[MAB]

I'm thinking about opening an account with Matchbook. My question is has anyone from the US recently made a deposit with Matchbook via wire? If so, were there any issues & how long did the transfer take?

Thank you.

[vanzack]

I'm thinking about opening an account with Matchbook. My question is has anyone from the US recently made a deposit with Matchbook via wire? If so, were there any issues & how long did the transfer take?

Thank you.

I can tell you from personal experience, sending bank wires are no walk in the park. I suggest you call matchbook and find out every field that needs to be filled in at your bank. The problem is that if you dont fill out the form at your bank exactly right, with all of those swift codes and beneficiary banks and account numbers, the money goes into limbo land.

The wire system is archaic. If you send a 10 dollar fedex you can track who's pants it is in on the way to your door, you send 10 million on a wire and its send and hope.

I went through this 3 times with them, and finally gave up on bank wires. When you go to your bank, they will ask for all of that info, and there is a good chance that they wont get it right. Heres how the flow of a wire to matchbook normally goes:

1. From your bank to a major US bank like Chase or Citibank
2. From Citibank to Lloyds of london or Barclays (this is some of the info you gave)
3. From Lloyds to Antigua Overseas Bank
4. Into matchbooks account at AOB

If any of that info is wrong or missing, even something as small as having Matchbooks account number at AOB but not their name (matchbook) it goes in to limbo land.

This has happened to me 3 times, with the last time taking 4 weeks to get my money back in my bank account. It is a tremendous pain in the ass. The problem is that most bank employess make about 2 international bank wires a month and the fields are not numbered or easily mapped to the information you get from matchbook. So a beneficiary bank to mathchbook means something else to the moron at your bank, or they miss a letter or a field. Then to add to this they actually use the phone to transmit this info to whoever they are calling the wire to, and there is so much room for errors. So somewhere it goes astray, and now you have to get a trace put on it.

I highly suggest you educate yourself to how a wire works and know the fields before you send. Like I said, Im 0 for 3 and Im not riding the short bus to school.

Im sure it can be done, and many have been successful, but there are a lot of potential pitfalls.

[BuddyBear]

I'd like to play with Matchbook this fall if all goes well.....

[MAB]

Vanzack,

Thanks for the reply. I was afraid of that but after looking at what the bank requires compared to the information Matchbook provides, I see lots of room for errors which I don't want to deal with. For Matchbook US customers, bank wires seem like the only option.

I hope they come up with a new method prior to baseball season.

[Carlos019]

I have a prepaid DC from wired plastic, is a **** and it allows you to deposit to sportsbooks. I use it for matchbook but a 1500 a month deposit limit.

[TLD]

That’s a good post by Vanzack.

I’ve been fortunate that the bank wires I’ve done have never ended up in limbo like that. But it doesn’t surprise me it all to hear that it happens, because many times I’ve had to make extra calls to the sportsbooks to get information the bank claims it needs, or I’ve struggled with a bank clerk basically guessing what numbers go where on the form. I’m just lucky they’ve apparently guessed right so far.

It can be a lot like trying to send or receive ** at some store where they do very few of them and some new clerk is trying to teach herself the process by trial and error.

[Halo]

I highly suggest you educate yourself to how a wire works and know the fields before you send.

Im sure it can be done, and many have been successful, but there are a lot of potential pitfalls.

I have done many wire transfers and none of them have been a problem. Actually, most wire transfers are often completed in 3 days rather than the estimated ten days. As long as you fill the form out properly you should never have a problem. If you have trouble with one of the fields call your bank and ask them what to do and their policy. The nice thing is you only have to call them once because none of this information ever changes as long as your using the same bank account.

Essentially wire transfers are the same way other transactions are made. Services like Netteller are just a middle man in the process and charge the 1% (or whatever the current percentage is) to save the user from the headache of filling out the form correctly (insert sarcasm here).

[vanzack]

I have done many wire transfers and none of them have been a problem. Actually, most wire transfers are often completed in 3 days rather than the estimated ten days. As long as you fill the form out properly you should never have a problem. If you have trouble with one of the fields call your bank and ask them what to do and their policy. The nice thing is you only have to call them once because none of this information ever changes as long as your using the same bank account.

Essentially wire transfers are the same way other transactions are made. Services like Netteller are just a middle man in the process and charge the 1% (or whatever the current percentage is) to save the user from the headache of filling out the form correctly (insert sarcasm here).

With all due respect, you and your 3 posts sound a little suspicious to me.

Heres why.

YOU dont fill out the form usually. Its some moron at the bank that knows less about it than you do. Then guess what happens? She gets on the phone and CALLS the information to someone else who types it in to a computer. I will pause while you calculate the possible problems with one moron reading letters and numbers to another moron on the phone with vague field descriptions.

Its not the user who has to fill out the form correctly. Every bank has a different form and different morons working there.

Look - Im not saying this is impossible or even hard. I am sure people do it every day and have no problems. I am also well aware that once you do it successfully once, you should be able to replicate it (unless they make errors on the bank side). I also think that bank wires are probably the best option currently.

What I am trying to say is that an international wire is an unbelievably unmonitored and nonstandard process. You send it and get no tracking number. They will gladly attempt to send it with bad or missing information - there are no checks and balances to make sure the info is correct.

And I am also saying that it is not easy to track it if something goes wrong. It takes time. You will get your money, but it will be frustrating.

Thats it. Most probably go through without a hitch. But I am telling you that for whatever reason I am zero for three. And the more you know in advance the less likely there will be a problem.

BTW - Matchbook - in my opinion is not only the best book out there right now but also the best CS if you have problems like this.

