How to send money abroad cheaply

Sending money abroad does not have to cost much, but the default choice — using your everyday bank without checking — is almost always the most expensive. With a little method you cut the cost considerably, whether you are sending to family, paying a foreign invoice, or moving money between your own accounts.

The recipe has three steps. First: find the mid-market rate for the currency pair before you send, so you know what a fair rate looks like. Then: choose a provider that uses the mid-market rate and states the fee clearly — Wise is built around exactly this, with dedicated accounts for euros, British pounds and US dollars when you send often in a particular currency. Finally: never let the receiving side convert for you.

For anyone who sends regularly or works internationally, it pays to hold a multi-currency account rather than converting every time — that is the whole point of a multi-currency account for freelancers. If you run a business with foreign suppliers, business payments and invoicing is the relevant guide.

The deeper explanation of why "fee-free" rarely means free is in the best way to send money abroad, which goes more thoroughly into the rate markup banks add.

The comparison that actually works

Ignore the fee column entirely. Do this instead:

• Look up the mid-market rate for the pair and write it down.
• Enter the same send amount at each provider and read the amount the recipient receives.
• Multiply your send amount by the mid-market rate. The gap between that and the quoted receive amount is the total real cost — fee and rate markup combined.

That single comparison defeats every "zero fee" claim, because a provider earning through the rate looks free in the fee column and delivers less money at the other end.

Four costs, and only one is advertised

The middle two are why a bank wire arrives short. If a recipient tells you the amount was less than you sent, that is usually rows three and four rather than an error — and on a bank wire you can often choose who bears them. Agree it in advance.

The rules that save the most

• Never let the receiving side convert. If a machine, checkout or bank offers to bill or pay you in your home currency, decline. Dynamic currency conversion is consistently worse than letting your own provider convert.
• Send in the recipient's currency, so the conversion happens where you control it.
• Batch. Fixed costs hurt small transfers most. One transfer a month usually beats four.
• Avoid urgency. Same-day and instant options are priced accordingly; most transfers are not actually time-critical.
• Check the corridor, not the brand. Providers differ enormously by currency pair. The best provider to the eurozone is often not the best to Southeast Asia or West Africa.
• Watch the weekend. Several providers apply a worse rate outside market hours.

If the money must arrive on a date

Deposits, completions and tax payments are the cases where a delay is expensive. Send earlier than you think you need to. Compliance checks are routine, unpredictable and can hold a transfer for days at any provider — a first transfer to a new recipient, or an unusually large one, is the most likely to be reviewed.

Have the supporting documents ready — the invoice, the contract, the source of funds — and the review resolves much faster.

For anyone who sends regularly or works internationally, holding a multi-currency account beats converting every time; that is the point of a multi-currency account for freelancers. If you run a business with foreign suppliers, business payments and invoicing is the relevant guide.

Compare on what the recipient receives, use mid-market-based services, and batch large transfers. This is not financial advice — terms and rates change.