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Paying attention to the exchange rate is the most important thing to do if you frequently send money abroad. Most of the money transfer services make their profits by monetizing the differences in the exchange rates and by keeping these charges hidden. Even if you think that your transfer amount is too small for a big service fee or that sending money to a country like Macedonia won’t cost you much, check out the tables below.
The most popular money transfer companies do send money to Macedonia but you need to draw careful comparison and assess the scope of the charges.
| Table 1: Sending $1000 from the US to Macedonia | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer method | Receiving Currency Option | Fees to send $1000 USD | Hidden currency conversion cost | Total fees | Time for the transfer to arrive |
| Paysera | USD | $4 | $0 | $4 | 1-3 days |
| Ria Money Transfer (slow) | USD | $5 | $0 | $5 | 3-5 days |
| OFX (previously USForex)* | EUR | $0 | $7.5 | $7.5 | 1-2 days |
| Ria Money Transfer (fast) | USD | $15 | $0 | $15 | Minutes |
| XE Trade | USD | $0 | $25 | $25 | 3-5 days |
| Western Union (slow) | USD | $25 | $0 | $25 | 4-6 days |
| MoneyGram (slow) | USD | $25 | $0 | $25 | 3-5 days |
| Payoneer | USD | $3 | $28 | $31 | 3-5 days |
| Wire transfer | $25-55 | $10-30 | $35-85 | 3-5 days | |
| Skrill | EUR | $42 | $30 | $72 | 3-5 days |
| Western Union (fast) | USD | $81 | $0 | $81 | Minutes |
| MoneyGram (fast) | USD | $81 | $0 | $81 | Minutes |
| Payza | MKD | $71 | $25 | $96 | 3-5 days |
Note:
- Minimum transfer of $500 for OFX (previously USForex).
| Transfer Method | Receiving Currency | From the US | From the UK | From Canada | From Western Europe | From Australia |
| Ria Money Transfer (cheap method) | USD | 0.5% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Global Web Pay | GBP | Not available | 0.7% | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Azimo | USD | Not available | 2% | Not available | 1.7% | Not available |
| First Remit | USD | Not available | 2.5% | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Payoneer | USD | 3.1% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| OFX (previously USForex) | USD, GBP, EUR, AUD | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.75% |
| XE Trade | USD, GBP, CAD, EUR, AUD | 2.5% | 2.7% | 2.6% | 2.4% | 3.8% |
| Wire transfer | 2.5 – 5.5% | 2 – 4.5% | 2.5 – 5.5% | 2 – 4.5% | 3 – 6.5% | |
| Paysera | USD | 0.4% | 2.9% | 3.3% | 1% | 3.4% |
| Exchange4free | EUR | Not available | 3.1% | 3% | Not available | 3% |
| Western Union (cheap method) | USD & EUR | 2.5% | 3% | 6.7%* | 0.6%* | 5% |
| Small World FS | EUR | Not available | 3.6% | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Skrill | EUR | 7.2% | 6.3% | 6.2% | 6.2% | 6.2% |
| MoneyGram | USD & EUR | 2.5% | 11.8% | 7.9% | 3.6%* | 11.7% |
| Payza | MKD | 9.6% | 9.4% | 10.1% | 9.6% | 10.1% |
| Send Money 24 | USD | Not available | 12% | Not available | Not available | Not available |
Notes:
- All the percentages marked as ‘*’ are actually the transfers that you can make in Euro.
- Through Payza you will get amount in Macedonian Denars and through Global web pay you will get the amount directly in GBP(pounds).
- Minimum transfer of $500/£500 for OFX.
- OFX is a good option for sending larger amounts of money and their exchange rate fee goes down for larger amounts.
- The companies may provide you the option to choose a different receiving currency option, but for that purpose you may contact directly to the company and ask them all the charges related to the transaction.
Rob Rawson is a co-founder of Time Doctor which is software to improve work productivity and help keep track of what your team is working on, even when working remotely.