Sending Money Overseas Guide
Salary remittances sent outside France are perfectly legal. You may conduct such transactions via your French bank, which will send a wire transfer into the receiving international bank account (a process that may take between 48 hours and 3 weeks). This service is normally quite simple as long as you have the receiving account number, routing number and – for many banks – a ‘SWIFT’ code or ‘IBAN’ International Bank Account Number.
There are additional options:
- Send a wire transfer via an instant service, although you will pay a higher fee; chains such as Western Union (http://www.westernunion.fr) have stand-alone shops throughout France and their services may also be used at most branches of La Poste.
- PayPal (http://www.paypal.com) also has a online transfer option and you can choose to transfer money from your bank account, PayPal balance or a credit card. The benefit is that with these options, transfers are relatively instant and may be sent directly to an individual.
- TransferWise (https://transferwise.com) is a relatively new online service that allows you to makes money transfers to yourself, individuals or banks while avoiding traditional bank fees.
