A wire transfer is an effective way to get money to friends, family members and merchants around the world. These transfers typically involve electronically transferring money from one bank to another. Though secure, the service can come at a cost — high fees.
Read this guide to find out how to minimise costs and find the service suited to your needs.
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A wire transfer is an immediate, secure way of transferring money to a recipient. It is an electronic transfer of money from one bank to another, using a secure network.
What kind of fees could I expect?
The fees your bank charges depend on whether you’re sending or receiving the money, as well as whether the recipient or sender is overseas. Some banks charge more depending on how you initiate the wire transfer — for example, online or in person.
Here are fees you can expect for wire transfers at your typical UK bank:
Incoming domestic fee. For receiving money from another UK bank account.
Outgoing domestic fee. For sending money to another UK bank account.
Incoming international fee. For receiving money from an overseas bank account.
Outgoing international fee. For sending money to an overseas bank account.
Initiation fee. This is when you do a wire transfer NOT online, for example in a branch or over the phone.
Tracer fee. For requesting tracing services for a previous wire transfer.
Beat the banks
We’ve tested the amounts a bank will give you against an average money transfer company, and the results could net you big savings. A £10,000 transfer to Australia with a money transfer company would save $378 AUD compared to a bank.
Why is this? Some banks charge up to £25 extra, which may be shown to you as a sum of small charges made of percentages and absolute fees. On top of this, there’s a hidden charge – the margin on the exchange rate. Money transfer companies tend to have much lower rates than banks and are generally a better option for sending money abroad. Don’t believe us? See our table below.
To make your decisions a bit easier, we’ve gathered wire transfer fees for several UK banks above.
When assessing these fees, how much you’ll pay depends on where you’re sending money to and other elements like:
Incoming vs. outgoing. Incoming wire transfers tend to be cheaper than outgoing wire transfers. This is because the sender usually bears the brunt of the costs associated with the wire transfer.
Domestic vs. international. Because domestic wire transfers involve less processing, they tend to be cheaper than international wire transfers. International wire transfers typically involve multiple banking systems and operators between the two countries.
Recurring vs. one-time fees. Some banks offer savings of a few dollars per transfer when you set up recurring wire transfers.
Initiation fees. Your bank could charge a fee for requesting the wire transfer in a branch or over the phone, instead of online.
Tracer fees. If your recipient hasn’t received your transfer as scheduled, you may need to trace it. This could incur more fees.
Exchange rates. An exchange rate shows how much one currency is worth in another currency. Nearly all banks skew the published exchange rate for a profit, and they aren’t always forthcoming about the margin they add. You may need to call your bank or initiate a transfer online to see the rate you’ll get.
Bottom line
Banks offer a secure and familiar way to complete wire transfers with friends, family members and merchants. However, you can expect to pay high transfer fees on top of weaker exchange rates than you would get by using an online money transfer service.
Ultimately, you’ll need to compare your options to find the service that’s best for you.
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Frequently asked questions
To send a wire transfer, you’ll need your recipient’s full personal and banking information, including their bank’s name and SWIFT code (if international) and their routing and account number.
Short for the cumbersome Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a SWIFT code is an international bank code used for incoming transfers. Overseas banks each have a unique SWIFT code that identifies which bank to send money to.
For international money transfers, it’s better to send money in your recipient’s currency. This takes the burden of converting the currency off of your recipient.
The processing time for a wire transfer varies from bank to bank and depends on several factors, such as whether the wire transfer is domestic or international. Some wire transfers can be processed within the same day if requested before the bank’s cutoff time. Others can take up to five business days.
I want to sponsor a teenager in Ethiopia and want to send him £40 each month. I’ve already checked and he’s genuine and he has a bank account. What would be the cheapest way to do this?
There are multiple ways in sending money to Ethiopia. We have a comparison of money transfer services specific to Ethiopia if you click here. You can also read our guide from there so you can weigh your options.
Please send me a message if you need anything else. :)
Hi – does anyone know where I can find a comparison of bank fees for receiving an international incoming payment in GBP (for UK-based banks)? There is lots of information online on the cost of sending transfers but not much on the cost of receiving them. Apparently, there are some banks that do not charge anything to receive an incoming international GBP payment but I don’t know which ones they are!
Thanks for getting in touch with finder. I hope all is well with you. :)
We currently don’t have a list of bank fees that are charged to the recipient when doing a money transfer. This is due to, like what you mentioned, a lot of transfer fees are charged to the sender.
For you to confirm, you can directly get in touch with your bank or money transfer company to know more about their fees.
I hope this helps. Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach us out again.
Typically how much do overseas banks (US/ Europe/Asia) charge their domestic customers for making small bank transfers of for example £20, and will a receiving UK bank charge the UK account holder as well and if so how much?
Incoming and outgoing bank transfer fees vary depending on the type of account the sender and receiver hold, the amount transferred, destination as well as whether the transfer is done in the branch, over the phone or online. Some beneficiary banks charge the receiver some fees unless the sender shoulder all the fees, which you have to indicate during the transfer.
For small amounts though, it might be cheaper to do the transfer through a money transfer service since most banks charge a fixed wire transfer fee irregardless of the amount. If you can tell us the bank you’re dealing with, we can try to check the rates for you. Better still, contact your bank directly to know the fees they charge specifically for this amount.
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I want to sponsor a teenager in Ethiopia and want to send him £40 each month. I’ve already checked and he’s genuine and he has a bank account. What would be the cheapest way to do this?
Hi Bernard,
Thanks for leaving a question on finder.
There are multiple ways in sending money to Ethiopia. We have a comparison of money transfer services specific to Ethiopia if you click here. You can also read our guide from there so you can weigh your options.
Please send me a message if you need anything else. :)
Cheers,
Joel
Hi – does anyone know where I can find a comparison of bank fees for receiving an international incoming payment in GBP (for UK-based banks)? There is lots of information online on the cost of sending transfers but not much on the cost of receiving them. Apparently, there are some banks that do not charge anything to receive an incoming international GBP payment but I don’t know which ones they are!
Hi tgeorge,
Thanks for getting in touch with finder. I hope all is well with you. :)
We currently don’t have a list of bank fees that are charged to the recipient when doing a money transfer. This is due to, like what you mentioned, a lot of transfer fees are charged to the sender.
For you to confirm, you can directly get in touch with your bank or money transfer company to know more about their fees.
I hope this helps. Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach us out again.
Have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Joshua
Typically how much do overseas banks (US/ Europe/Asia) charge their domestic customers for making small bank transfers of for example £20, and will a receiving UK bank charge the UK account holder as well and if so how much?
Hi Michael,
Incoming and outgoing bank transfer fees vary depending on the type of account the sender and receiver hold, the amount transferred, destination as well as whether the transfer is done in the branch, over the phone or online. Some beneficiary banks charge the receiver some fees unless the sender shoulder all the fees, which you have to indicate during the transfer.
For small amounts though, it might be cheaper to do the transfer through a money transfer service since most banks charge a fixed wire transfer fee irregardless of the amount. If you can tell us the bank you’re dealing with, we can try to check the rates for you. Better still, contact your bank directly to know the fees they charge specifically for this amount.
Best regards,
Liezl