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As our readers must have noticed, we have a new advertiser on The Saturday Post, i.e. the PakRemit money transfer service managed by the National Bank of Pakistan’s New York Branch.
After we were introduced to this product, we decided to take it for a test drive. It was our way of putting our money on the line to test the service and see if works the way one would expect. |
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Excellent user experience: The site was easy to navigate, the transaction process well prompted, and straightforward
Great customer service: The transaction was documented via email from account set up to final confirmation, backed up by a call from NBP USA customer service to verify identity
Fast service: We executed a funds transfer on Tuesday October 17, 2006 between 7 PM and 8 PM US Eastern Time. The funds were delivered via courier, through a cashier’s check, to our recipient in Lahore on Thursday morning Pakistan time. This may not hold true in all cases (potential exceptions are fairly well documented in the FAQ section)
Peace of mind: Somehow, there was that peace of mind that if anything goes wrong, NBP New York is right here to help out |
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The transaction process is very simple. You log on to the PakRemit website and create a user account. You have to provide some basic information which includes your own personal data, plus the details of the recipient and the account from which you are going to transfer the funds.
In total, if you have all the information handy, it should not take you more than 10 minutes to complete the setup. The information you will need is:
• Personal information - your own name, address, city, state, ZIP Code, social security number, birth date, etc.
• The recipient’s details – if you are sending it to someone’s National Bank of Pakistan account, then you should have their account information. If you are sending it to their home or work, then their complete home/work address and telephone number.
• Your bank account or credit card details – if you are transferring funds from your bank account via an internet check, you will need your complete bank account number plus the ABA/Routing number (usually found on your checkbook); if you are sending money through a credit card, you will need the credit card details.
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Using PakRemit, you can transfer funds both in Pak Rupees as well as US Dollars. Pak Rupees can be delivered to the recipient at their home or work, or deposited to their account in any bank in Pakistan. However, US Dollars can only be sent to the recipient’s US Dollar account in NBP. |
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The best thing about PakRemit is that there is no fee for transferring funds above $100, through your bank account. Other internet-based funds transfer services have a higher threshold of $300. So if you are using the internet check option on PakRemit and remitting funds from a US-based bank, you will not be charged anything as long as your remittance is above $100. If you remit less than $100, there is a flat fee of $4.
There is, however, a fixed fee structure to remit US Dollars, which is clearly mentioned on the transaction screen before you decide to process the transaction.
Also, if you use a credit card, you pay $5 plus a percentage on the amount transferred. We checked some combinations of how much you would end up paying on sample amounts, and found that the fees are still much less than what a local bank would charge you to wire that amount to Pakistan. |
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NBP USA publishes a special schedule of exchange rates for PakRemit on the PakRemit website. Over the last two weeks, the exchange rate has been Rs.60 to $1. The exchange rate is determined based on market conditions and is not the same as you would get for conducting other transactions with NBP USA or other banks. It also appears to be a fair rate, considering you can remit these funds without a fee if you use the internet check option and your remittance is between $100 and $7,500.
Within a few minutes of creating the user account, we had a confirmation email from NBP USA, confirming the details of the account. Within the next hour, we had confirmation emails about the exchange rate, as well as the complete transaction receipt.
We also received a phone call within 2 hours of conducting the transaction from the NBP USA customer service center, for verification of personal information since it was the first time we conducted the transaction. The customer service representative was polite and professional, and it took all of 3 minutes to complete the verification.
We will be using PakRemit for all our money transfer needs going forward. In comparison with a lot of other services we have used, plus the good old method of asking a friend or relative to take the money, PakRemit is fast, secure, and very reasonably priced. Definitely worth a try! |
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