Currency Exchange Services, Alternatives to Bank Transfers

Transferring money abroad can be expensive. International money transfers are usually done through banks, which can charge exorbitant fees for the task. If a change of currency is involved, the bank will add on a few percent to the interbank rate (the exchange rate quoted on the market). A typical bank takes between 3 to 6% of the amount exchanged, depending on the currency. You can see how costs can quickly build up. If you add to that the bank wire fee itself, you can see how costly international transfers can be.

Competing against the banks are currency exchange (FX/foreign exchange) services. These companies usually take smaller commissions and transfer fees than those of banks. However, they are not all cheap, and they often only offer their services to residents of certain countries. Some companies accept money only by bank transfer, however, money can often be sent by domestic bank transfer, which can sometimes be very cheap. Some companies are able to save the customer even more by allowing the customer to send money to them through cheaper means, such as ACH (for example, direct debit, or bill pay) or ETF.

To help you save money, we have made a comparison table of the cheapest payment methods on the market at the moment.