Remitly vs. Western Union

Western Union is one of the most well-known international transfer services in the world. But let’s see how it compares to Remitly, an up-and-coming provider, to see which transfer service can take your dollar further.

Quick verdict

Lower fees:
Remitly

Exchange rates:
Remitly

Fast transfers:
Tie

Which has lower fees?

Remitly

Remitly’s fees depend on the currency you’re sending, how much you’re transferring and the speed of the transfer. Higher fees are applied on express transfers.

If you’re sending through the slower option, the fees are generally between $2 and $4 and can even be free in some cases.

Western Union

Western Union’s fees for an online money transfer vary greatly currency to currency — from $3.50 up to $100 or more — and can either be a flat fee or calculated based on a percentage, so it’s vital to check the currency you’re exchanging using the Western Union price estimator.

Winner: Remitly

Although there is a lot of variety with both, Remitly often has lower flat fees for slower transfers than Western Union.

Which offers better exchange rates?

Remitly

Remitly will normally add a margin to the exchange rates which varies for each currency. The margin varies from currency to currency.

For example, if you want to send money to South Africa:

• Midmarket rate: 1 USD = 14.9263 ZAR
• Remitly’s exchange rate: 1 USD = 14.79 ZAR

In this case, Remitly’s mark-up is about 0.9%.

Remitly often runs promotions that offer an exchange rate better than the midmarket rate for your first transfer on specific currencies.

Western Union

Western Union also adds a margin, but it tends to be quite a bit higher, ranging from 1% to 6%.

For example, if you want to send money to South Africa:

• Midmarket rate: 1 USD = 14.9263 ZAR
• Western Union’s exchange rate: 1 USD = 14.6855 ZAR

This is a margin of about 1.6%.

• What's the midmarket rate?

  The midmarket rate is a baseline to measure what your money’s actually worth on the global market when compared to another currency. Banks and transfer services use the midmarket rate when they trade among themselves. It’s also known as the interbank rate.

  Google the midmarket rate for the currency pair you’re transferring and compare the rates you’re quoted against this. You’ll be able to see what the mark-up is and how much the provider is making off the transfer.

Winner: Remitly

Remitly will often offer much better exchange rates than Western Union.

Which is faster?

Remitly

Remitly offers an express option that will get your money to the destination near instantly, but it does come with a higher fee. If you opt for the cheaper economy option, you’re looking at a transfer time of two to five business days.

Western Union

Some Western Union transfers arrive the same day, while some take up to five business days. It also depends on the transfer and receiving method but in general, bank account to bank account transfers will take the longest and be the cheapest.

Winner: Tie

Both Remitly and Western Union can transfer your money quickly, but they also take up to five business days for some transfers.

General features

	Payment methods	Receiving options	Maximum and minimum transfers	Transfer speeds	Currencies
Remitly	Bank transfer, debit card, credit card	Bank account, cash pickup	Minimum: $10 Maximum: $20,000	Within minutes	30+ currencies
Western Union	Bank transfer, cash transfer, debit card, credit card	Bank account, cash pickup, mobile wallet	Minimum: $1 Maximum: $2,500	Within minutes	95+ currencies

Remitly

Once you have an account with Remitly, you log in on either the website or through the app, then enter the amount, currency, recipient’s information and your payment information. After that, Remitly will convert your money and transfer it to your recipient.

Western Union

After registration, open your profile and choose the Send money option. After you’ve entered your receiver’s details, which includes their bank name and code as well as their bank account number if a bank transfer, you choose your payment method.

Once you’ve paid, Western Union will transfer the funds. You also have the option to send money in-store at an agent location.

Read review: Remitly
Read review: Western Union

Bottom line

Remitly offers both lower fees and better exchange rates, with the option to send money as fast as Western Union. However, it doesn’t offer as many currencies as Western Union and this could be the deciding factor.

Compare a range of international money transfer services before committing to any provider to ensure you’re getting the best deal possible.

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