[Halo]

Sorry I only have a few posts I just joined today. However, compared to others on this forum you and I are defiantly in the bottom percentile so I do not see reason to bring this up.

I am curious what bank and book you used when having all these problems? Out of all the people I know, I only know one that didn't get his wired money quickly. That was because he gave them a checking account number rather than the number on the bottom of the check. All banks are different and his particular one was XXXXXXY with the Y being the account type. When wiring money you only want to give XXXXXX not including the extension.

On another note why I use wire sometimes is SIA only deposits through wire or mail to the US. If you opt to get check by mail it takes 2-3 weeks rather than 3-5 business days. The money arrives quicker by wire for me.

I use matchbook I think its okay. It’s nice for when you want to bet something after the line has moved on the major books. Usually you can find it on matchbook unchanged.

[vanzack]

Sorry I only have a few posts I just joined today. However, compared to others on this forum you and I are defiantly in the bottom percentile so I do not see reason to bring this up.

I am curious what bank and book you used when having all these problems? Out of all the people I know, I only know one that didn't get his wired money quickly. That was because he gave them a checking account number rather than the number on the bottom of the check. All banks are different and his particular one was XXXXXXY with the Y being the account type. When wiring money you only want to give XXXXXX not including the extension.

On another note why I use wire sometimes is SIA only deposits through wire or mail to the US. If you opt to get check by mail it takes 2-3 weeks rather than 3-5 business days. The money arrives quicker by wire for me.

I use matchbook I think its okay. It’s nice for when you want to bet something after the line has moved on the major books. Usually you can find it on matchbook unchanged.

Im not sure your xxxxxx question. I think you are talking about a domestic wire where you have a routing number and an account number. That is an absolute piece of cake.

International wires are the world of swift codes, beneficiary banks, and for further credit fields. Its not just a routing number and an account number, its many fields that have to be exactly right, and not everyone calls these fields the same thing.

Just do a search on any forum and you will find people who tried to send wires that had problems.

[Halo]

Most of my action goes local, but I have been going through SIA and some others for quite sometime now. I would suspect that because SIA is based in Canada it is still considered an international wire transfer, but I do know that sometimes Canada/US have "special" ways of doing things. I used Greek alot also and have wired through them with no problem but there are cheaper and faster options more available.

[vanzack]

Most of my action goes local, but I have been going through SIA and some others for quite sometime now. I would suspect that because SIA is based in Canada it is still considered an international wire transfer, but I do know that sometimes Canada/US have "special" ways of doing things. I used Greek alot also and have wired through them with no problem but there are cheaper and faster options more available.

BINGO!!

If it is going to canada it is a routing number / account number issue. No problems. Couldnt be easier.

Going overseas is a whole different ballgame. No routing numbers.

Now I understand why you thought I must be the biggest idiot on earth, anyone can send a domestic wire that can write a check. International is a little trickier.

[Halo]

LOL... Okay I see now. I just looked up international wire transfers too. One thing is for sure your not the only person that has had problems with them...

[durito]

Can you fedex a cashiers check to matchbook?

[vanzack]

LOL... Okay I see now. I just looked up international wire transfers too. One thing is for sure your not the only person that has had problems with them...

If you send a 10 dollar fedex you get a tracking number that will tell you who's truck your package is in.

If you send a 10 million dollar international wire, you get nothing. No tracking number, no receipt - just a smile from some moron at your bank who is thinking about her lunch hour.

Its unbelievable.

[bside]

Vanzack

I feel your pain. I sent an international wire to some guy in China for an IPOD for like a 100 bucks (stolen I'm sure). It cost me at least $400 in pain (the cost of the IPOD). I had to send the money to just a Bank name and address somewhere in Mongolia. Of course nothing could be verified from one bank to the next because they spoke Mandarin. Long story short they never got the money (suppossedly), my bank couldn't communicate with them. The money was no where to be found. It was a three week hassle. I just wrote the money off. Then one day out of the blue my bank calls and says the money turned back up on the wire. They didn't charge me anything other than the original wire fee ($12) and had no way to explain where it had been or how it got back. I will never send another international wire.

[vanzack]

Vanzack

I feel your pain. I sent an international wire to some guy in China for an IPOD for like a 100 bucks (stolen I'm sure). It cost me at least $400 in pain (the cost of the IPOD). I had to send the money to just a Bank name and address somewhere in Mongolia. Of course nothing could be verified from one bank to the next because they spoke Mandarin. Long story short they never got the money (suppossedly), my bank couldn't communicate with them. The money was no where to be found. It was a three week hassle. I just wrote the money off. Then one day out of the blue my bank calls and says the money turned back up on the wire. They didn't charge me anything other than the original wire fee ($12) and had no way to explain where it had been or how it got back. I will never send another international wire.

Very common experience.

I cannot - for the life of me - understand how the international banking community survives on this system. How does fedex, **, and every other known business including the US postal service have tracking on almost everything and bank wires dont?

You literally could send 10 million bucks and get the same answers you got. Its unreal.

[MAB]

Can you fedex a cashiers check to matchbook?

Any know if fedex'ing a cashiers check to matchbook is an option?

[Cyclone]

Wire transfers do have tracking numbers. You just have to call the bank back later in the day after the wire is completed. (Fedwire shuts down early in the day for some reason, I guess because it takes awhile for everything to clear.)

I feel comfortable with wires, but I have worked in banks for 20 years. In my experience, the customer fills out the form. Yes, they can be complicated. I would recommend using a large bank that is accustomed to doing them. Try to use their main branch downtown, or in a neighborhood where rich people live. They will have more experience with international wires.