International transfers are popular among freelancers and those people who work outside of their home countries, receive benefits under international programs, or send remittances (monetary help to family members in their home countries). If you need to transfer money to Indonesia for the first time, this review will help you understand the available international payment methods and their differences. Below you will also find reviews of the best payment systems and a comparison of their fees.
Start Working with Digital Banks Now with the Wise Bank!The traditional option for making international payments is through banks. But practice shows that while this method is considered to be the most reliable, it is also the most time-consuming, even though banks work with most other payment systems. On average, payments to other countries via banks take 3-5 business days, whereas payment systems and neobanks transfer money in 1-3 days (some do it in several hours).
You can transfer money through a payment system without the participation of a bank and, thus, avoid giving your personal data to a bank and having it verified. You can do this, for instance, by buying a top-up voucher. These payment methods are discussed below.
A payment system is a platform that provides a technical possibility to transfer money from one place to another worldwide. Payment systems have several working formats:
A partnership between a bank and a payment system. The bank issues a card, and the payment system makes an international payment. In the bank client’s user account, the sender provides the number of the recipient’s card and the safety code.
A payment system that acts as a standalone payment service provider. The sender registers with a payment system and links a card to it. It may be a bank card or a proprietary card if the platform is a digital bank, i.e., a bank that only exists as an online platform (neobank). Funds can be added to a payment system account without the participation of a bank by buying a top-up voucher and using a cash deposit machine.
Hybrid formats of digital banks and payment systems are the most popular because they offer simple verification and low fees and don’t set limits.
A bank is an all-inclusive financial organization that, in particular, acts as an intermediary in money transfers. Banks can offer several ways to transfer money:
Partner payment systems. Most often, it’s Visa or MasterCard.
SWIFT (Society For Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) transfers comprise an international interbank system for the communication of information and making payments.
Partner electronic platforms, e.g., Wise or Western Union.
An advantage of banks is they have developed affiliate networks that allow their clients to make payments almost anywhere in the world. Their disadvantages are strict limits on transactions and complicated verification procedures.
Р2Р platforms are available, for example, on Binance and Huobi crypto exchanges. Their advantage is the absence of conversion fees, which means you don’t need to combine payment methods and e-wallets. The scheme works in the following way:
The sender and the recipient complete verification in their countries.
On a P2P platform, the sender finds a counteragent at his own discretion based on such criteria as the number of successful transfers, reviews, etc. Due to the competition, P2P platforms have the lowest market rates.
The sender sends money in his currency to the counteragent’s bank card. The counteragent sends the cryptocurrency to the sender’s account. Calculations are made in stablecoins. The platform serves as an arbiter.
The sender sends the cryptocurrency to the recipient.
In the same way, the recipient makes a transaction in his country’s currency. He sends the cryptocurrency to a counteragent in his country and receives the national currency on his card.
The advantages of this scheme are instant transfers and a wide choice of payment methods. Transaction time within one country or on crypto exchanges is a few minutes. In most countries, users can choose counteragents with several payment methods, including most bank cards. The drawback is that exchanges are not regulated.
Best Crypto-Friendly Banks You Should KnowWestern Union is an international system for money transfers. It’s not a payment system or bank but an intermediary that transfers money from one place to another. You go to a branch of WU in your region and provide the recipient’s information. The recipient receives the money at a branch of WU in his country. The same can be done online via banks that perform such payments but, in this case, there may be legal restrictions. Other drawbacks include very high fees and limits on transfer amounts.
Basic criteria to consider when selecting a payment system:
Conversion rates and fees. Most systems don’t have multicurrency accounts. If you send money, for example, in USD, the system will automatically convert USD to Indonesian rupiahs. Conversion rates are set by payment systems, and already fees may be included in them.
Partners. See what banks and services a system works with. The more payment methods it offers, the less likely you are to need transactions through intermediaries.
Transfer time depends on the direction. For instance, a money transfer from the USA to Indonesia may take up to 3 days, and from Indonesia to the USA, it may take only a few hours. Some systems have paid packages with raised priority transactions.
Important! Before you get verified, be sure to see the FAQs section. It explains many nuances regarding deposits and withdrawals of funds, restrictions on separate transfer directions, additional fees (e.g., local charges or taxes), dispute settlement procedures, etc.
This section contains reviews of payment systems that are considered best in terms of the minimization of commissions and transaction time. These systems enable users to send money to Indonesia without intermediaries and at the best conversion rates.
Wise is a British payment system, licensed by one of the world’s most reputable regulators, the FCA. Today, the system’s services are used by more than 13 million people in over 150 countries. Due to the large number of users, the system can afford to set better exchange rates and relatively low fees.
The advantages of the Wise payment system:
Multicurrency accounts that support over 50 currencies. Unlike many other systems, with Wise, you can send and receive money in the world’s major currencies without forced conversion.
Guaranteed rates on most transfer directions. It means that rates may be fixed for short periods and, thus, protected from high volatility.
Notifications about changes in currency rates.
On average, transfers are made in 1-3 days. Internal payments arrive within a few hours.
Revolut is a digital financial platform that operates in over 200 countries. It’s used by more than 20 million private clients and over 950 legal entities. The platform supports conversions and transfers of more than 30 currencies.
The advantages of the Revolut payment system:
Free-of-charge transactions with cryptocurrencies.
Absence of fees on most other transactions.
Expanded range of services for retail clients. Among them are investments in metals and cryptocurrencies, virtual individual safe deposit boxes, and booking accommodations with a cashback of up to 10%.
