Send Money To Poland
Rate: 3.8214*
| Payment Options | Speed |
| Debit Card | Minutes |
| Credit Card | Minutes |
| Bank Transfer | Minutes |
- First 3 Transfers Free
- Transfer Money at Any Time
- Low Costs
Rate: 3.8087*
| Payment Options | Speed |
| Debit Card | 2 Days |
| Bank Transfer | 2 Days |
- No transfer fees
- 5/5 'excellent' rating on TrustPilot
- £25 amazon gift card when you refer a friend
Rate: 3.5615*
| Payment Options | Speed |
| Bank Transfer | 3-5 Days |
| Debit Card | 3-5 Days |
- Internationally renowned bank
How To Send Money To Poland
Sending money to Poland is simple and easy. Follow these steps to get started.
Find a Trusted Provider
Sign Up and Deposit
Transfer Money
Ways To Send And Receive Money In Poland
There are multiple ways to easily send and receive money in Poland but these will largely depend on the provider you decide to use. Below you will find everything you need to know about sending and receiving money.
Ways to Send Money to Poland
Irrespective of the country you are domiciled in, there are three main ways you can send money to Poland. You may decide to use the mainstream banking system, the online money transfer services, or in-store cash transfers. Some providers also allow you to top up mobile phone airtime right from their platforms.
The Banking System
You can send money to Poland using international wire transfers. This is a much slower method, especially when sending money from outside Europe. Banks in Poland such as Millennium Bank, ING Bank, and PKO Bank process lots of remittances into Poland.
Apart from the high transaction fees banks charge, sending money through the banking system to Poland can take up to 5 days to process. This can be inconveniencing when sending money for emergencies.
Despite their reliability and strong institutional framework, banks tend to charge a higher margin above the mid-market rate. This means for every unit of the sending currency; you get less of the Poland złoty.
When sending large amounts of money and you fear that the exchange rate can move unpredictably, online money transfer service providers can help you lock in the rates or better still get an attractive forward rate.
Online Money Transfer Service
While the bank is an excellent channel to transfer funds to Poland, there are inherent disadvantages in the banking sector. Online money transfer providers come in as the best alternative to sending money to Poland.
Companies such as Xendpay, CurrencyFair, TransferWise, OFX, WorldFirst, and Xoom have come in to even out the playground. In October 2019, TransferWise announced that its customers in Poland would now be able to receive money directly into their bank accounts in Polish zloty.
Signing up for a transfer account with any of the above providers is a matter of minutes. Some may take a little longer to verify your details but it is nothing compared to the hassle in banks. After the account is open, you can pay for your transfer using a debit card, credit card, bank debit or bank transfer and send.
There are two main payout methods, cash pickup and direct bank deposit that you can choose. However, this varies with the provider. There are some who offer only a bank deposit as a payout option.
To make it easier to send and receive money, some online money transfer service providers have developed mobiles applications that are free to download on Google Play and App Store. Through these apps, you can send money, track transfers, add recipients, check exchange rates and even cancel transfers.
In-Store Cash Transfers
Western Union and MoneyGram are the main players in this space. Setting up is also very simple and you have the option of sending online or through an agent. If you prefer sending via an agent, you have the option of choosing cash pickup or direct bank deposit as payout methods.
Airtime Top-up
Through Xoom, you can reload prepaid mobile phones in Poland direct from the platform. Xoom works with 5 carriers in Poland to make this possible. They include Heyah, Orange, Play, Plus and Tak Tak. The recipient gets a text message informing him or her that they’ve received an airtime top-up.
What is Needed to Send Money to Poland
To successfully send money to Poland, money transfer operators require certain information and documents. Some of them may be needed only on the first transfer and subsequently the demands may reduce. Here is the information you need:
- A government issued-ID document. Depending on the country you are sending from, you can use a passport, social security card or driver’s license.
- The recipient’s name as it appears on their legal documents
- The recipient's physical address and phone number
- If you are sending directly to a bank account, the recipient bank details (bank name, branch and account number)
- The amount of money you want to send, the transfer payment option and payout methods
Common Reasons for Sending Money to Poland
As noted in the opening paragraph, many Poles leave their country in search of employment and better lives abroad. Looking at how the remittances are used back home; some reasons stand out as the common push factors for sending money home.
Family Support
Some of the Poles in the diaspora still have their families in Poland. From time to time, they send money to support them or supplement up their incomes to enable them pay for household expenses. This has been shown by the rise in household spending due to increased disposable incomes.
Mortgage Repayment
Many Polish homeowners are paying up foreign currency-denominated mortgages mostly in Swiss franc. These mortgages and other loans that are taken in between are some of the common reasons Poles in the diaspora send money regularly for repayment.
Investment in Housing
Most Poles consider venturing abroad as an opportunity they cannot afford to waste. They use their earning to invest in building constructions and other real estate opportunities back home. The constructions are a mixture of private houses and homes for sale or rent.
Education
Many Poles living abroad support their siblings back home through education. They often send remittances in form of school fees to enable them stay in school or advance their education for better opportunities in future.
Savings
Most Poles look forward to retiring at home. According to the Polish ambassador to the UK, only 27% of them have so far applied for settled status in the UK. This means many of them are looking forward to returning home at some point in the future. Some of the money they send home is to be used for savings and building of cash reserves.
Pension Payments
Transferring pension from abroad to Poland is now easy with customised services offered by money transfer providers. Many Polish nationals are now sending pension payments back home in simple and cost-effective ways through providers such as OFX, TransferWise, Currencies Direct, and WorldFirst.
Why Send Money with a Money Transfer Service?
