Hi everyone.
I'm new here and new to Serbia. I am marrying a Serbian woman and settling down outside Belgrade after living my whole life in the U.S.
I am a writer, and I will continue writing for U.S. publications and Web sites. My question is, how should I best arrange to be paid? I imagine that I will open a bank account in Belgrade and receive checks from U.S. companies in the mail, and deposit them...just as I did when I lived in New York. Is this a reasonable expectation? Which banks accept out-of-Serbia checks?
Every time I talk to someone about this the phrase "wire transfer" comes up. I don't know anything about wire transfers, except that they're expensive. I anticipate receiving a lot of little checks...payments in the $50 to $100 range. Won't the wire-transfer fees gobble up all my money if I go that route?
Does anyone else have experience with receiving U.S. funds in Serbia? How did you deal with it? What's the best way to go?
Thanks in advance for your advice. I look forward to meeting you in Belgrade or Novi Sad!
JDH
Question about banking
Dear JDH,
First of all, welcome to Serbia!
About your question, Which banks accept out-of-Serbia checks, I can tall you for sure, that you can cash-out international check in Raiffaisen Bank.
You can read about it here: http://www.raiffeisenbank.rs/code/navigate.aspx?Id=463
or you can contact bank support here: http://www.raiffeisenbank.rs/code/navigate.aspx?Id=169
Hope this will help you a bit.
Best Regards, Ivan
Ivan--
Thanks so much for the quick and helpful reply!
I'm living in Stara Pazova, a small town between Belgrade and Novi Sad (as near as I can tell). I've been here less than two months, so I haven't done the extended-visa paperwork or any of that yet. So I probably am not in a position to open a bank account yet. But when I do, I will remember your advice.
I am marrying a lovely Serbian girl on August 29. Think of me that day!
JDH
Hi,
according with my experience, althought legal, serbian banks don't deal with checks.
It is simply a not well implemented practice and if you try to carry on payment this way you'd easly find negative responses from the banks.
the bank wire transfer is for sure the most diffured method of payment and it does represent also the most safe. I do agree anyway it is very expensive but i belive the costs can be contained duly negociationg with your bank the related conditions.
Money can be wired to a bank in Serbia, no issues with that. However, our financial authorities are pain in the... you know what. You have to explain source of funds for taxation purposes etc.
If you are talking about larger amounts, then it would be one-time (or in 2-3 transactions) stuff, but I would personally prefer an American-issued DEBIT card (better that way), and withdraw when you need it.
If you expect, as you said, many but small transactions, if you can set it up in the US, and just withdraw in Serbia, then you will have no problems. Banks DO charge you a bit, but not close to what they would for wire transfers.
