If you're transferring to another customer in the same bank then they're free but I've never had that luxury.
Were you referring to bank transfers to same bank customers? Because I've never heard of zero fees for bank transfers
Americans are not historically leery about giving out checks but, fun fact, we put all the information needed to empty an account on every check.
Why? Long story; legacy systems rule the world. The industry's main defense is a) surveillance of use of accounts, b) reversing transactions which appear fraudulent, and c) aggressively prosecuting fraudsters where their identity can be readily ascertained.
Wait, what? The only thing needed to send a payment is a target account number. So, if banks in US consider that enough info to DEBIT the account then something went terribly wrong there. In Europe, to take money out of the account you need to either
- go to the bank, and show your photo ID to prove that you're you.
- login to online transaction system and prove your identity by knowing the login password and one-time SMS password.
That's why many charity institutions simply put their account number on their website and ask for donations - there's zero risk someone will debit their account.
Many banks will take a check deposit by scan or phone camera now, so you can just have someone write a paper check and send the image immediately and deposit it that way.
It's still pretty high-friction, not something you'd typically want to do with a customer, but a reasonable alternative to bank transfer if you don't want to pay the $50.
My bank (credit union) charges a $2 fee for each check I write, regardless of how or where it's deposited. Yes, it's cheaper than a bank transfer, but checks still aren't fee-free for everyone.
Plus, not only can you do everything "on desktop", you can do it on web generally; the browser version works great on phones.
Not something you can just use to pay a stranger.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/banking/wire-transfers-what-...
If you want the funds transferred instantly and with certainty, use a wire and pay the fee for the real-time service.
If not, use an ACH (cheap or free). But be aware the funds won't show up for a day or two. And possibly never, if, for example, the sender's account has insufficient funds or doesn't exist.
What we've got are Google Wallet, checks, and a variety of smaller services (Venmo, etc).
Edit: Yes
They are pretty clear on what it costs to send money, I spent a few seconds clicking around on World First and couldn't find the information that Transferwise has on the very opening page: if you send 1000 CAD then the receiver gets... The only thing I found on World First was "The interbank rate [...] is not our offered rate or an indication of price. Call us to find out more." Why would anyone need to call ? It's a horribly inefficient way to use my time.
Also it's really, really easy to use here in Canada where they make you log into your ebank with your credentials -- horrible security? well, that's what sofort does too -- and that's it. I never have used a simpler setup.
In other ways it is simple: when wiring money into Hungary I do not even need to bother with IBAN, local bank account numbers just work. That's how everyone banks there so no problems for the receiver to get hold of the magic numbers -- or for me to convert theirs.
So why we shouldn't recommend a system that is both ridiculously easy to use and cheaper than any alternatives at the same time? Yes, pick two out of easy, cheap and fast applies as in Transferwise is slower -- but it usually takes less than a week and SWIFT also takes a few business days and so I never really had a problem or complaint with the speed. If I had any complaints I wish it had a feature where you entered how much money the receiver gets and it calculates how much should you send.
I don't know of any other companies that do the same but I'll look into world first.
FTFY. Zero fees, zero megacorps taking their cut, zero social graphs in the US growing a few extra tuples