In case you don't know yet, not so long after I had a collaboration with Shi Hui for the post on Indonesian guys vs Singaporean guys, who knows that I end up dating the latter to prove the difference on my own?!
Well, if there's any obvious difference between dating my current boyfriend and the previous ones, it's actually the transparency about my vulnerability. The financial aspect, no matter how hard it is to admit it, is one of them.
I really want to act like I'm a strong, independent woman. But then there are times when I'm short on cash, especially a couple of months ago when my work was a little slower than usual. Last month, I had to borrow some money from my boyfriend.
If you don't know me, you may think that shit like that occasionally happens in life. But if you know me personally, I suppose you know how embarrassing it could be for me. But hey, work has been quite busy again lately and I've paid back the money he loaned me. And it was my first time transferring money internationally from Indonesia. 🙂
I figured it might be helpful if I could write something about it. And how I've found a very helpful platform to help me transferring money overseas from Indonesia, hassle-free. And not just from Indonesia, as Skrill provides international money transfer services from many other countries too.
Before I finally decided to use Skrill as the platform to return my boyfriend's money, I actually got some other options for the payback. One of them would be through international money transfer feature from my bank account, and the other would be through Paypal as I usually get paid by some of my clients on the latter platform.
However, there were some considerations that forced me to find another alternative from those platforms. First and foremost is the additional charges, which is super inconvenient.
It really affected me, to the point that I realized that I had to deal with the third world problem. So, when Chua, my boyfriend, transferred the money from his DBS Singapore account to my Indonesian account, it was super easy.
There was no additional charge along with it. And it took less than 24 hours for me to receive the money on my bank account. But guess what happened when I tried to pay back the money the other way around?!
The Inconvenience Fee that Totally Sucks
I have a love-and-hate relationship with Paypal. There were times when I had to swallow the fact that my clients paid less than the price I offered, because of the transfer fee. However, since that's the only platform that I'm most familiar with when it comes to international transfer, it was one of my top options.
Apart from Paypal, I also thought that I could transfer money from Indonesia through Transferwise. It was because once I received money from the platform. As it turned out, we could receive the money through the platform in Indonesia. However, the feature doesn't work the same way if we want to transfer it out of Indonesia. Obviously, it only works one way and it sucks big time. 😐
My last option is to transfer it directly from my bank account. I have an account at CIMB Niaga, and they offer international money transfer feature on their internet banking.
That, only for me to find out that in order to transfer $100 SGD to Chua's DBS Singapore account, I gotta pay the inconvenience fee not less than approximately $38 SGD. Obviously, it's not worth it. Like dude, the inconvenience fee is more than one-third of the total amount that I transfer.
Source: Pxhere.
After digging some more information about international money transfer from Indonesia, I found an article about Skrill as one of the most convenient platforms to do it.
Why I Decided to Use Skrill for International Money Transfer
The second I checked on Skrill, I was straightly interested to use it. They offer the service for free, and it can be done from any bank account in Indonesia since we can use our debit card and/or credit card to proceed the money transfer. The service they offer sounds promising, so I told Chua that I was going prioritize this platform to pay his money back promptly.
However, the next problem that I had to face with Skrill is the fact that I couldn't transfer the money to Chua's DBS Singapore account since there's no option for any bank to Singapore. As for now, I'm still yet to gather information about the best platform to transfer money from Indonesia to Singapore because of this.
In my case, since my boyfriend is currently in the Netherlands, he's got an account at the Dutch Bank. When I found out that it's possible to transfer money through Skrill to the Netherlands for free, he agreed to get paid back on the account. Although in our case, I had to wait for a few weeks as he had to update his data on his Dutch Bank's account.
Step by Step: Transferring Money Internationally from Indonesia through Skrill
Pretty much like Paypal, Skrill allows you to use the platform as your online wallet as well. If you're interested to put some deposit on Skrill wallet, you could do it through manual bank transfer or using your debit or credit card instantly.
Please note that there are limited options on Skrill, in terms of money currency used for any transaction. However, you could still pick any currency that is more convenient for you. It's always good to do your own research first before choosing the best currency used for the transaction on Skrill.
1. Choose the platform that you want to use for transferring the money.
And to transfer money internationally, both options are also available for you to choose. For my first attempt to transfer money to Chua's Dutch Bank account, I used the debit card option.
Skrill dashboard.
Using my debit card is more convenient for me since I could check directly through my internet banking in case something went wrong on my first try. And not just that, because I'd also be able to check the currency values directly there too.
