Wire transfers are more common than you may think. Today, wire transfers take place all the time, whether we know that they are happening with our transactions or not. In basic terms, a wire transfer is simply the electronic transfer of money. Wire transfers can take place with virtually any size entity. Banks will often transfer huge sums of money between themselves via wire, even though no actual cash is being moved. The accounting procedures for these types of transaction are all electronic. This is a very secure way to move large amounts of money.
Wire transfers are also used for such transactions as credit card balance transfers. Again, there is no actual cash money moved during this process. Transferring money from your one account where you reside into your receiving account is a wire transfer. Most people have used an ATM card to purchase something and that is a wire transfer as well. When you pass your ATM card through the machine at the retailer, you are authorizing a wire transfer to take place. In essence, this allows funds to be moved from your account into the account of the vendor.
A wire transfer may or may not be free to the consumer. Another type of wire transfer is when you sign up for automatic bill paying through your bank. This type of bill paying is becoming more popular as technology makes it easier and safer to use. Many utility companies, such as your water, electric, and phone, use automatic bill paying as a means of collecting their payments. As long as you are relatively sure that the funds will be in your account on the date they are accessed by the billing company this can be a good way to pay bills without having the hassles of mailing them off.
Lastly, you can still use the wire transfer services of third-party companies. This can be very useful if you need to send money to someone who does not have a bank account or is not able to receive funds in a more traditional way. There are, of course, fees associated with these types of wire transfers and those fees are usually based on the amount of money that is being sent.
