend to come up during any working day? I've yet to find one after being here 22 years. I've tried Raiffeisen, VTB24 and Bank Moskvi. All provide mostly terrible service, it seems to me due to poor training/HR strategy in general. Some staff are great (actually, only at Raiffeisen), but most... let those great exceptions down, not to mention their clientele. Rant over. Any recommendations? -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by <http://www.mailscanner.info/> MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. _______________________________________________ Expat mailing list [email protected] http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat http://www.expat.ru/forum/ _______________________________________________ Expat mailing list [email protected] http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat http://www.expat.ru/forum/
_______________________________________________ Expat mailing list [email protected] http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat http://www.expat.ru/forum/
