CONDUCTING A WIRE TRANSFER

Money transfer has become a very essential and prominent feature in banking, with the world becoming a global village. In the recent past, overseas business transactions have tremendously increased more than ever before. This is of course a result of advancement in technology, especially the internet and mobile telephony. This is also directly related to advancement in E-commerce and online banking. Business people are now singing to the same tune of easy, fast and revolutionary modes of conducting business transactions. Wire transfer (also known as bank wire) is basically a mode of transferring funds from one bank account to another electronically.

The easiest way to illustrate wire transfer is by drawing an analogy with mobile phone money transfers. In Kenya for example, we have mobile phone money transfer services like: M-pesa, Airtel Money, Yu Cash, Orange Money, Tangaza among others. They form a big analogy with wire transfers. The only difference is that mobile phone money transfers are done via mobile phones and are ran by mobile phone service providers, whereas wire transfers are conducted via the internet and are ran by wire transfer system operators.

If time is money, then wire transfers can help you save a bindle of cash, due to their speed and convinience. They are often used in businesses that require interbank transactions, as well as online bank accounts. Wire transfers is often the most expedient method of transferring funds between bank accounts. In case you have an online bank account and you are wondering how you can deposit or withdraw funds to or from it, relax because you are in the right place.

The process of wire transfers may vary from one bank to another, but generally the procedure is as follows:

•       The person wishing to conduct a wire transfer will approach his bank, and order the bank to transfer a specific amount to a specific bank account (and gives the bank name and ABA number or other code of the receiving bank).
•       The sending bank will then transfer a message via a secured system to the receiving bank requesting to effect payment as per the instructions.
•       Upon the conclusion of the above formalities, wire transfer is effected as per the instructions.
•       The actual transfer may take from as little as minutes to even a day to be completed.

USING ALERT PAY

 

On my previous article on online banking, I mentioned Alert Pay as being on top of the list as an online bank account. Alert Pay is quite user friendly and secure. I can attest to that because I have used it before. There is definitely a number of other authentic online bank accounts but today am focusing on Alert Pay. Let us look at some of its features, the different services it offers, how it works, and also security measures that it has put in place.

Alert Pay was founded in 2004 in Montreal, Quebec,Canada with a mission to simplify online transactions. It is trusted by millions from over 190 countries. It currently supports 22 currencies and has localized banking in 44 countries. Alert Pay is a smart and safe way of paying and getting paid, not to mention that it cuts down the cost of transactions big time.

Alert Pay has a wide variety of features for its customers which include:

• Sending money for free. It allows you to send money to other people with Alert Pay accounts for absolutely no charges.
• Exchange of currency. Alert Pay supports 22 currencies and enables its customers to exchange currency for as low as 2.5% of the daily rate.
• Earn money by referring people. Alert Pay pays you when you refer a new customer to their website and they create an account under you as a referral. They reward 5USD per referral, and 10USD from the 10th referral.
• Send Invoices. It helps you send a friendly reminder to debtors reminding them to pay you.
• Deposit and withdraw money. For example, you can withdraw money via: bank account (bank wire), credit card, Alert Pay prepaid card, Debit card. You can also deposit money in your E-wallet via wire transfer, certified check, money orders, credit card.
• Use credit card to make payments. You can use your credit card to pay a person who has an Alert Pay account directly.

How does Alert Pay work? Its pretty easy. Supposing we are having a sender and a recipient. The sender clicks at the payment button "send money". He then enters the details of the recipient, which are the email address of the recipients Alert Pay account. The payment is then processed and a confirmation email is sent to both the sender and the recipient. Upon confirmation by both parties, payment is effected and funds are deposited in the recipients E-wallet.

On matters of security, Alert Pay will ask you to select a secret pin no (just like for an ATM) that you will be using to authorize your transactions. This means that in any case a person logs into your account, they cannot transfer funds provided that they do not know your pin. In addition to that, Alert Pay uses SSL encryption to ensure confidentiality of the data you enter into their website. This means that sensitive information that you enter cannot be viewed by a third party. Other security tools include phone verification, accounting review and website review.

Its my hope that this article will help you make a wise choice while selecting an online bank account.


Yours
tsmunyeki

ONLINE BANKING

If you are thinking of starting an online business, you will definitely consider online banking. in-case you are not, you are surely missing out on something invaluable. look at it this way, in today's world, almost everybody is highly educated and getting a job is becoming a nightmare. in order to survive the hard economic times we  not only need to be educated but also need to be street smart. The internet has provided us with an opportunity to beat recession if we think outside the box. I personally prefer to be my own boss and work at my convenience. Am not against getting employed because if you look at it, under employment , you get a regular income, but for the internet business, your income will increase exponentially as you continue to network, not to mention that you work at your own convenience... so be the judge.

Currently, we have quite a handful of online financial service providers. Online businesses are gradually taking over traditional offline businesses. Financial and IT gigs have taken advantage of this opportunity, and have designed amazing online bank accounts and they are all tailored to suite the needs for their different customers. I have a strong feeling that in near future, anyone who does not initiate the use of the internet in their business will be irrelevant. However, when using these services, there is a risk of falling a victim of a scam. Some examples of online bank accounts are: PayPal, Alert Pay, Liberty Reserve, among others. I recommend these because they have mechanisms put in place to ensure the safety of your money.

You are maybe wondering how these online accounts work. The good news is that they are quite easy to  use. You only need an email address to sign up, plus a few details. Note that they do not ask for sensitive information such your credit card number. Once your account is ready, you can deposit your money through: bank wire, bank transfer, credit card, depending on the account you are using. Once you have loaded your account, you can easily send money or receive payments directly in to your account. all transactions are easy to perform and are confirmed via email by both parties, as a way of authorization. You can also withdraw your money from your online bank account using: bank wire, bank transfer, credit/debit card, or having a check sent to you via post. Again, it all depends on which online bank you are using. The financial websites have a friendly user interface, to facilitate you through each step, so no need to worry about the jargon. With such convenience, you will conquer with me that online banking is the way to go.

What of security concerns? May be that's what ringing in your mind right now, and i feel you because even I cannot get into something that does not guarantee me a sufficient level of security. Bearing in mind that we are dealing with real money here, it makes sense to only accept if we get a highest level of assurance. One thing I love about PayPal and Alert Pay is that they have features that ensure security of the data you enter. These features include SSL Encryption, VeriSign, Mc Afee. They are useful in ensuring that any information that could be used by a third party to siphon your funds does not leak to such crooks. These are just but a few of security features that online bank accounts put in place to ensure maximum security.

Its very important to have a credit card or a master card for easy withdrawals and deposits. You can use the card to load money to the online bank account, or even from the online account to the card account. A good example is the KCB General Purpose Card. I prefer this particular one because it is easy to get, plus you do NOT need an account with KCB to get it. All you need is a copy of your ID/Passport, a passport size photo, a completed form and Kshs.1000. The card should be ready within not more than 5 business days.

I will give you more details of these online bank accounts in forthcoming articles. Before i finish, let me say that you can mint some extra bucks from the internet, regardless of what profession you are in. Just do your research well and you will be amazed of your discovery. Even if you are employed, a few more bucks from a side online business is not bad after all.

Written by:
 tsmunyeki

Welcome

Hi guys!!! I have just opened this blog and am really loving it. You can now get updates on topics about banking that I will be regularly posting. I have done a lot of research on banking, finance, economics and other business related fields. Please bookmark us and watch out because I can't wait to share what I have with you.