Compare rates and fees for sending money to South Africa
There are multiple ways to easily send and receive money in South Africa but these will largely depend on the provider you decide to use.
Best Ways to Send Money to South Africa
With almost a quarter of the adult population in South Africa estimated to be unbanked and without access to financial services, the best way to send money to South Africa is ultimately the way that allows you to get your funds to your recipient easily, quickly, and for as low a cost as possible.
Money transfer operators are almost always going to offer the best solution. They alone can provide you with the choice of sending money to a bank account, in cash, or to a mobile wallet, so you can decide what suits you and your recipient best. Important details that will affect the overall quality of your international money transfer include:
Where you are sending from
The amount you are sending
How you mean to pay for your transfer
How you would like your transfer delivered
Cheapest Way to Send Money to South Africa
The cheapest way to send money to South Africa will almost always be with a money transfer operator. Not all money transfer companies will support transfer to South Africa from your sending country, so it's important to compare providers based on the currencies you need to convert between.
The two main costs you need to be aware of are transfer fees and the exchange rate you are offered. A reputable transfer service should show you upfront the fees you should expect to be charged before you start your transfer, but it's a good idea to compare your options to determine how good a deal you are getting and to decide on the cheapest way to send money to South Africa.
Fastest Way to Send Money to South Africa
The fastest way to send funds to South Africa is through the faster services offered by money transfer providers. Most of these services can get your money to your recipient within a couple of hours, or even within minutes in some cases.
If you're looking for the fastest way to send money to South Africa, you should know that this will rarely be the cheapest option. You will often pay for the convenience of getting your transfer processed faster, so you may want to weigh up what is a higher priority for you. To find out more, check out our simple guide about the fastest ways to send money abroad.
Things to Consider When Sending Money to South Africa
Before sending money, you may want to consider a few wider circumstances:
Unbanked Population– A fairly large percentage of South Africa's adult population is still unbanked and without access to financial services, which can make it difficult to get your money back home to family when living abroad. Considering alternatives such as mobile money is vital for many families depending on global remittances. These a normally paired to send money online services, meaning the best of both options for the sender and receiver.
Weakening Commodity Prices – South Africa is a country heavily dependent on minerals. A weakening of the global commodity market prices can be disastrous for the economy. The currency will most certainly take a dip.
Inflation – Currently, the economy is at 4.5% inflation. If it goes higher than this level, it will heat up and offload value. You’ll have to send your loved ones more money to enjoy the same basket of goods and services. For taxation purposes, the recipient must file the gifts or money received on the income tax return form. This step doesn’t give the taxman a foothold to tax you but ensures compliance.
Transferring money to your family, relatives, and friends in South Africa is faster, simpler and cost-effective now than ever before. However, you need to have the right information on the different ways of sending, what to provide when sending and receiving, cross-comparisons of the various benefits providers give, and the factors to consider back home.
The USD to ZAR exchange rate
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Sending money anywhere else in the world is as easy as sending money to South Africa. If you're looking to send money to another country, here is the list of the most popular destinations.
Frequently Asked Questions About South Africa Money Transfers
What’s The Overall Best Way To Send Money To South Africa?
The overall best way to send money to South Africa is through Wise. Wise offers the most well-rounded deal when to send money to South Africa. Their costs are always the lowest if you are sending a three-figure (USD) amount. Their delivery times are also ok, as they take a day or two to be completed, which is on the better side for wait times. Lastly, Wise is an easy and convenient service to use that doesn’t require much thinking or even much action on your part, making it the best way for South Africa.
What’s The Easiest Way To Send Money To South Africa?
The easiest way to send money is through PayPal. While PayPal is infamous for terrible exchange rates, they are still pretty fast and secure. When it comes to ease of use, which is where PayPal truly shines, PayPal is a great service to use. It has intuitive interfaces and processes that make it very simple to send or receive money.
Current Exchange Rates For South Africa
The current exchange rate for the South African Rand (ZAR) is 18.054997 ZAR per American Dollar (USD), as of the time this was written. The ZAR reached a high of 18.159 ZAR per USD in the last 90 days, with a low of 16.728 ZAR per USD. The average exchange rate was 17.265 ZAR per USD over the last 90 days.
The average volatility of the ZAR against the USD was 0.83% over the last 90 days. This is a rather high volatility, and furthermore, the ZAR has fluctuated significantly over the course of the last few years. Economic conditions inside South Africa will determine future fluctuations in currency exchange rates. You can reasonably expect these fluctuations to continue going forward, barring unforeseen circumstances.
How we compare?
What do we mean by the top provider?
The top provider is the money transfer service that we believe is the most suitable for the country you’re sending money to. In order to keep our service free we factor in the commercial agreements we have with partners into this ranking.
How do we choose providers to display?
We make sure that each table displays the most relevant brands to the country you are sending money to and from. We consider many factors when choosing the providers to display in the table. All of the providers we display are fully regulated to provide money transfer services in the jurisdiction you are searching, relevant regulatory authorities are the FCA, ASIC, Fincen, FINTRAC & AMF. Alongside being regulated the services are manually checked by our team for both quality of service and online trust from such platforms like Trustpilot and Google reviews. We base our rankings primarily on the quality of the service provided, the benefit to the consumer and to keep our service free – the commercial agreements we have.
How do we order our comparisons?
We are affiliated with some of the partners displayed in the tables. However, the order of the providers is based on the quality of the service for the particular country corridor followed by the commercial agreement in place. You don’t pay any extra and the deal you get isn’t affected by our commercial agreement with the money transfer provider. We may receive a commission when you click through to a listing or when you make a transaction. We aim to find the balance between the quality of the service, customer satisfaction and the commercial agreements we have, and continue comparing services in a transparent way. If you have any questions about our listings, please don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected]
Common Reasons For Sending Money To South Africa
Family support: The average household size in South Africa is 3.3 people. In terms of the cost of living, the country is the fourth most expensive in Africa. Household living expenses have been rising forcing many families to rely on their loved ones abroad or depend on government support. The main areas of support are food, clothing and personal care.
Education: The education system in South Africa consists of both private and public school systems. Compared to the private school, the public schools in South Africa suffer from poor teacher-student ratios, low quality of teaching, and teacher absenteeism. South Africans in the diaspora looking for quality education for their siblings and relatives enroll them in high-end private schools. The money they send home also caters for higher education.
Mortgages and other loan repayments:. The enactment of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005, streamlined access to credit. Small scale borrowers can obtain funds without much red tape. Households with loved ones living abroad often take advantage of such opportunities to get quick money and repay once they receive their remittances.
Investments: The investment climate in South Africa is more attractive compared to the rest of the continent, and the government through the department of trade and industry has also stepped up its efforts to encourage investments. South Africans abroad remain true to their country and heavily invest in equity and debts instruments as well as the real estate market.
Other reasons for remittances include health insurance and related expenses, travelling expenses, and social contributions.
Jonathan is the founder and editor of MoneyTransfers.com. Jonathan is highly experienced in the currency transfer market, having previously worked in the FX trading industry, alongside being an avid traveller. Using his knowledge he identified a need for transparency and further education to help people save money on their money transfers, leading to the creation of MoneyTransfers.com
Jonathan is the founder and editor of MoneyTransfers.com. Jonathan is highly experienced in the currency transfer market, having previously worked in the FX trading industry, alongside being an avid traveller. Using his knowledge he identified a need for transparency and further education to help people save money on their money transfers, leading to the creation of MoneyTransfers.com