Bank Fees Charged for Holocaust Compensation Payments
The Claims Conference uses wire transfers to make payments to eligible recipients of certain Holocaust compensation funds that we administer. Most financial institutions require that we use wire transfers, as opposed to direct deposit, for one-time payments. Although the Claims Conference covers all outgoing fees related to making the wire transfer, unfortunately, some financial institutions also charge clients fees for incoming wire transfers.
As a result of efforts undertaken by government officials, community representatives, and survivor advocates working in cooperation with the Claims Conference, a number of financial institutions around the world have voluntarily pledged to waive any wire transfer or processing fees associated with the electronic receipt of compensation payments.
We recognize that there are still many financial institutions who charge fees for our compensation payments made through wire transfers. If your financial institution charges wire transfer fees, please contact us by email at info@claimscon.org, by fax at 1-845-251-0389 or by phone at 1-646-536-9100 to request a letter from the Claims Conference requesting your fees to be waived by the bank. If you email or fax us requesting the letter, please write “Bank Waiver Letter” in the subject line of your email and provide us with your name, email address, phone number, and Registration Number (if known). We will try to get back to you as soon as possible, but requests can take up to two weeks to process.
In addition, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has on the DFS website a published list of New York State-chartered financial institutions that have agreed to waive transfer fees for Holocaust reparation payments. Survivors seeking assistance obtaining a fee waiver from their financial institution should complete the DFS form available here and on their website, and submit it to the DFS Holocaust Claims Processing Office (HCPO) at claimsques@dfs.ny.gov. If you have any questions, please see their website for more information.
