Originally Posted by Sunny Day
... inquired today, even wire transfer can take 2+ weeks and cost $18. What is this 1%+ processing fee for bank drafts that you referred to? There should not be any surcharge for simply depositing bank draft into a bank account other than currency conversion from CAD to HKD. Is that going to be a nasty surprise waiting for her at the bank?
There are no extra fees for wire transfer, and I've never seen a wire transfer take longer than 48 hours, usually it is much less than that. A cheque draft by contrast has fees for processing that are typically 1% or more of the draft amount -- it isn't the same as depositing a local cheque. Citibank charges over 1%, so for $100K it is a $1,000+ fee. The banks justify it by the high fraud rate (it is pretty easy to create a fraudulent draft document, though it won't clear). Something to be aware of. The fee applies even when there is no foreign exchange (e.g. for a CAD or USD account in HKG).