Pelican, you are going to get a ton of responses to your question, with multiple variations and suggestions. Most of the folks on the forum will be giving you good advice from their experiences. ALL of them will work, and so it will boil down to which one works best for you. There are a couple of factors involved. Such as how long is your stay? (temp or permanent) Are you going to transfer to an account in your name or your significant other? If you are temp, you will have a very hard time getting an PI bank to give you an account. ATMs will work for you for a limited period of time. If you're going to be permanent status, once you establish that and get a bank account. You can also have your SO get an account and transfer to it. Cost and accessability will depend on the bank sending the money. I use Wells Fargo in US, and BPI in PI. They have an agreement in place. The BPI account is in my wifes name with me as a user. I transfer money from BOA to WF on line and then have WF transfer to BPI. There is a small transfer fee from WF. I have a friend that leaves money in the US, has a PI Bank and writes a check each month. It takes 22 days to clear and then he has money in the PI account. Brought enough cash to cover the first 22 lag time and now just does it as a way to keep his PI account active. Hope this helps ..... as I said there are many options and the guys will be chiming in I'm sure.