.svg)
.jpg){kind=small}
Generally, Wise is the best way to send money to friends and family. This provider offers the best deals to send payments overseas or within your home country.
There are other ways to send money to family and friends, like PayPal, Venmo, and TorFX. Finding the best one depends on factors like the payment amount and the destination country.
On this page, we analyze all the most popular services, share useful details about sending funds domestically and internationally, and provide our unbiased opinion on each. This will help you make an informed decision and find the most convenient option for you.
Best way to send money to friends and family abroad
Making international money transfers is more complicated than making domestic ones. If your friends and relatives are abroad, you need to think about the country they’re in, currency exchange, any transfer limits that exist, and the high fees for making international money transfers.
In this case, we recommend using money transfer providers, since these services have been built specifically to help you transfer money easily and avoid all the hassle. The three options below have a transparent fee structure and are all great choices to handle your digital payments, no matter the payment amount.
Wise is the best way to send money overseas. You can make an instant transfer to other Wise bank accounts for free, so long as you don’t need to exchange currencies.
If your friend or family member needs a different currency, Wise will exchange at the mid market rate, and charge a small fee. All the fees are clearly shown before you submit the transfer, so there are no surprises there.
You can use this service also if your recipient doesn’t have a Wise account. Wise can transfer to any bank account, although it charges a small transfer fee when sending funds to an overseas account. You can pay by bank transfer, wire transfer, and credit or debit card payment. Fees and transfer speeds vary depending on your payment method.
Wise also offers a multi currency bank account that can hold up to nine different currencies at once. This is very useful if you want to keep hold of any extra foreign currencies for your own travel, or future payments to your friends and family.
Free transfers between Wise accounts
Transparent fees and exchange rates
Faster small transfers than most competitors
High maximum transfer limits
Only offers delivery to around 70 countries
Can only receive money in a bank account
Customer support can be limited, with the emphasis on online-only contact
Currencies Direct is a convenient option because it charges no fees and applies low exchange rate markups between 0.7% and 1.7% to currency conversions. This makes them the cheapest way to send money internationally. They service over 120 countries and 40+ currencies.
While Currency Direct is cheaper than other services, it’s also a bit slower than average, with international transfers taking around 1-3 working days. Also, the app isn’t the simplest to use, so you may need to spend some time on it to understand how to set everything up properly.
If you plan to use Currency Direct to transfer money, keep in mind they only accept bank transfers and card payments. There’s also no option to cancel your transfer after you’ve made it, so make sure you check the details of your transfer before you submit. However, if cost is your priority, Currencies Direct is the provider for you.
No fees
Low exchange rates
Over 120 countries serviced
Slower than average transfers
Limited payment methods available
No cancelation
WorldRemit services over 130 countries, making it a great choice for sending money internationally to friends and family. You can transfer by mobile money, cash pickup, airtime top up, or bank transfer.
You’ll be charged a small markup on the exchange rate, with the amount depending on the currencies being exchanged. You can calculate how much your transfer will cost before sending funds using their in-app calculator.
Transfer limits are quite strict with WorldRemit: you can send $9,000 every 24 hours and $5,000 per transfer. Despite wide transfer corridors, WorldRemit doesn’t send money to many countries in Europe, so check which countries are serviced below before opening an account.
Lots of countries available
Multiple payout options
User-friendly interface
Calculate fees before you send
Low transfer limits
Limited service for European countries
Exchange rate markups can make transfers expensive
Other ways to pay friends and family internationally
There are other ways to pay friends and family living overseas, but they have their drawbacks. Some of the common methods are:
Wire transfers
Google Pay and Apple Pay
Peer to peer (P2P) payment apps
Wire transfers
Wire transfers can be used to transfer money between bank accounts overseas. They’re expensive and tend to be slower than most money transfer providers. On average, international wire transfers take up to five business days to process.
Google Pay and Apple Pay
Google Pay and Apple Pay store your bank cards digitally so you can make card payments from your phone. They don’t charge fees for making payments, but remember, you’re still making card payments with your bank card. This means any transfers you make will be subject to high fees from your bank.
P2P payment apps
P2P payment apps like PayPal, Cash App, Zelle, and Venmo are great for transferring money domestically, but not many work internationally. Only PayPal sends money to lots of countries outside the US, although International transfers with PayPal are expensive, with an average fee of 4%, plus an exchange rate markup of a further 4%.
Cash App, which is one of the most downloaded payment apps on Google Play and the AppStore, is a popular but limited option to send money overseas. As we point out in our Cash App review, it does not support international transfers beyond the UK and US.
Best way to send money to friends and family domestically
If you’re sending money in your home country, the best method is usually a P2P payment service. Most P2P payment services are free, but they can usually only send money to people with an account.
Wise takes the lead once again here, due to their free transfers between Wise accounts. Despite this, you may find PayPal easier to use, and if you need to send cash, MoneyGram is the provider for you.
