Whether you’re looking to make small one-off transfers, top-up an overseas bank account, or transfer to family members back home whilst you’re abroad, we all want to do it in the most cost efficient and effective way.

Recognising Common Hidden Fees

When you are looking for the best way to transfer money overseas, it is important to be aware of any ‘hidden’ fees that banks and providers could charge you.

If you are planning on transferring money to another country in a different currency, you have to take into consideration the currency exchange rate fee.

This is entirely dependent on the currency of the money you are transferring, the currency of the account you’re transferring to, the provider you are using, and the foreign exchange rate each day.

Other key charges to look out for are overseas bank receiving fees, and transfer charges.

We have found a few options that include little to no fees to send money abroad, so you can transfer money across continents and seas without worrying about excessive charges.

1. ecoAccount to ecoAccount / eWallet to eWallet

There are a range of eWallet providers that allow you to create an account for free to use their services.

Some providers request that you place at least £10 on your account when you sign-up, whereas others, like ecoPayz, do not request any fees to register (even if you want a Silver account).

Unlike other providers, ecoPayz offers a cheap and simple solution to transfer money abroad if you don’t want to pay any unnecessary fees.

Whether you are sending £50 to your Grandma in India, or £500 to your friend in Poland, we make sure that you are aware of how much it is going to cost you by clearly providing information about our account tiers and exchange rates fees.

If you and your recipient setup individual ecoAccounts with ecoPayz, then you can transfer from one ecoAccount to another ecoAccount seamlessly and with little to no fees.

With a Silver account, the sender only needs to pay 1.5% in fees to transfer to their recipient, but if you have a Gold, Platinum and VIP account you don’t have to pay anything to transfer to another ecoAccount in the same currency.

When you’re transferring to/from an ecoPayz Merchant, it is completely free to transfer money to another account in the same currency, regardless of the type of account you have.

2. Pre-Paid Card Providers

From Revolut to TransferWise, there are a selection of pre-paid card providers (and peer-to-peer operators) that you can use to transfer money abroad with little to no fees.

It is a simple and cheaper option than transferring directly from your bank account, but you will have to pay exchange rate fees if you want to transfer from one currency to another.

It is also worth noting that certain providers charge more for larger transfers, you may have to pay to set up an account, and there will likely be tiers which dictate how much you can have on the card and how much you can transfer.

Additionally, some providers require you to have a bank account in order to register, so always ensure that you look at the specifics of each operator before you sign up for any pre-paid card services.

With ecoPayz, you don’t need to have an existing bank account to register with us.

Once you have set up an ecoAccount with ecoPayz you have the option to get an ecoCard* and ecoVirtualcard*, so you can easily transfer cash via our app or online.

3. PayPal: The Popular but More Expensive Choice

PayPal charges a lower margin on exchange rates than it does for payments, so if you transfer money from your PayPal account to another PayPal account you only have to pay a percentage fee (which varies depending on the currency you’re exchanging).

However, if you transfer money from your bank account to a PayPal account you will need to pay an additional fixed fee and a higher percentage fee.

So, we recommend paying from your PayPal account if you choose to transfer money abroad using this method.

It is a great option, if you are looking for a simple method of transferring money internationally, but it has a more expensive conversion fee if you want to pay someone in another currency (in comparison to ecoPayz).

4. Western Union: Transferring to a Bank Account

If you are sending cash to a bank account in the same currency you can do this for free (or at a very low rate) using Western Union’s services.

However, their services are best for small transfers (below £250), so if you’re interested in transferring a large sum you may want to use the above options.

Summary

In essence, eWallets and pre-paid card services are some of the cheapest and easiest options to utilise when you want to transfer money internationally.

Typically, banks charge a considerably higher amount to transfer money abroad, so you may want to choose one of the options above to reduce and avoid additional costs – from currency conversion rates to overseas bank receiving fees.