Higher Wire Transfer Fees at Wells Fargo and Citizens Bank - Wire Alternatives

Earlier this week I mentioned higher ATM fees and paper statement fees at a few large banks. There's another fee that's going up at some large banks that may have more effect on savers. It's the fee for wire transfers. For those who have done a lot of opening and closing of CDs at non-local institutions, wire transfers can be useful. They provide a fast way to send funds to an institution. One downside is the fees. Most all institutions charge fees for outgoing wire transfers, but many (especially the large banks) charge a fee for incoming.

The fees for both incoming and outgoing wire transfers are going up at Wells Fargo and Citizens Bank. Credit for this information goes to Mary Morgan at Financial Shop Solutions.

Starting in October Wells Fargo is increasing the domestic incoming wire transfers from $10 to $15. For domestic outgoing (non-repetitive), the fee is increasing from $20 to $30.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Citizens Bank has slowly been increasing fees since 2010. This includes wire transfer fees. Incoming domestic wire transfer fees are going up from $13 to $18. Outgoing wire transfer fees (non-repetitive) are going up from $21 to $30.

Alternatives to Wire Transfers

ACH transfers can be a less expensive way to move money. They do take more time than wire transfers, but with interest rates so low, that's less of an issue these days. For example, if you lose a day of interest on $100K, that equals $2.74 for an account with a 1% APY. Back in the good old days, that would have been $13.70 for an account with a 5% APY.

Many banks don't offer ACH transfers, but you can often use the ACH service of another bank to transfer money to or from a checking or savings account. Initiating ACH transfers are almost always free at internet banks, but beware that some banks have relatively small transfer limits.

Another option to send money is FedEx. A reader mentioned in a previous post a good way to send money if you live near the sending institution:

If you are near the sending institution, you can go in, get a cashiers check, and FedEx the check to a specific person or department. Costs less than wire transfer. You get credit the day it arrives.

However, another reader warned about one downside to this:

Only the first $5,000 is available on cashier checks. Depending on the routing number funds can be on hold for up to 3 weeks and longer if the bank thinks it is suspicious.

You can read what Regulation CC has on maximum hold times in this Federal Reserve guide.

If you are trying to send money to a credit union, the shared branch network can help with this. Many credit unions are part of the CU Service Centers. You can use a nearby credit union that's part of the shared branch network to deposit a check into your credit union savings or checking account.

If you have any tips on fast and inexpensive ways to fund CDs or receive funds from a CD, please leave a comment.