Sending Money to Uganda from the US: What It Really Costs

The table shows the all-in cost of sending dollars to a Ugandan bank account: the fee you see plus the margin built into the exchange rate, measured against the mid-market USD/UGX rate when each provider gave its quote. Prices collected October 26, 2026.

All-in cost in US dollars, paid from a US bank account and deposited to a Ugandan bank account. Green marks the lowest standing price at each amount. A promotional price, or a quote that beats our mid-market reference, is shown but not marked.

Read down the $1,000 column and the pattern is hard to miss. From the cheapest standing price to the dearest, the difference is about 16 percentage points of the amount you send. Sendwave, Xoom, Ria Money Transfer, MoneyGram and Western Union take 3% or more in the rate alone, and MoneyGram and Western Union add a sizable fee on top. On a corridor this lopsided, sticking with whichever app you already have can cost far more than the fee suggests.

You will also see Instarem and Wise marked “rate ref differs”. At one or more amounts, their quoted rate gave more shillings than our own mid-market reference. That usually means the reference and the quote were taken at slightly different moments in a fast-moving market, so we show those prices but don't rank them.

Check the exact fee on your amount:

Mobile money is how much of Uganda pays rent, school fees and market stalls. The two networks that matter are MTN Mobile Money and Airtel Money, and an international transfer lands in either one against the recipient's phone number, usually within minutes. Bank of Uganda figures for 2025 put about 61% of the money sent home on mobile money, with the US the largest single source, at about 28% of the total.

For delivery to a mobile wallet on a $1,000 transfer, the cheapest standing price in our current data is Ria Money Transfer at $10.30 all-in, then MoneyGram at $16.57 and Remitly at $18.92. In other words, the cheapest mobile money payout costs about the same as the cheapest bank deposit on the same $1,000.

What the recipient pays on their side

• Receiving: free. The full amount you sent, converted at the rate you were quoted, lands in the wallet.
• Cashing out: the agent's withdrawal fee, which the network sets in bands by amount, plus Uganda's 0.5% excise duty on the value withdrawn. Cashing out the whole of a $1,000 transfer means about 22,000 shillings in tax alone.
• Spending from the wallet: paying a merchant, a utility or a school directly from the balance avoids the withdrawal fee and the tax on that part.

The Ugandan shilling floats, with the Bank of Uganda stepping in only to smooth disorderly moves; it says plainly that it does not defend a particular rate. In October the shilling fell hard against the dollar and touched about its weakest level in more than thirty years. The central bank points to a wider current account deficit: lower coffee prices and tourism receipts, dearer oil and freight, and investors pulling back from riskier markets. On October 14 it raised its policy rate by 2.25 percentage points, to 12%, at an unscheduled meeting. On October 27, 2026 the mid-market rate stood at 4,454 shillings to the dollar.

Fast markets are also when a service's rate margin is easiest to miss. With thousands of shillings to the dollar, a margin of a few percent hides in the digits. On a $1,000 transfer, every 1% taken in the rate is about 45,000 shillings that never arrive. The only number that settles it is the amount in shillings at the end of each provider's checkout.

Mobile money is not always the right answer. For larger sums, such as school fees, building materials or a land payment, a bank deposit is often the better fit: the balance is not capped the way a wallet is, there is no 0.5% duty to move it, and it leaves a clean record. Stanbic, Centenary Bank, Absa and dfcu are among the banks your recipient is most likely to use. A deposit usually arrives within one to three business days.

Cash pickup makes sense for someone with neither a wallet nor an account, or who needs physical cash the same day. The recipient brings the reference number and a national ID. For cash pickup on a $1,000 transfer, the cheapest standing price in our current data is MoneyGram at $13.57 all-in, then Remitly at $18.92 and Ria Money Transfer at $58.40.

The one option to leave out entirely is a wire from your US bank. US banks charge up to $75 to send a $1,000 wire (their published fees, checked October 2026) and a correspondent bank typically takes about $20, before an exchange-rate markup the banks don’t publish and that we could not check on this route. That is before your family's bank in Uganda takes its own charge for receiving it.

Since January 1, 2026, the US has charged a 1% excise tax on remittances paid for with cash, a money order or a cashier's check. The sending company collects it at the counter. Fund the transfer from a US bank account or with a US debit or credit card, as every app in the table does, and it simply doesn't apply. (Tax rules change, so check your own situation before a large transfer.)