What do we mean by sending money “domestically”?
Domestic payments are any payments made within the same country. Settling a bill with mobile wallet payments, cash deposits to your housemate, and ACH transfers within the US are all domestic payments. Any payment that crosses into another country is classed as an international payment.
Wise is the best option here, too. With free transfers between Wise accounts, you can make instant transfers in the same way as many P2P apps. You can also transfer any currency you have in your multi currency account free of charge, so long as you have enough of that currency.
If your friend or family member doesn’t have a Wise account, they can register for free. If they don’t, you can send them money via bank transfer, wire transfer, and credit or debit card for a fee.
Domestic transfers between Wise accounts are free
Transparent fees and exchange rates
Faster small transfers than most competitors
High maximum transfer limits
Free transfers are only available when transferring to another Wise account
Can only receive money in a bank account
Customer support can be limited, with the emphasis on online-only contact
With over 430 million users worldwide, PayPal is one of the most popular payment apps in the world. With PayPal, you can send money online to your contacts with just an email address. Payments from your connected bank account and your PayPal balance are free, while credit and debit card payments come with a small fee.
PayPal also has a strict policy regarding the maximum amount allowed per transfer. If you are planning to use it to transfer large sums, check out our article on how much can you send on PayPal, first.
When you’ve transferred the money, your recipient will get an email. They can accept the payment by logging in to their personal PayPal account. If they don’t yet have a verified PayPal account, they’ll need to register before they can claim the payment.
Transfers between personal PayPal balances are usually instant, but they can take longer if your recipient has a PayPal business account. Remember: As easy as it is to send money via PayPal, overseas payments are very expensive. If you need to send money internationally, use a different method.
Free domestic transfers
Payments between PayPal balances are instant
Two-step authentication keeps your PayPal account secure
Transfers overseas are expensive
Overseas transfers are slower than most transfer providers
Recipient must have or open a PayPal account to accept the payment
Sending cash can be risky, but MoneyGram makes it safe and easy. MoneyGram is a fast, simple way to deliver money to your friends and relatives. You can use a debit card or credit card to transfer money online, or deposit cash at any MoneyGram agent location. When arranging a cash pickup, the cheapest option is usually a cash deposit.
We recommend MoneyGram for domestic transfers, but they can send money to over 200 countries internationally.
The reason we don’t suggest using MoneyGram for international payments is that these come with high exchange rates, so you’d be better off choosing Wise or Currencies Direct. MoneyGram fees are also quite high, but some payment methods like mobile wallet deposits are usually free.
Fast cash transfers
Mobile wallet transfers are usually free
Varied payout options
High transfer fees
High exchange rates for international payments
Strict transfer limits of $10,000
Other ways to pay friends and family domestically
Domestic payments are much more common than international transfers. Every time you split a restaurant bill with a friend, pay your family for household expenses, or send someone cash for their birthday, you’re making a domestic payment.
While Wise, PayPal, and MoneyGram are our top picks for domestic payments, there are others available, including:
ACH bank transfers
Other P2P payment apps
Walmart2Walmart transfers
ACH bank transfers
Domestic ACH bank transfers are a common way of sending money to friends and family in the United States. ACH transfers are becoming more widely available, with most banks offering them free of charge. The issue comes from the speed. ACH transfers are one of the slowest ways you can transfer money, with most transfers taking one to three business days to clear.
Other P2P payment apps
Other P2P payment apps like Cash App, Zelle, and Venmo can be used for domestic payments, but they don’t yet stand up against PayPal. Cash App is slower than PayPal, with instant transfers only available for a fee. Zelle can only work between banks signed up to its network, and Venmo comes with higher card fees and a stricter transfer limit.
Walmart2Walmart
You can transfer money within the US and Puerto Rico at Walmart stores. To do this, you’ll need to show your photo ID at the customer service desk. Walmart does not offer instant transfer options, although most payments will be sent in 10 minutes.
What makes it a sub-optimal choice is that Walmart fees are higher than most money transfer services, starting at $2.50.
Did you know?
Walmart uses money transfer apps like Western Union and Ria to power its transfers. Be careful; these providers tend to offer slower transfers than Wise and XE.
What you’ll need to send money to your friends and family
To send money to your friends and family, you’ll usually need to provide:
Your name, address, and contact details
Valid photo ID
Your payment details - these could be your bank account details or card details, depending on how you’re paying for your transfer
Your recipient’s name and contact details
Your recipient’s bank account details
The amount you are sending
The currency you are converting if you’re making an international transfer
Wise and PayPal make it easier
If you’re making a payment via PayPal, or between Wise accounts, you’ll only need your recipient’s name and email address to make the transfer.
It’s very important to check the details of your transfer before you send it, to make sure your payment doesn’t go to the wrong person.
.jpg)
