Need answer fast: domestic money transfer

In My Humble Opinion
1

First, no need to point out that this is idiotic - believe me, I agree, and had to stop myself from delivering a lecture about personal responsibility and enabling when I was consulted for advice. Okay, now that that part is out of the way:

My friends’ daughter recently moved from Hawaii to Portland. She has a Bank of Hawaii bank account but there are apparently no branches or affiliates in the Portland area. I have no idea how she’s accessing cash; presumably through an ATM, paying “out of network” fees, but anyway not my problem.

Today (Saturday so not a business day) she called my friend, her dad, to ask for $3k to buy a car. I gather she has a meet with the person selling the car later today and needs cash in hand to pay for it. Dad can’t put the money in her BoH account because she can’t access it from Portland.

She doesn’t want to do PayPal or Zelle (don’t ask me why, I’m trying to stay out of all this). In that case I think Western Union is about all that’s left.

Anyway, if you can solve this unbelievably stupid problem in the next few hours, I’m sure these two would appreciate it.

ETA: Dad is physically in Hawai’i and banks at a different Hawaiian bank, not sure which one.

2

Walmart is cheaper than Westrrn Union for cash pick ups.

3

Thanks, just shared that idea with the dad.

4

…and, the story ends with the realization that, golly gee, if you want to buy a car with cash, you should PLAN AHEAD. Daughter is going to wait until she’s figured out how to bank locally/accumulate cash in hand to buy a car. Who’d a thunk THAT might be the way to go about it?

5

I’m assuming she doesn’t have a check book? Mailing a check would be the most easy way to do it.

Otherwise, there are wire transfers, ACH transfers, and Venmo (since she already nixed paypal and zelle).

The Best Ways to Transfer Money Between Banks | NextAdvisor with TIME

6

Despite how much I hate Facebook, Facebook Messenger Metapay is easy and fast for sending money to people.

ETA: It also has no fees (at least, I’ve never encountered any up to the $500 or so I’ve transferred to my kids).

7

Don’t US banks offer “e-transfer”? Virtually all Canadian banks have this service whereby you can electronically transfer money to a person. All you need is a cell # or email address for the recipient.

8

Many do, through services like Zelle; I do not know if all U.S. banks offer such a service, however.

9

It depends on how fast she needs it. And there could well be problems with bank holds.

Walmart2Walmart seems to have a daily limit of $2500, so would take 2 transactions a day apart.