All,
I checked yesterday and found out that , with current IBAN, it is possible to effortlessly (fairly) transfer money direct to someone's bank account. So no more mucking about with Paypal needed (though that does offer its own benefits. Of course, the bank may be legally forced to hold back large payments (or many payments of small amounts), and/or report them to the government), vut for transoceanic (e.g. transatlantic) bank transfers, all you need is the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and the BIC (Bank Interchange Code)
Thought I'd mention it now, waaay before Mittens, just so you know.
That's exactly how I did transfer the money to the company renting the villa in Portugal.
However, you could have rather high bank costs for non-Euro accounts.
Yes, there are charges for using IBAN to other currencies. PayPal is generally a lot cheaper than those.
Oh,I hadnt thought about those surcharges. At least, people that pay in the same currency as the recipient's country, can skip paypal etc. Paypal may put all the money on hold, including all the non-foreign payments.
Oh well, see which you like, I just put it out there.