Hank wrote:
Seabreeze wrote:
Western Union
Had a chica that didn't like Western Union she wanted the dinero sent to Money Gram
It's pretty easy to pickup MoneyGram at Teledolar branches. They let the recipient pickup dollars in cash. It also goes faster for subsequent transactions once Teledolar has your cedula on file.
Western Union has to be picked up at Servimas and they don't get a nice an exchange rate on transfers. Also, it's mandatory to change the dollars into colones at Servimas.
Comparatively Western Union is slow and has extra questions like the sender's name and city. Moneygram only requires the transfer number, and presenting the cedula.
Paypal in Costa Rica requires having a bank account at Banco Nacional and a special electronic banking token. It's not typical to have the token, and it's not easy to setup for someone who doesn't have a documented source of formal income. There are also fees to transfer into the account, unlike in the US. Also, you have to use a computer and keep an online banking profile up to date and working. It could be a big hassle.
Also, transfer fees on the sender side are much lower for MoneyGram, especially ACH transfers.