Paying attention to the exchange rate is the most important thing to do if you frequently send money abroad. Most of the money transfer services make their profits by monetizing the differences in the exchange rates and by keeping these charges hidden. Even if you think that your transfer amount is too small for a big service fee or that sending money to a country like Macedonia won’t cost you much, check out the tables below.
The most popular money transfer companies do send money to Macedonia but you need to draw careful comparison and assess the scope of the charges.
| Table 1: Sending $1000 from the US to Macedonia | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer method | Receiving Currency Option | Fees to send $1000 USD | Hidden currency conversion cost | Total fees | Time for the transfer to arrive |
| Paysera | USD | $4 | $0 | $4 | 1-3 days |
| Ria Money Transfer (slow) | USD | $5 | $0 | $5 | 3-5 days |
| OFX (previously USForex)* | EUR | $0 | $7.5 | $7.5 | 1-2 days |
| Ria Money Transfer (fast) | USD | $15 | $0 | $15 | Minutes |
| XE Trade | USD | $0 | $25 | $25 | 3-5 days |
| Western Union (slow) | USD | $25 | $0 | $25 | 4-6 days |
| MoneyGram (slow) | USD | $25 | $0 | $25 | 3-5 days |
| Payoneer | USD | $3 | $28 | $31 | 3-5 days |
| Wire transfer | $25-55 | $10-30 | $35-85 | 3-5 days | |
| Skrill | EUR | $42 | $30 | $72 | 3-5 days |
| Western Union (fast) | USD | $81 | $0 | $81 | Minutes |
| MoneyGram (fast) | USD | $81 | $0 | $81 | Minutes |
| Payza | MKD | $71 | $25 | $96 | 3-5 days |
| Transfer Method | Receiving Currency | From the US | From the UK | From Canada | From Western Europe | From Australia |
| Ria Money Transfer (cheap method) | USD | 0.5% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Global Web Pay | GBP | Not available | 0.7% | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Azimo | USD | Not available | 2% | Not available | 1.7% | Not available |
| First Remit | USD | Not available | 2.5% | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Payoneer | USD | 3.1% | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| OFX (previously USForex) | USD, GBP, EUR, AUD | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.75% |
| XE Trade | USD, GBP, CAD, EUR, AUD | 2.5% | 2.7% | 2.6% | 2.4% | 3.8% |
| Wire transfer | 2.5 – 5.5% | 2 – 4.5% | 2.5 – 5.5% | 2 – 4.5% | 3 – 6.5% | |
| Paysera | USD | 0.4% | 2.9% | 3.3% | 1% | 3.4% |
| Exchange4free | EUR | Not available | 3.1% | 3% | Not available | 3% |
| Western Union (cheap method) | USD & EUR | 2.5% | 3% | 6.7%* | 0.6%* | 5% |
| Small World FS | EUR | Not available | 3.6% | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Skrill | EUR | 7.2% | 6.3% | 6.2% | 6.2% | 6.2% |
| MoneyGram | USD & EUR | 2.5% | 11.8% | 7.9% | 3.6%* | 11.7% |
| Payza | MKD | 9.6% | 9.4% | 10.1% | 9.6% | 10.1% |
| Send Money 24 | USD | Not available | 12% | Not available | Not available | Not available |
Rob Rawson is a co-founder of Time Doctor which is software to improve work productivity and help keep track of what your team is working on, even when working remotely.