So you want to send money to the Philippines, what’s the best option to choose? Some of the most well known options have very high fees. For example the fees to send money using PayPal can be as high as 8%!
At Time Doctor we have a lot of customers that use our software for tracking time for their workers that are working in the Philippines. We have over 2,500 people working in the Philippines (mostly working from home) using our software. They need a way to get paid and so we created this article to help our customers find the lowest cost to transfer money.
Well it’s actually quite simple. There is a REAL currency exchange rate, which is the rate at which banks exchange money. Then there is the rate that you get when you transfer money. The difference is a fee that you are charged for the transfer. However, they won’t tell you about this fee. It’s hidden!
In the tables below we’ve created clarity about the hidden fees by doing our own calculations.
Want to exchange $1000 from Australia to the Philippines at the airport in Sydney, Australia? Whoops! You just paid Travelex $128 for the transfer (and they didn’t tell you about this “fee”).
Sending money via PayPal? You will be charged a hidden fee of 2.5%-4% depending on which method you use.
This PayPal fee calculator will help you determine those fees.
We have a remote team with people in 19 different countries around the world. The two transfer methods we use the most are:
Here are some of the lower cost options you can choose from.
Transfer Method | Stated fees to send $1000 USD | Hidden currency conversion cost | Total cost | Time for the transfer to arrive | ||
TransferWise (recommended partner) | $10 | $0 | $10 | 1-2 days | ||
Abra* | $0 | $10 | $10 | 3-5 days | ||
Sharemoney | $3 | $11 | $14 | Minutes | ||
LBC Home (slow) | $5 | $13 | $18 | 3-5 days | ||
PNB Web Remit (slow) | $4 | $15 | $19 | 3-5 days | ||
Wells Fargo | $5 | $16 | $21 | 3-5 days | ||
PNB Web Remit (fast) | $9.5 | $15 | $24.5 | Minutes | ||
XE Trade | $0 | $26 | $26 | 3-5 days | ||
Remitly (slow) | $0 | $26 | $26 | 3-5 days | ||
Xpress Money | $11 | $16 | $27 | 3-5 days | ||
MoneyGram (slow) | $0 | $28 | $28 | 3-5 days | ||
Western Union (slow) | $0 | $28 | $28 | 5-7 days | ||
Lucky Money (slow) | $3 | $26 | $29 | 3-5 days | ||
Transfast (slow) | $5 | $24 | $29 | 3-5 days | ||
WorldRemit | $14 | $15 | $29 | 3-5 days | ||
Remitly (fast) | $4 | $26 | $30 | Minutes | ||
Payoneer | $3 | $28 | $31 | 3-5 days | ||
Xoom (slow) | $5 | $29 | $34 | 3-5 days | ||
Western Union (fast) | $8 | $28 | $36 | Minutes | ||
MoneyGram (fast) | $8 | $28 | $36 | Minutes | ||
Ko-Kard | $8 | $29 | $37 | 3-5 days | ||
Xoom (fast) | $8 | $29 | $37 | Minutes | ||
Wire transfer | $25 – 40 | $10 – 20 | $35 – 60 | 3-5 days | ||
PayPal | $0 – 40 | $25 – 40 | $30 – 80 | 3-5 days | ||
Transfast (fast) | $30 | $24 | $54 | Minutes | ||
Lucky Money (fast) | $36 | $26 | $62 | Minutes | ||
LBC Home (fast) | $50 | $13 | $63 | Minutes | ||
Skrill | $14 | $50 | $64 | 3-5 days |
Table 2 – Sending £1000 from the UK to the Philippines | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Transfer Method | Stated fees to send £1000 GBP | Hidden currency conversion cost | Total cost | Time for the transfer to arrive | ||
OrbitRemit | £2 | £6 | £8 | 1-2 days | ||
TransferWise (recommended partner) | £10 | £0 | £10 | 1-2 days | ||
Azimo | £3 | £9 | £12 | 3-5 days | ||
MoneyGram | £0 | £13 | £13 | 3-5 days | ||
Western Union | £5 | £9 | £14 | 3-5 days | ||
Xpress Money | £10 | £5 | £15 | 3-5 days | ||
Exchange4free | £0 | £20 | £20 | 3-5 days | ||
WorldRemit | £7 | £17 | £24 | 3-5 days | ||
Ko-Kard | £5 | £22 | £27 | 3-5 days | ||
XE Trade | £0 | £28 | £28 | 3-5 days | ||
PayPal | £0-40 | £25-40 | £45-80 | 3-5 days | ||
Wire transfer | £15 – 25 | £10 – 30 | £25 – 55 | 3-5 days | ||
Travelex | £0 | £79 | £79 | 3-5 days |
