Actually with the amounts you're talking about (and more if structured correctly)it could be construed as bartering. As in you supply a service in the US and your counterpart supplies a service in another country. This service would be currency conversion. I think most (but not all) countries do not require you to be a bank to do this. of course finding a reputable third party will be the hard part It would probably work better if you had friends (or made friends) in the country in question. I think the idea is good but the actual implementation would be the problem.