This article is specifically catered to people who are based in the USA and plan to come study Spanish in Spain. If you plan on studying in Spain for four months or more then I suggest that you open a Spanish bank account. If you do not want an account or do not yet have one and find that you need to procure cash (from the USA) in a jiffy, then I suggest that you use a money transfer service like MoneyGram.
MoneyGram has service agents in 300,000 locations across 197 countries and territories. Its money transfer services are quick (10 minutes approximately to receive the cash).
The company has proven to be reliable and hassle-free with affordable service charges.
However, I must reiterate that money can only be sent out from within the United States to other countries as the company has not, as yet, upgraded their services to include the actual sending of money from within other locations outside the USA.
Although this article speaks uniquely to those who will be on the receiving end from someone living in the USA, others who are interested in sending or receiving money from other countries more flexibly could try another option.
The MoneyGram service is very user-friendly, and neither the sender nor the receiver needs a bank account or credit card to transfer the money in question.
Take a look at the simple and straightforward steps required to send and to receive money with the service.
You can also locate a service agent near you and estimate how much using the service will cost you.
NB: Do not forget that there will also be a service fee and potentially a gain or loss of money due to currency conversion. Remember to factor in these extra expenses when asking for the amount of money that you need.
Brief Comparison Between MoneyGram and Western Union
| Western Union | MoneyGram | |
| Agent Locations | Western Union has over300,000 agent locationsworldwide | MoneyGram has over 100,00 agent locations worldwide. |
| Money Transfer Limit | You can send as much money as you want by Western Union. | MoneyGram allows you to send only $899 at a time. |
| From where can you send money? | You can send money from a variety of countries. | You can send money only from United States. |
| Fees and Rates | (see below) | (see below) |
*table courtesy of this site
Regarding fees and rates between the two companies, the author is of the impression that it would be difficult to determine an absolute as it would vary by location, amount of money transferred, currency of the cash being transferred etc. Use the tools of each service to figure out which option would be more efficient and less expensive for you.
