The moneybookers.com website tells me that I should do a "bank transfer" of funds from my US bank to their bank.

However, their bank is located in Germany.

So my bank (located in the US) is unable to do a bank-to-bank transfer, and can only do a wire transfer.. which will cost a lot more $$.

Is this normal? Can other US banks do a bank-to-bank transfer to a German bank account?

I don't understand this, because so many people seem to say how easy it is to use moneybookers to send money overseas... but how is this any different then just doing a wire transfer directly into my "target payment person's" bank?

Thanks.

Yes, it is normal, and it costs you $ to do this wire transfer.

Originally posted by cavalry
Yes, it is normal, and it costs you $ to do this wire transfer.

So what is the advantage of using moneybooker instead of just wiring the money directly into my recipient's bank account?

I don't see what is the "pros" of using this service...

If you are a new user of Moneybookers, Moneybookers will require you to do a wire transfer to them in Germany, and you need to do this wire transfer under your bank account, from there Moneybookers can verify your bank account so they can wire you money in the future.

About pros about moneybookers:
(1) they are reliable, money should be secured with them
(2) low fees
(3) popular in Europe

About cons about Moneybookers:
(1) most likely you will lose sale if your potential customers are not Moneybookers members.
(2) very difficult to understand how to use their service, and extremely difficult to understand how to verify your Moneybookers account. It seems they do not have a standard guide line how to verify Moneybookers merchant account.

According to Moneybookers, I am a fully verified Moneybooker user, but I do not have even one sale since I use their service about a month ago.

In conclusion, I think Moneybookers is no good for selling items on the website; perhaps it is good for personal money transfer only.

Originally posted by mrzippy
So what is the advantage of using moneybooker instead of just wiring the money directly into my recipient's bank account?

I don't see what is the "pros" of using this service...
Cant you fund your account using your credit card? that's what I do.