If you're among the 45 million immigrants living in the United States, chances are you're facing challenging you're probably not ready for: sending money to your house country. Whether you need to repay loans and bills or help a relative, you'll soon find the banking system isn't on your side.
There isn't any unified network that connects banks around the world. Some have partnered to create things easier, however in general moving your hard-earned dollars to low- and middle-income countries could be particularly tricky. Not to mention expensive.
Within the complex web of international transfers, banks use forex rates that are generally far from convenient for senders. This automatically makes your hard earned money less valuable and transfer fees in receiving countries can vary between 10-20% of the amount sent.
Fortunately, technology has found solutions, this time around by means of apps to transfer money internationally quickly and inexpensively.
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Founded this year, Remitly supports money transfers from the Usa and 16 other countries, mostly within the developed world, to over 100 destinations. App co-founder Matt Oppenheimer struggled with international money transfers while working for Barclays in Kenya. The application therefore places particular emphasis on the coverage of small African countries for example C^ote d'Ivoire and Liberia.
Remitly offers transfers to accounts and mobile wallets, which generally are less expensive than gets in banks. It also offers cash pickup and delivery, depending on the accessibility to the destination country. The platform covers most major banks and offers extensive mobile wallet coverage.
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For three consecutive days in mid-July 2022, we tried five different currencies, and Remitly's forex rates for converting $ $ $ $ were on average 2% lower than real-time rates on CNBC's dashboard. This means that the app provides you with slightly less value per dollar compared to forex markets. For example, if $1 was worth 743 Chilean pesos in these markets, Remitly would only offer $729.30.
Remitly's transfer fees are usually less than 5% from the transferred amount, but vary depending on the type of currency and whether you're paying together with your bank account (Economy) or a card (Express). With the Chilean peso, for example, transferring $1,000 in US currency may cost $2.49 in economy mode and $20 in express mode. The transfer method you choose will even determine how long it requires for the money to reach its destination, which may be a few minutes or up to one working day.
with moderation is free for iOS and androidand on the Web.
Wise
Originally launched as TransferWise, Wise has been around since 2010 and manages around 10 million users worldwide. The platform lets you send money internationally in the US, UK, and Europe to in excess of 80 countries, including many in Eastern Europe.
A key feature, should you always keep an eye on the forex markets, is you can hold different currencies in the app's digital wallet, so you can convert them to $ $ $ $, or vice versa, whenever it fits you. the best.
Wise also generates local account numbers so you can send and receive payments as if they were local transactions with 10 different currencies.
Wise has great coverage and lets you send money to virtually any bank, although it doesn't offer cash pickup, electricity bill payments or mobile wallets. But what the platform lacks when it comes to services, it's when it comes to forex rates. We compared five different currencies and Wise provided the very best value per US dollar each time. For example, if $1 was worth $5.26 in Brazilian reals on CNBC's dashboard, Wise gave us around the same price.
Wise's fees are usually under 5%, and the larger the amount you transfer, the low the fees. For instance, if you send $100 to Peru, the charge could be $4.37 (4.4%), while transferring $1,000 to the Philippines would cost you $6.60 (0.7%).
Finally, just like with Remitly, the rate at which your money travels all over the world varies from a few minutes to three business days, with respect to the destination country.
Wise is free for iOS and androidand on the Web.
This platform offers transfers to banks and mobile wallets, phone recharge services and utility bill payments. Cash withdrawal can also be available, but WorldRemit doesn't cover as many major banks as the rest of the apps on this list.
Using five different currencies over three consecutive days, WorldRemit's exchange rates were, typically, 1.6% less than the real-time rates shown on CNBC's dashboard. Therefore, if $1 were 20 Mexican pesos, the app would show 19.70 pesos, which makes it the second best choice among the four apps, when it comes to rates.
Similar to Wise, WorldRemit's fees stay under 5% per transaction and drop to under 1% for amounts of $1,000 or more, with respect to the currency. When it comes to speed, this platform can take anywhere from minutes to hours to transmit your money around the globe. You'll primarily be checking out same-day transactions, but like most items about this list, it depends around the destination country.
WorldRemit is free for iOS and androidand on the Web.
Xoom, by PayPal
Xoom came to market in 2001 and was acquired by PayPal in 2022. At that time, it had over one million users worldwide. Now the app belongs to a larger infrastructure serving over 250 million users, if you use PayPal, this might be a good option for you. Xoom can be obtained to send money internationally from the US, UK, and 32 markets in Europe, to 160 countries, including small island nations for example Seychelles and Dominica.
Xoom offers bank transfers, cash withdrawals, electricity bill payments, phone top-ups, and transfers to mobile wallets. Banking coverage is restricted and depends upon the nation you're sending money to, so be sure to check the list to see if the recipient's lender shows up there.
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Xoom makes money from foreign exchange, so its rates are the costliest about this list. Using five different currencies, Xoom's rates were found to yield the least value per US dollar out of the four apps. So if $1 was worth 50.24 Philippine pesos on CNBC's dashboard, Xoom's rate could be $48.16, which means a 4% loss.
But while exchange rates aren't Xoom's strong suit, its real advantage is the fees. In four different currencies, they vary between $1 and $5 for transfers of $100 and are generally fixed whatever the amount you send. In fact, transfers over USD 100 made in currencies such as Mexican or Philippine pesos may have no cost.
If you're pressed for time for you to get the money to the destination, Xoom may not be the best choice for you. Depending around the delivery method, the platform may take up to two working days to send your invoices.
Xoom is free for iOS and androidand on the Web.
