How to send money to Serbia with less fees

Many companies have discovered the benefits of outsourcing some processes to companies abroad or hiring freelancers from other countries.

In such instances, international monetary transfers become very important. If you have employees in different parts of the world, you probably know that sending money to them can cost you a lot. For example, you have to pay up to 85 dollars to send 1,000 dollars from the US to Serbia.

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:

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.
Wise, formerly Transferwise – very low cost and also a convenient method for transfers to most countries.

To make money transfers work for you and to reduce costs for sending money to Serbia, take a look at the tables below. All you need to know about charges, hidden conversion costs and percentage fees that money transfer services charge you is listed in the charts.

Pay attention to the notes after every chart to make sure that you’ve chosen the right service.

Table 1 – Sending $1000 from the US to Serbia
Transfer Method	Receiving Currency Option	Stated fees to send $1000 USD	Hidden currency conversion cost	Total cost	Time for the transfer to arrive
Ria Money Transfer (slow)	Euro	$5	$22	$27	3-5 days
Payoneer	Serbian Dinar	$9	$19	$28	3-5 days
Ria Money Transfer (fast)	Euro	$15	$22	$37	In minutes
MoneyGram	Euro	$25	$33	$58	3-5 days
Western Union	Serbian Dinar	$20	$35	$55	(Bank) 3-5 days (Credit Card) in minutes
Wire Transfer	Serbian Dinar	$25 – 55	$10 – 30	$35 – 85	3-5 days

Notes regarding this table:

Most methods will only allow you to send money in Euros. If you send money in Euros there will be an additional fee for the recipient to convert the money to Serbian Dinar’s.
This fee will likely be at least 1% but will depend on currency exchange dealer that is used.
US transfers that are in Euros were converted from US dollars.
The lowest cost way to use Payoneer is if the company sending the money has a company account with Payoneer. This is usually only available for companies sending money to multiple people and only for the US. There is a direct way to send money on Payoneer where the sender uses their credit card to send the money however the cost is higher.

Table 2: Sending money from Several Countries to Serbia. The Total Cost including Hidden Currency Exchange Fees.
Transfer Method	Receiving Currency Option	From the US	From the UK	From Canada	From Western Europe	From Australia
Global Web Pay	USD	Not available	2.6%	Not available	Not available	Not available
Xendpay	EUR	Not available	Not available	2.3%	Not available	2.4%
Payoneer	EUR	2.8%	Not available	Not available	Not available	Not available
Azimo	USD/EUR	Not available	1.8% USD	Not available	0.12% EUR	Not available
Small World FS	EUR	Not available	3.6%	Not available	0%	Not available
Ria Money Transfer	EUR	2.7%	Not available	Not available	Not available	Not available
Wire transfer	RSD	2.5 – 5.5%	2 – 4.5%	2.5 – 5.5%	2 – 4.5%	3 – 6.5%
MoneyGram	USD	5.8%	3.9%	7.5%	0.5%	10.1%
Western Union	USD	7.5%	4.5%	6.5%	2.8%	5.6%

Notes regarding this table:

If you’re not sure what I mean by “hidden currency conversion” check out our explanation in this article.
This fee will likely be at least 1% but will depend on currency exchange dealer that is used.
US transfers that are in Euros were converted from US dollars.
Western Union Service in the UK for sending money to Serbia: Bank account usually take 3-5 days while Credit/Debit card take minutes.