It’s now cheaper and easier than ever to send money to friends, family or businesses overseas. With huge breakthroughs in the space, low cost international money transfer is now here. It’s easy to get started immediately and get the best rates available right now.
Many people rely heavily on “remittance” payments from family or friends working in the United States or other leading economies. To put it simply a jaw dropping $68 billion was sent to developing countries in 2017 according to the World Bank.1 With average transaction rates of 7% a large amount of this money is taken away by excessive fees.2
Learning how to safeguard your international money transfer and save on fees is vital in this economy with so many new payment systems emerging. So you can understand this better sending $1000 home to your family costs around $70. Thats money your relatives could be putting to much better use in food, bills and rent. Thankfully there is much better options available that many are not aware of.
Move Over Banks, Fintech Is Here
In the digital economy there is a lot of new companies forming in the FinTech space. FinTech is an abbreviation for Financial Technology. These services are developing methods to not only send money faster then traditional transfer methods but also reducing fees involved too. If you’re sending money internationally or domestically the options change so lets dig in deep and reveal the best international money transfer methods.
Hidden Costs To Pay Attention Too
Now before we cover some very affordable options that are gaining popularity for speedy transactions its important to know hidden costs. These fees include:
1. Sending Fee
2. Transfer Fee
3. Exchange Rate Margin
4. Receiving Fee
Sending Money Internationally
WorldRemit
If you’re sending money overseas to relatives, friends or any other reason its important to pay attention to foreign exchange fees. There is a company called WorldRemit which offers some of the lowest cash transfer fees. They have an extensive coverage in over 145 countries globally. Payment options like Bank account, credit card, debit card, Poli, iDeal, Google Pay, Apple Pay and Trustly are all accepted.
The fees are quite low and in most cases are around $3.99 per transaction but this varies depending on which country you’re sending too. Another huge bonus to WorldRemit is that transactions are nearly instant so there is very little delay in receiving the money unless its being home delivered to the recipient.
TransferWise
For people who like to travel and move about into different countries or simply have relatives in seperate countries this option is great. TransferWise is a “borderless banking” company which enables you to exchange money into different currencies at very low rates. An initial deposit of $25 is required to open an account with TransferWise but you will receive a real working bank account with a SWIFT number attached.
TransferWise offers payment options like direct debit, debit and credit card or Apple Pay.
Remitly
For those wishing to send money from developed countries like the USA or Canada and back to developing countries Remitly is a cost effect option. Remitly offers an express service too which can literally transfer funds in just minutes and will cost $3.99 in fees. This payment company doesn’t have as many options as the other two previously mentioned but bank account or credit and debit card options are available.
Regarding fees they are varying depending on which country the money originates and destination. Sending USD from America to a country like Pakistan and having it converted to the local currency will incur small fees around $0.49-$2. A 3% transaction fee is added when using a credit card as a payment option. The time to receive funds is approximately 3 to 5 business days but the express option can take just minutes.
Sending Less Than $500?
PayPal
If you’re sending a smaller amount of money then PayPal is still a very popular option if both you and the recipient have an account. With higher transactions PayPal’s fees can add up quite high but if you’re sending money in the same currency as the recipient its a very affordable option. PayPal currently offers bank account transfers with no extra fees, or credit and debit card options which encounter small fees.
Money Must Be Received In Cash?
If your relatives require money to be received in cash and not an electronic payment then options like Ria, Moneygram and Western Union still offer quality service. Although payments usually incur fees of 6-9% it can be quite expensive although the security and speed of the transaction is still the best with these companies. WorldRemit as mentioned earlier offers a cash pick up payment method as well for a small fee.
Lowest Cost Transfers Available Now
If you’re sending money overseas or receiving payments from a relative its important to shop around for the best pricing available. With the majority of payments having a 7% transaction fee, billions of dollars every single year are being eaten up by banks. To find the best affordable options for your specific international payment needs an online search can reveal competitive rates.
See Lowest Cost International Money Transfer
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