If I send 20 euros to someone in France will it reach her?

[Rollingdownland]

I need to pay an elderly woman in France 20 Euros, and she won't give me her bank details because she's worried to! She has instead suggested I send it to her in cash, but my instincts are that it will never get there.

Has anyone every tried to post a small amount of cash to France from England? What are the chances of it getting there?

Is there any alternative?

A cheque? Although I don't have a cheque book any more. Bank transfer is so much easier.

A postal order? Can you still get those and do they go abroad? No idea.

I frequently get cash in a card from relatives in the UK to another very close by country in Europe

Yeah, it's fine. I do it all the time. Just stick it in a card and post it to her.

Why wouldn't it get there?! A note in a card in the post, surely not much difference to sending it within the UK.

Most likely it will get there. I occasionally send euros (not large amounts, just €10/20) as birthday presents to several EU countries and they’ve never gone missing.

Yes, it should get there. Just make sure it’s not a thin envelope that you can see through.

France has a very good postal system, i use it all the time.

The issue would be her denying she ever received it... either deliberately or because she forgot.

Has she a close relative you trust and you could txfer to them in the first instance?

Bank txfer could cost you £10 to £25.

What about an Amazon gift card or something like that. No idea if that would work and how it would work in euros though!

For this amount cash in a card will be the easiest option and should get there. A cheque will take weeks to clear and there will likely be fees. Same with electronic transfers.

If I'm sending cash, I buy a cheap magazine and put the cash inside. I let the person know what page it's in.

I'd send the cash in a thank you card (or other blank card) and post it tracked/signed for. You then have proof that it arrived.

This is all really helpful, thank you so much. I think I will post it in a card and cross my fingers!

Tracked postage overseas is likely to be disproportionately expensive.

If you trust the recipient, sending a 20 euro note in an envelope/small package that does not look like a greetings card is likely to be safe enough.

Does she use Paypal? Use that to send her the money. If she doesn't have an account herself, can you send it to a relative or friend of hers to pass on?

Why do you need to do this? Is the benefit worth the extra work to you because she misunderstands a perfectly safe transaction? I'll assume that she happily used cheques before they were made obsolete by bank transfers. Having said that, do you have the sort of account where you can transfer foreign currency cost effectively?