2. Choose the currency used for money transfer.
As I previously mentioned, there are only a few options on Skrill, in terms of currencies used for the transaction. For example, despite the fact that I could use my Indonesian bank account for the transaction, I couldn't use Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) as the main currency for the transfer.
The good thing is that I borrowed money from my boyfriend in Singaporean Dollar (SGD), and Skrill has the option of SGD to use for the transaction. And since I was transferring money to his Dutch Bank account, I converted the money to Euro directly.
Add how much you want to transfer to the recipient's account.
3. Input the recipient's data, and make sure that you put the correct details in the column.
The next step is to make sure that you've gathered all the correct details needed for the money transfer. And this includes the bank details of your recipient.
In my case, once Chua updated his data on his account and got it confirmed by the Dutch Bank, he sent me all the details I needed for the money transfer. That includes his full name, as well as the IBAN of his bank.
Add the recipient's bank details.
When it comes to the IBAN code, it threw me back to when I gathered the necessary documents when I filled in the payment form for my upcoming salary in my previous company. One of the columns was one with IBAN/swift code number. I was a bit frustrated as I couldn't find the IBAN number for my bank account.
FYI, if you're basically in the same shoes as I was years ago, in case you're sending money to a bank outside EU countries, please make sure to find the swift code of the bank instead of the IBAN number.
4. Confirm the details given on the previous steps.
Once you put all the details, the next step will display everything in your submission. Recheck and ensure that you don't make any error in your input before confirming.
Make sure that you input the correct details, which include the amount of money you're about to send and the recipient's bank account.
In this step, you will also find the length of the period needed until the money delivered to the recipient's account. In my case, the delivery time is up to 1 business day. As I sent the money on Good Friday, it was expected that Chua would receive the money on Tuesday.
5. Input your bank account details.
Once confirmed, it's now time to add the details for the sender's bank info. As for me, I used my CIMB Niaga debit card.
I just added all the details on my debit card, which includes the 16-digit card number, expiry date, as well as the CVV number. The latter is the 3-digit number behind the card that is usually written around your signature column.
Add the sender's bank details.
For those who get used to do any transaction online through credit card, it won't be too difficult to follow as it's pretty much the same way to do. The only difference is whether you want to use your debit or credit card for it.
It is strongly suggested to use the card in the same currency as what you opted for the transaction. However, it's not really a big deal since the additional fees included is only the matter of currency conversion on the day you transfer the money. For that matter, you might want to do research on your own to see how strong the currency you use on the day of your transaction.
6. SecureCode is needed for the next step.
Well, in this case, I'm not sure how it works if you use a different bank for the transaction.
In my case, since I used my CIMB account, the next step took me to the Mastercard SecureCode that is connected to my phone number.
They sent me the secure code through an SMS on my mobile phone that is connected to my account. Next, I just had to put the correct number in the column to continue the transaction process, and voila!
Secure code is needed to proceed with the transaction.
7. The last but not least, you'll get the notification once the payment successful on your behalf.
Once everything set, you'll get the notification once your transaction succeed. To be honest with you, the process was so easy to the point that I was initially quite cynic whether it would be successful or not.
The final notification.
And for exactly the same reason, I decided to check on my internet banking to see my last transaction. I also checked to see how much I successfully transferred in IDR. More than anything, I also wanted to check whether it was true that the transaction is free from any additional fee.
Once I checked on my internet banking, I was genuinely really impressed. If anything, my bank CIMB Niaga was quite known for their best conversion to any foreign currency. But then again, I was really happy with the fact that the free transfer on Skrill wasn't just propaganda. The transfer was totally free from any additional fee, and definitely hassle-free! 😀
Final Verdict on Skrill
I'd totally recommend Skrill for international money transfer from Indonesia. I was really impressed by how smooth and easy the process was. And I got even more excited when I saw the amount of money that I transferred in IDR. Frankly speaking, I'd consider it the best rate when converted to SGD. Don't forget, it's free transfer too!
100 SGD that I transferred, converted in IDR.
And guess what? Chua actually got the notification as he received the money on his bank account on Tuesday morning. The same day as we expected. It is definitely a convenient way to transfer money from Indonesia!
I mean, I'm planning to ask him to buy me stuff from Kruidvat before he comes back home next month. I definitely would consider using the platform again to transfer some money the same way to his bank account. It's easy, free without any hassle. Totally recommended!
Do you have any favorite platform to transfer money internationally? Any chance you could give me some recommendation for international money transfer to any Singapore bank account? Hit me up on the comment section, as I may need it for future reference, and cheerio! 😀