If you live outside Poland and you’ve been using banks to transfer money to your family back home, chances are you have been paying high fees and experienced delays in delivery. Money transfer service providers come as a relief to help you with some of these inconveniences and costs.
Transfer Speed
Depending on where you are sending from, transfers to Poland can be delivered in minutes or take up to 3 days at most with money transfer providers. If you pay for your transfer using a credit or debit card, the funds are delivered even faster.
Ease of Set-Up
Signing up for a money transfer account is simple and takes a few minutes. After providing all the information, you’ll be taken through a one-time verification process before being allowed to transact. You have several options for paying up for your transfer from using debit cards, credit cards, bank transfers or even cash deposits.
Low Transaction Fees
Sending $150 from the United Kingdom to Poland using TransferWise can cost you only $1.20 in fees. Even the providers charging the highest rarely cross the $10 mark. Banks have been known to charge more than $20 even for transactions involving low amounts.
Multi-currency Support
The Polish diaspora is vast in terms of geographical spread. This calls for a money transfer solution that covers all these areas and currencies. Online money transfer services support lots of exotic and standard currencies. For instance, Western Union and MoneyGram provide support for more than 130 currencies. TransferWise, OFX, Xoom and many others cover 50+ global currencies. This makes it easier to convert any given currency to the Polish złoty during transfers.
Safety and Reliability
Online money transfer platforms support hundreds of thousands of transactions. They are equipped with top-end security features such as two-factor authentication (2FA) layers and other proprietary security solutions.
Also, these platforms are regulated and monitored by global organisations such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). This guarantees the safety of your money as it is kept separate from the provider’s funds.
High Exchange Rates
The margin above the midmarket rate that money transfer providers charge is about 2-3.5%. This is way low compared to what banks charge at 8%+. With high rates, you get more of the Polish złoty for every unit of the host currency you exchange.
Things to Consider When Sending Money to Poland
Sending money back home to Poland is more of a social contract some Poles have with their families and friends. However, before you pay for your transfer and send, consider the following factors.
- Limitation of Cash Settlements - Starting from July 1, 2017 transactions exceeding 15,000 Polish złoty are to be settled through the bank and not using cash. This threshold relates to the entire contract regardless of the number of payments it will be split into. Any taxpayer violating this limit will see their expenses disallowed for tax purposes.
- Retirement Age and Pension Consolidation - Poland has instituted reforms to reduce the retirement age to 65 for men and 60 for women. In addition, the country has set up a network of advisors to inform beneficiaries about combining their work income and pensions. Also, low-income earners are now receiving a much higher tax-free allowance.
- Improved Business Environment - In 2019, the corporate tax rate for SMEs in Poland was cut to 9% from the previous 15%. This comes with simplified VAT payments. In addition, startups are set to benefit from social contribution exemption for a period of 6 months and reduced tax rates for a period of 24 months. This is meant to attract investment into the country.
Therefore, sending money to Poland should not be a hassle for anyone in the diaspora. You only need to get the right information and compare across for providers offering attractive rates, low fees and faster transfers.
Your Questions Answered
The fastest ways to transfer money to Poland are the fast services of Ria Money Transfer and Xoom. Because Ria Money Transfer is cheaper for Poland, we will recommend looking into them. Either way, with Xoom or Ria Money Transfer, you can expect your money to reach its Polish destination in a matter of minutes.
Ria Money Transfer is very fast when it comes to sending money online. Barring strange circumstances, it should take less than an hour to send funds to Poland. Keep in mind that Ria Money Transfer offers slightly less than average pricing. If you are willing to wait you can spend significantly less to transfer money to Poland in 1-2 days with TransferWise or OFX.
The cheapest way to transfer funds to PLN is through OFX if you are in the US. They don’t charge any upfront fees for transactions from the US. Their hidden currency conversion fees are significantly smaller when compared to the competition. In the end, if the price is your main concern, you won’t find better rates than those offered by OFX
In most other cases, TransferWise is the cheapest option. TransferWise is fairly consistent with their lower prices, and Poland is no exception for them. With TransferWise, you can always expect a flat upfront fee. The fee may seem slightly high at first, but this is completely offset by their absence of hidden currency conversion costs. They are pretty fast and easy to use, too. Transactions take 1-2 days to be completed, and sending money takes 3 very short steps.
The easiest ways to transfer funds to POL (Poland) are through either PayPal or TransferWise. Both services make it very easy to send money online to Poland. Because it is both a cheaper and faster option, we would recommend TransferWise over PayPal.
With TransferWise, all you need to do is tap the amount of money being sent and the destination. After that, you pay TransferWise for the transaction and the money reaches the destination in a day or two.
As of the time this was written, the exchange rate for the Polish Zloty (PLN) is 3.8503 PLN per American Dollar (USD). The PLN reached a 90-day high of 4.0154 PLN per USD, with a low of 3.8082 PLN per USD. The average exchange rate over the last 90 days was 3.8996 PLN per USD.
The PLN has held an average volatility of 0.58% against the USD for the last 90 days. The PLN has remained relatively stable after slowly accruing significant value in April and May of 2018. While the Polish Zloty is not among the most stable currencies, you can reasonably expect only minor fluctuations going forward, barring unforeseen circumstances.
The overall best way to send money online to Poland is through TransferWise. They offer a good, generic service that happens to have very good rates for Poland as well. When you consider its cost, speed, and ease of use, TransferWise is the best option for sending money online. TrnsferWise is also the best option for sending money to China, Mexico and Pakistan.
Looking to Send Money Somewhere Else?
Sending money anywhere else in the world is as easy as sending money to Poland. If you're looking to send money to another country, here is the list of the most popular destinations.