Banking

[Nadim Shaikli <shaikli at yahoo dot com>]

OK, I've been looking at this banking stuff the entire day today
and I think I will go in this direction (ie. this is a direction check).

Since we are unable to open a free account (no monthly fees and minimal
balance in account) except in the US and canada, I looked into this issue.
The direction that I think we should proceed in is as follows,

 - I open an account in my name (unless Anmar wants to)
 - The account will have an Internet presence (ie. accessible from there)
 - NOTHING will be done via the internet on that account except to see
   balances, etc.
 - Wire transfers IN will be free to us (but people will have to pay on
   their end which is a _huge_ problem if someone wanted to donate $10
   and the fees were like $50 which is what they kinda are).
 - Once we have funds in our account, we can do 1 of 5 things,
   a. I can write a check and snail mail it to the person in need of
      the money (to print Tshirts, etc). Only I can do this.
   b. I can debit-card it to you via http://paydirect.yahoo.com for
      about $8-$11 a shot (you get mailed a VISA card which you can
      use to withdraw from your local ATM).  Any 'core' person can
      do this.
   c. I can money-gram the money to you via paydirect.yahoo.com for
      about $20-$25 (you get to go to an agent to get the money in
      a matter of minutes).  Any 'core' person can do this.
   d. I can wire the money to your local account.  This is about $30
      to $40 a pop.  Only I can do this.
   e. I can set-up a monthly direct-pay for $5/month which will transfer
      money monthly to your local account.  Only I can do this.

Of the above 'b' and 'c' are the most likely, but we will continue to
lose money to simply shuffle it about (we won't get huge amounts
anyways so that's why I'm being ultra cheap).  The 'a' option is also
a possibility, but you are looking at delays/headaches for the check
to get cleared while having a limited amount of checks, etc.

With that said, the real problem is how do we solve the problem of
people wanting to donate money to us yet a big chunk of what they
donate gets eaten-up due to fees (again, the example of a person
wanting to send us $10 but having to pay $50 in wire transfer fees
to get it in our hands -- paydirect works only from the US out).

Can you guys google for possible solutions so we completely solve
this ever-recurring dilemma ?

Ideas/thoughts ?

Salam.

 - Nadim


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