The platform offers 4 rate plans, including a standard free plan. Paid accounts additionally include various insurance services, low deposit interest rates, accounts for children, 1 free SWIFT transfer per month, etc.
PayPal, a division of eBay, is the largest American payment system. Its main advantage is making payments with bank cards without disclosing their owners’ personal data. Transactions are linked to phone numbers or emails. This service is available in 202 countries, supports 25 currencies, and is used daily by 180-190 million people.
The advantages of the PayPal money transfer system:
Quick money transfers to most countries.
Proprietary debit card.
No fees for payments and purchases at internet stores. There are fees for conversion only.
This payment system works directly with the largest equipment chain stores and retailers in the USA, Europe, and Asia.
Curve is an e-wallet that allows users to link over 100 payment cards to its app. Here is how it works. You have analyzed the conditions offered by payment systems and have decided that payment system “A” is suitable for you to receive international payments from clients or to buy goods from internet stores because this system has the best rates. When traveling abroad, you have chosen a card from a bank “B”, which offers good cash back and low fees on cash withdrawals. You add these cards to the app, order a single Curve card, and activate the desired card in the app at any time.
The advantages of the Curve aggregator:
Favorable conversion conditions.
Cashback on payments in partner networks.
Free cash withdrawals from partner ATMs in the USA and Europe.
On the platform’s website, you can find the fees for the services that are included in different plans.
The table below presents a comparison of the plans of several payment systems. The amount of 1,000 USD was entered into the calculators of each payment system on their respective websites.
| The recipient gets (IDR) | Fees (USD) | Transaction time | |
|---|---|---|---|
Wise |
15,123,564.88 |
10.61 |
1 day |
Revolut |
15,133,760.25 |
0 |
1 day |
Skrill |
14,682,169.56 |
0 |
1 day |
Western Union |
14,943,700 |
0 |
Up to 4 days |
Classic payment systems are financial intermediaries. International payments are made in the following way:
A user registers with a payment system or bank that works with it and links his debit or credit card information to his user account. There are two options for making payments:
The sender preliminarily deposits funds to his account with a payment system. It’s possible if the system has an e-wallet.
The sender provides the recipient’s card information.
The recipient’s bank contacts the payment system, and the payment system contacts the issuing bank.
The bank sends the confirmation of the client’s solvency to the processing center. The money is transferred to the recipient through the payment system.
It’s desirable but not necessary for the recipient to open a bank card. For example, the Payoneer payment system, which is a provider of MasterCard, issues proprietary cards with which you can withdraw money from partner ATMs. This is an option for those who don’t want to show their personal data and financial flows to government-controlled banks.
There may be a situation where banks in your country don’t work with a particular payment system, which is convenient for the sender. This problem can be solved through online currency exchange platforms.
Best International Banks For Active TravelersConclusion. There are dozens of payment systems, international payment services, and banks through which you can send money to or from Indonesia and to most countries in the world. When choosing a financial partner, pay attention to the amount that the recipient will get and comments on whether the platform fulfills its obligations.
Basic options:
Direct SWIFT transfers via banks.
Visa or MasterCard payment systems, from a user account on the issuing bank’s website.
Electronic payment platforms (Wise) or international payment platforms (Western Union).
Transfer time depends on the system and may be up to 3 days.
There is no single answer to this for the following reasons:
Every system has its own rate schedule. Fees may be included in conversion rates, and the rates may change online or be fixed for several hours while transactions are made. One payment system may have more favorable rates for country A, and another system may have better rates for country B. Conversion rates can be compared on websites of payment systems.
Fees don’t always play a decisive role. Transaction time and the system’s reliability are also important.
Sometimes, the decisive factor in choosing a payment system is the support service. Individual approach and quick professional help also may be most important for a user.
They differ in their features and rate schedules. Some payment systems only serve as financial intermediaries, and some have multicurrency wallets for storing various currencies and internal conversion of currencies. There are digital banks that, besides money transfers, also offer property and health insurance, cashback, etc.
Restrictions may be legal or technical. For instance, bans on sending money to countries that are under sanctions, or limits on transaction amounts. It may be impossible to make SWIFT payments or conversions with some currencies.
Oleg Tkachenko is an economic analyst and risk manager having more than 14 years of experience in working with systemically important banks, investment companies, and analytical platforms. He has been a Traders Union analyst since 2018. His primary specialties are analysis and prediction of price tendencies in the Forex, stock, commodity, and cryptocurrency markets, as well as the development of trading strategies and individual risk management systems. He also analyzes nonstandard investing markets and studies trading psychology.
Olga Shendetskaya has been a part of the Traders Union team as an author, editor and proofreader since 2017. Since 2020, Shendetskaya has been the assistant chief editor of the website of Traders Union, an international association of traders. She has over 10 years of experience of working with economic and financial texts. In the period of 2017-2020, Olga has worked as a journalist and editor of laftNews news agency, economic and financial news sections. At the moment, Olga is a part of the team of top industry experts involved in creation of educational articles in finance and investment, overseeing their writing and publication on the Traders Union website.
Olga has extensive experience in writing and editing articles about the specifics of working in the Forex market, cryptocurrency market, stock exchanges and also in the segment of financial investment in general. This level of expertise allows Olga to create unique and comprehensive articles, describing complex investment mechanisms in a simple and accessible way for traders of any level.
Olga’s motto: Do well and you’ll be well!
