What’s the cheapest method to send money to Egypt?

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Egypt is a popular tourist destination and numerous people are interested in sending international monetary transfers to the country.

If you have a business in Egypt, you already know the best prices, the quickest services and the most reliable methods for sending money to Egypt. In both instances, you have to carefully choose money transfer services because some of them come with high charges and hidden fees.

What transfer methods do we use at Time Doctor?

We have a remote team with people in 19 different countries around the world. The two transfer methods we use the most are:

• Payoneer – very convenient for sending and receiving. They are also one of the few methods that works to receive money in almost every country and the receiver can get their money on a debit card and withdraw from an ATM. They also have an option for direct transfer to the receiver’s bank account. They also have a $50 bonus if you receive more than $100 through this method.
• Wise (formerly Transferwise) – very low cost and also a convenient method for transfers to most countries.

Take a look at the tables below to figure out how much it will cost you to send money to Egypt. Pay attention to our black market notes as Egypt’s government has instituted, “Foreign exchange controls.”

Table 1 – Sending $1000 from the US to Egypt
Transfer Method	Receiving Currency Option	Stated fees to send $1000 USD	Hidden currency conversion cost	Total cost	Time for the transfer to arrive
OFX (previously USForex)*	EGP	$0	$7.5	$7.5	1-2 days
Ria Money Transfer (slow)	EGP	$5	$15	$20	3-5 days
XE Trade	USD	$0	$25	$25	3-5 days
MoneyGram (slow)	USD	$25	$0	$25	3-5 days
Western Union (slow)	EGP	$25	$0.4	$25.4	6-8 days
Ria Money Transfer (fast)	EGP	$15	$15	$30	Minutes
Payoneer	EGP	$9	$25	$34	3-5 days
Western Union (fast)	EGP	$40	$0.4	$40.4	3-5 days
MoneyGram (fast)	USD	$81	$0	$81	Minutes
Wire transfer	EGP	$25-55	$10-30	$35-85	3-5 days

Notes:

• If you’re not sure what I mean by “hidden currency exchange fees” check out our explanation in this article.
• The fees for wire transfers are estimates and vary from bank to bank.
• Minimum transfer of $500 for OFX (previously USForex).

Table 2: Sending Money to Egypt from Different Countries. The TOTAL Cost in Percentages including the HIDDEN currency exchange fees.
Transfer Method	Receiving Currency Option	From the US	From the UK	From Canada	From Western Europe	From Australia
Small World FS	EUR	Not available	4.6%	Not available	0%	Not available
OFX (previously USForex)	USD, GBP, CAD, EUR, AUD	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%
Xendpay	USD	Not available	0.01%	2.7%	0.1%	2.6%
Ria Money Transfer	EGP	2%	Not available	Not available	Not available	Not available
XE Trade	USD, GBP, CAD, EUR, AUD	2.5%	2.8%	2.7%	2.2%	3.5%
Payoneer	EGP	3.4%	Not available	Not available	Not available	Not available
Azimo	EGP	Not available	1.7%	Not available	1.7%	Not available
Wire transfer	EGP	2.5 – 5.5%	2 – 4.5%	2.5 – 5.5%	2 – 4.5%	3 – 6.5%
Exchange4free	USD & EUR	Not available	4%	4.2%	0%	4.1%
Western Union	EGP & USD	2.5%	3.3%	7.1%	6.4%	4.8%
Send Money 24	USD	Not available	8.4%	Not available	Not available	Not available
MoneyGram	USD	2.5%	10%	8.8%	8.8%	5.1%

Notes:

• The methods in the tables above are for the recipient to receive the money in EGP/USD/EUR. If its other than EGP, then you may need to convert the money from USD/EUR to local currency EGP, which will cost more money perhaps around 1% depending on how they convert from USD/EUR to Egyptian Pounds(EGP).
• Western Union is providing the EGP currency option only for the United States. The rest of the countries will receive the currency in USD. The Exchange4free is providing a EUR currency option but only for Germany.
• OFX (previously OzForex) is a good option for sending larger amounts of money and their exchange rate fee goes down for larger amounts.
• Minimum transfer of $500/£500 for OFX.

The effects of currency controls in Egypt and the black market

Important:

Egypt’s government has instituted Foreign Exchange Controls. From Wikipedia:

“Foreign exchange controls are various forms of controls imposed by a government on the purchase/sale of foreign currencies by residents or on the purchase/sale of local currency by nonresidents. Often, foreign exchange controls can result in the creation of black markets to exchange the weaker currency for stronger currencies. This leads to a situation where the exchange rate for the foreign currency is much higher than the rate set by the government, and therefore creates a shadow currency exchange market.”

The official exchange rate has been unchanged for almost six months at 7.1401 per dollar, while on the black market it fell to 7.71 per dollar on Dec 9, 2014, according to the average of four dealers surveyed by Bloomberg.

However the bank allowed the Egyptian Pound (EGP) to reach 7.24 EGP per Dollar. In the black market it reached 7.87 EGP per dollar on Jan 19, 2015. Black market rates are 8% higher.

Other articles that might interest you:

Transferring Money with Wise (formerly TransferWise)
What’s the Cheapest Way to Send Money to India?
What is the Cheapest Way to Send Money to Indonesia?