Table 3 – Sending $1000 from Canada to the Philippines | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Transfer Method | Stated fees to send $1000 CAD | Hidden currency conversion cost | Total cost | Time for the transfer to arrive | ||
TransferWise (recommended partner) | $12 | $0 | $12 | 1-2 days | ||
Xpress Money | $8 | $7 | $15 | 3-5 days | ||
MoneyGram | $15 | $1 | $16 | Minutes | ||
Qicsend | $4 | $14 | $18 | 3-5 days | ||
WorldRemit* | $14 | $11 | $25 | 3-5 days | ||
Exchange4free | $0 | $26 | $26 | 3-5 days | ||
Western Union | $20 | $8 | $28 | 3-5 days | ||
Ko-Kard | $10 | $20 | $30 | 3-5 days | ||
XE Trade | $0 | $31 | $31 | 3-5 days | ||
Transfast (fast) | $30 | $4 | $34 | Minutes | ||
PayPal | $0-40 | $25-40 | $45-80 | 3-5 days | ||
Wire transfer | $25-40 | $20-30 | $45-75 | 3-5 days | ||
Skrill | $14 | $50 | $64 | 3-5 days | ||
Travelex | $0 | $130 | $130 | 3-5 days |
Table 4 – Sending €1000 from Western Europe (Euro currency countries such as Germany, France, Italy) to the Philippines | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Transfer Method | Stated fees to send €1000 EUR | Hidden currency conversion cost | Total cost | Time for the transfer to arrive | ||
TransferWise (recommended partner) | €10 | €0 | €10 | 1-2 days | ||
Western Union | €5 | €11 | €16 | 3-5 days | ||
MoneyGram | €4 | €12 | €16 | 3-5 days | ||
Azimo | €3 | €22 | €25 | 3-5 days | ||
Exchange4free | €0 | €25 | €25 | 3-5 days | ||
Ko-Kard | €7 | €19 | €26 | 3-5 days | ||
XE Trade | €0 | €28 | €28 | 3-5 days | ||
WorldRemit | €13 | €21 | €34 | 3-5 days | ||
Wire transfer | €20-35 | €20-40 | €40-75 | 3-5 days | ||
Xpress Money | €28 | €14 | €42 | 3-5 days | ||
PayPal | €0-40 | €25-40 | €45-80 | 3-5 days | ||
Skrill | €13 | €50 | €53 | 3-5 days | ||
Travelex | €0 | €182 | €182 | 3-5 days |
Table 5 – Sending $1000 from Australia to the Philippines | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Transfer Method | Stated fees to send $1000 AUD | Hidden currency conversion cost | Total cost | Time for the transfer to arrive | ||
OrbitRemit | $4 | $5 | $9 | 1-2 days | ||
TransferWise (recommended partner) | $10 | $0 | $10 | 1-2 days | ||
Pinoy First | $7 | $3 | $10 | 3-5 days | ||
Phil Express | $8 | $3 | $11 | 3-5 days | ||
RemitAU | $7 | $7 | $14 | 1-2 days | ||
MoneyGram | $7 | $12 | $19 | Minutes | ||
BM Express | $12 | $10 | $22 | 3-5 days | ||
Exchange4free | $0 | $24 | $24 | 3-5 days | ||
XE Trade | $0 | $28 | $28 | 3-5 days | ||
Ko-Kard | $10 | $21 | $31 | 3-5 days | ||
Mhits | $30 | $1 | $31 | 3-5 days | ||
Xpress Money | $10 | $22 | $32 | 3-5 days | ||
WorldRemit | $14 | $19 | $33 | 3-5 days | ||
Fast Remit | $10 | $35 | $45 | 3-5 days | ||
PayPal | $0-40 | $25-40 | $45-80 | 3-5 days | ||
Western Union | $28 | $21 | $49 | 3-5 days | ||
Wire transfer | $25-35 | $30-60 | $55-95 | 3-5 days | ||
Skrill | $14 | $50 | $64 | 3-5 days | ||
Travelex | $0 | $128 | $128 | Minutes |
Sometimes you might want to fix the amount that you are sending in pesos. This means for example sending an exact amount of 20,000 pesos. The reason you might want to do this is if you are hiring someone in the Philippines you will get a more reasonable local rate if you pay in pesos. When you start to pay in dollars you might find that your worker will ask for more money just because they are seeing the dollar sign! When sending in pesos, local people tend to think about it more in local salaries.
This is more difficult to do and most services will not allow it. Here are some options that will allow this:
If you’re sending to multiple people some of these options are difficult to use or might not even apply at all. The problem is the time and effort that it takes to navigate the website and send each individual amount. Here are some options that are easier for sending multiple payments:
Let us know your comments about any of these transfer methods below!
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