How do you choose money transfer services when you have to send money abroad?
Upfront charges, exchange rates and the time for the completion of the transfer are the most important features to consider when you make your choice. It’s easier to send money to the United States or Australia. But how about sending money from Romania from the US, Australia or Canada?
What transfer methods do we use at Time Doctor?
We have a remote team with people in 19 different countries around the world. The two transfer methods we use the most are:
- Wise, formerly TransferWise – is a new kind of financial company that you can use to transfer money internationally at a very low cost. Their system is based on local bank account transfers, which makes transfers abroad cheaper than what banks or other providers charge. They charge a small upfront fee between 0.5% and 2% for transactions, depending on the route.
- Payoneer – very convenient for sending and receiving. They are also one of the few methods that works to receive money in almost every country and the receiver can get their money on a debit card and withdraw from an ATM. They also have an option for direct transfer to the receiver’s bank account. They also have a $50 bonus if you receive more than $100 through this method.
Finding the best conditions and the lowest fees will require time and a lot of research. At Time Doctor, we’ve created tables for the most popular money transfer services with their stated fees and hidden conversion costs. These tables reveal less expensive ways to send money to Romania in comparison to the traditional international bank transfer.
| Table 1 – Sending $1000 from the US to Romania | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer Method | Stated fees to send $1000 USD | Hidden currency conversion cost | Total cost | Time for the transfer to arrive | ||
| Wise, formerly TransferWise | $10 | $0 | $10 | 1-2 days | ||
| XE Trade | $0 | $24 | $24 | 3-5 days | ||
| Payoneer | $3 | $28 | $31 | 3-5 days | ||
| MoneyGram (slow) | $25 | $7 | $32 | 3-5 days | ||
| Western Union (slow) | $5 | $44 | $49 | 3-5 days | ||
| Skrill | $14 | $50 | $64 | 3-5 days | ||
| PayPal | $40 | $25 | $65 | 3-5 days | ||
| Ria Money Transfer (slow) | $5 | $62 | $67 | 3-5 days | ||
| Ria Money Transfer (fast) | $15 | $62 | $77 | Minutes | ||
| Western Union (fast) | $40 | $44 | $84 | Minutes | ||
| Wire transfer | $25-55 | $10-30 | $35-85 | 3-5 days | ||
| MoneyGram (fast) | $81 | $7 | $88 | Minutes | ||
| Table 2: Sending Money to Romania from Different Countries. The TOTAL Cost in Percentages including the HIDDEN currency exchange fees. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer Method | From the US | From the UK | From Canada | From Western Europe | From Australia | |
| Wise, formerly TransferWise | 1% | 1% | 1.2% | 1% | 1% | |
| TransferGo | Not available | 1.5% | Not available | 0.9% | Not available | |
| Azimo | Not available | 1.5% | Not available | 2.6% | Not available | |
| XE Trade | 2.4% | 2.7% | 2.9% | 2.7% | 2.6% | |
| Payoneer | 3.1% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | |
| Western Union | 4.9% | 3.5% | 5.7% | 3.4% | 4.9% | |
| Small World FS | Not available | 3.9% | Not available | 1.3% | Not available | |
| MoneyGram | 3.2% | 5.7% | 7.4% | 2.1% | 10.6% | |
| Wire transfer | 2.5 – 5.5% | 2 – 4.5% | 2.5 – 5.5% | 2 – 4.5% | 3 – 6.5% | |
| Skrill | 6.4% | 6.4% | 6.4% | 6.4% | 6.4% | |
| PayPal | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | 6.5% | |
| Ria Money Transfer | 6.7% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | |
| Xpress Money | 30.6% | 5.6% | 9.7% | 6% | 17.4% | |
| First Remit | Not available | 6.9% | Not available | Not available | Not available | |
Notes:
- If you’re not sure what I mean by “hidden currency exchange fees” check out our explanation in this article.
- The fees for wire transfers are estimates and vary from bank to bank.
Other articles that might interest you:
Transferring Money with Wise (formerly TransferWise)
How to Send Money to Serbia with Less Fees
How to Send Money to Your Offshore Workers in Ukraine
3 Ways to Send Money to Bulgaria that are Cheaper than using a Bank
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.