Money Transfer Fees Explained

The transfer fee is the charge a service shows you before you pay. The second price is in the exchange rate. The mid-market rate is the real rate, the midpoint banks trade at and the one Google shows. Most services give you a slightly worse rate and keep the difference. That gap is the markup, and every percentage point costs $10 on each $1,000 you send.

Here is the same $1,000 from the US to Mexico, paid from a bank account and delivered to a bank account, from each service’s own current quote, standing prices cheapest first. Read the fee and the markup together: the service with the lowest fee is not always the one that costs least.

USD to MXN, $1,000, paid from a bank account and delivered to a bank account, in quotes collected October 8–9, 2026. All-in cost is the fee plus what the markup costs on the same amount. Green marks the cheapest standing price. A promotional fee or a rate better than our mid-market reference is listed after the standing prices: shown, never ranked.

For more on the rate side, including why a perfect rate can still lose, read our guide to exchange rate markups.

Most transfers only carry the first two. The rest depend on how you pay, how the money arrives and which route it takes, and each one can be avoided or kept small once you know it is there.

Card networks charge the transfer service for every card payment, and most services pass that cost on to you. Debit cards are usually cheaper than credit cards, and a bank account is usually cheapest of all. Paying by card does have one upside: the money often leaves faster.

Paying Xoom by credit card on $1,000 to Mexico came with a $64.09 fee, against a $15.59 fee paying from a bank account, at the same exchange rate.

Xoom’s own prices for $1,000 from the US to Mexico, by how you pay, in quotes collected October 9, 2026. The exchange rate is the same for every row; the fee is what changes.

The same service can charge different prices for the same amount depending on how the money arrives. Cash pickup has to be paid out at an agent location, which costs the service money, so it is often priced higher than a deposit into a bank account or a mobile wallet.

Remitly charged a $3.99 fee for cash pickup in Mexico and a $1.99 fee for a bank deposit, on the same $1,000 at the same exchange rate.

Remitly’s own prices for $1,000 from the US to Mexico, by how the money arrives, in quotes collected October 9, 2026.

Cash pickup is still the right choice when your recipient has no bank account or needs the money in hand today. Just compare its price with the other options first. For more on each route, see how international transfers work.

“No fee” and “zero commission” describe one half of the price. A service that charges no fee still has to make money, and it usually does it through the exchange rate.

On the same $1,000 to Mexico, OFX charged no fee, but its rate was 2.81% above the mid-market rate, so the transfer cost $28.05 all-in. Instarem cost $7.81 all-in, with no fee and a rate 0.78% above the mid-market rate.

First-transfer promotions work the same way in reverse: a waived fee or a better rate that applies once. It is worth taking, but it tells you nothing about what your second transfer will cost. Check the standard price before you make a service your regular choice.

A bank wire to another country usually travels over SWIFT, and it may pass through one or more intermediary (correspondent) banks on the way. Each one can take a fee out of the amount, so the money can arrive short of what you sent. Your recipient’s bank may then charge to accept an incoming international wire.

The charge option on the wire decides who pays. With OUR, you pay every fee upfront and the full amount should arrive. With SHA, you pay your own bank and the recipient absorbs the rest. With BEN, every fee comes out of the amount sent. On top of that, the bank sets its own exchange rate, with its own markup.

Transfer services avoid most of this by paying out locally, from an account in the recipient’s country. To see what US banks charge for an outgoing international wire, see our bank wire transfer fees page, and for when a wire is worth it, ACH vs. wire transfers.

Since January 1, 2026, the US charges a 1% federal excise tax on remittance transfers paid in cash, by money order or by cashier’s check. On $1,000 sent in cash, that is $10. Transfers paid from a bank account or with a US debit or credit card are exempt, which covers almost every online and app transfer. The details are in our 2026 remittance tax guide.

The simplest way to compare is to ignore the labels and look at one number: how much your recipient gets for the same amount sent. This comparison prices every service against the live mid-market rate, so the markup is already counted.

To see which service costs least on other routes, read the cheapest money transfer service by corridor, and for the habits that cut the cost of every transfer, how to save on transfer fees.