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What are the cheapest ways to send money overseas?
How to find the best exchange rates and avoid hidden fees when you remit
- PUBLISHED: Thu 21 Aug 2025, 3:36 PM
Millions of expats living in the UAE transfer money overseas on a regular basis. In fact, the UAE is one of the top remittance hubs in the world, with billions of dirhams sent abroad every year. But how can you make international transfers in the cheapest, safest, and most efficient way? The key is to understand the exchange rate you’ve been offered and checking what fees will be applied.
Understand exchange rates
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If you look at an exchange rate on Google, it gives you the “mid-market rate” or the real interbank rate that banks use when they trade with each other. But many providers don’t give you this rate. Instead, they add a markup – sometimes as high as 2–4 per cent – which can turn into hundreds of dirhams if you’re sending larger sums. For example, sending Dh10,000 to India at a rate just one per cent lower than the market rate means you lose Dh100 instantly. So always check the exchange rate being offered and compare it to the mid-market rate.
“There are some exceptions but in general banks don’t offer the best rates,” says Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com. “Digital banks and exchange houses tend to offer better rates as they have lower overheads and they try to compete on price.” One provider that is often recommended for its competitive rates is Wise. “We believe pricing should be fair and simple. Our customers see the mid-market rate when using Wise,” a spokesman told Khaleej Times.
Hidden fees
Fees can also catch you out. There may be an upfront fee but also other fees too. For example, one hidden fee is the ‘correspondent banking fee’. Your bank or platform may say they don’t charge any fees, but a less-than-expected amount appears at the other end. This is a fee charged by the ‘correspondent bank’ sitting in the middle of the transaction. There are also ‘receiving bank fees’. While your bank may have an upfront fee, the bank abroad may also charge your family or friend who receives the transfer. And be careful about “zero-fee” transfers as they could cost more if the exchange rate markup is high.
Careem Pay enables international money transfers from the UAE to 30+ countries. “Careem Pay was designed to address the long-standing challenges of high fees, slow transfers, and unclear rates in the remittance market,” says Mohammad El Saadi, Careem Pay VP. “We offer rates up to 50 per cent cheaper than banks, with consistently low fees.”
Timing transfers
Exchange rates change all the time, so timing is important. Apps like Wise allow you to set alerts for favourable rates, so you transfer when the dirham is stronger against your home currency. Careem Pay says transfers are initiated within seconds through the app, with features like in-app rate alerts to help customers choose the best transfer timing.
A lack of transparency is what gave the founders the idea for Wise 14 years ago, when they got stung by hidden exchange rate mark-ups when sending money overseas. Today the platform has more than 15 million customers. “Banks still often advertise zero fee offers and offer ‘market-leading rates’, whilst hiding information in tooltips that they may earn on exchange rate mark-ups. This makes it hard for consumers and businesses to fully understand the true cost of sending money and what will be received on the other side,” a spokesman adds.
Top providers
DeadSimpleSaving.com’s Cronin says he finds the best rates in the world are offered by Interactive Brokers and Revolut. “Interactive Brokers is a brokerage — they will want you to be investing in stocks, ETFs etc rather than only using them for currency conversion. You can only transfer money from or to a bank account in your own name. They accept major currencies and also UAE dirhams,” he explains.
Other providers that financial experts recommend include CurrencyFair, Lulu Exchange and GC Partners. “If you are exchanging a large amount of money, you should really pay attention to the exchange rate you’re being offered and look for the best one,” adds Cronin. RemitFinder aggregates exchange rates from multiple providers operating in the UAE, which is helpful for comparing offers and finding the best rates. If speed is important, Careem Pay says that transfers can be completed in as little as 11 seconds, with average transfers completed in under 60 minutes.
What about using cryptocurrencies to transfer money, cutting out the middleman and associated fees? “You can avoid large cross-border transfer fees by using stablecoins (a more stable type of cryptocurrency), but you may still pay a high price for on-ramps and off-ramps - converting from fiat to crypto and back again.”