At the beginning of March every year, students who apply for foreign universities will receive the school’s admission results one after another, until June, when the admission results of all schools will basically be issued. The next step to get the admission letter is to prepare the visa, as well as the school’s tuition, accommodation and other payments.
At this moment, students often face many questions about how to pay the fees. This article will introduce to you some of the common ones, as well as the most convenient payment methods in our opinion!
1. Wire Transfer
“Wire transfer” refers to the remittance method in which money is paid to the designated recipient by financial telecommunication between banks. Since it uses telegram as a settlement tool, the remitter has to bear the telegram fee. Generally speaking, this method is faster and can be received in two days, but the handling fee is relatively expensive, and the premise is that the recipient must already have an account abroad. It should also be noted that since the handling fee has a maximum limit, the more money you send each time, the more cost-effective it is. Therefore, it is recommended to use wire transfer only for remittances with large amounts or urgent needs.
Many schools require students to pay by wire transfer before enrolling, especially when paying full tuition. Basically, all foreign exchange banks can operate it. Similar to domestic transfer, as long as you obtain the payee’s name, address, account number, account opening bank and other information before paying the fee, there will be a remittance bill after successful wire transfer. After that, you have to scan this bill and send it to the school, attaching your personal information to allow the school to track the payment.
2. Personal Check/Cheque
International students will get ten free personal checks when they open an account in the United States. Students can use them to pay rent or tuition fees. If the ten free checks are used up, they can apply for a check with 100 personal checks from the bank. This will incur a handling fee of $25, which will be deducted directly from the bank account. Overall, the handling fee is cheaper than other payment methods.
3. Peer-to Peer Transfer
There are two commonly used third-party payment platforms abroad: Flywire and PeerTransfer. These platforms provide online credit card payment, although they claim that there is no handling fee, but the exchange rate is very high. Both platforms are very user-friendly, you can pay in US dollars or various currencies.
4. Credit Cards
“Credit cards” are by far the most widespread and frequent payment method. Having a credit card abroad makes everything more convenient. However, it is still difficult for international students to apply for a local credit card. When submitting an application, various documents must be prepared, and the handling fee is very expensive. It should be noted that some online card swiping platforms have requirements on the type of card, generally MasterCard or Visa are the most widely accepted. Another point is that general school tuition fees and accommodation deposits are usually required to be paid by credit card. At this time, credit cards will come in very handy!
5. Cash
“Cash payment” is currently the most traditional and direct payment method, but it is not suitable for paying tuition fees and various deposits. For fees with high amounts (such as tuition fees, accommodation fees), the school will require students to pay online or in other ways, but cash payment is excluded. Of course, before going abroad, you can prepare enough cash to cover one month’s living expenses for small consumption after arriving abroad, but we still remind everyone not to bring in more than the cash amount specified by the customs to avoid unnecessary trouble.
6. Money Order
“Draft” is the preferred way to transfer funds, and the handling fee is relatively cheap. It is relatively simple. You only need to provide the name and address of the payee. After successful processing, the bank will issue a yellow draft similar to a check. one. Generally speaking, a money order is a way of sending money with people. Students can take it abroad with them, and if lost, they can immediately report the loss by calling the ticket number.
7. Traveller’s Check/Cheque
It has the characteristics of cash and money order, and has a fixed face value, which can be used for direct payment of tuition fees and daily consumption. There is no need to worry about exchange rate fluctuations, there are no clear restrictions on the place of use and the period of use, and there is no need to worry about lost, stolen and damaged checks after purchase, but international traveler’s checks have higher fees and personal signatures, which are not as good as in the past easy to popularize,
Be careful! Some foreign banks have even cancelled the service of exchanging travelers’ checks!
In the United States, as long as you are a student, traveler’s checks are equivalent to cash and can be directly deposited into any account opening bank without any fees.
8. Western Union
It is the world’s largest electronic exchange financial network, and has cooperation with many banks. The amount of money that can be remitted in a single time is the largest among all methods. Its biggest feature is that it arrives instantly, and the operation process is also very simple. But the disadvantage is that the handling fee is high, especially the handling fee for small collections.
The above are several payment methods that are often used to study abroad. Each tuition payment method has its own advantages and disadvantages. You can learn more about them and choose the one that most suits you. To get more information about studying abroad, you can visit CatEight, a comprehensive platform for overseas study.