The 2026 Global Remittance Cost Index
SendMoneyCompare analysed 3,017 live quotes at $1,000 across 983 corridors on .
Of the 80+ providers we track, 59 quoted a $1,000 transfer on at least 5 corridors and are ranked here — 27 specialists and 32 banks across 983 corridors — by the true cost of the transfer: the fee plus the hidden exchange rate markup.
Key Finding
On a $1,000 transfer, specialist providers cost an average of $25.85 in total fees and markup, while banks charge $37.89 — a difference of $12.04 per transfer. Over 12 monthly transfers, that is $144 saved per year. The averages hide a wide spread inside each group: the cheapest bank we measure (HSBC Singapore, $13.04) beats most specialists, and the cheapest specialist (Unplex, $-0.39) beats every bank.
Cheapest specialist providers
Money transfer specialists ranked by average true cost to send $1,000 (fee + exchange rate markup, as a share of the amount sent). Lower is better. Averages are taken over every corridor the provider quoted at $1,000 on October 3, 2026.
Cheapest banks
Banks and bank-owned remittance products, same method. Bank fees are often quoted in the sender's currency, so they are shown here as a percentage of the amount sent to make them comparable.
Specialists vs Banks
Average cost by provider type on a $1,000 transfer, across every ranked provider in each group.
Specialist providers
27 ranked
Traditional banks
32 ranked
Cost by Corridor
The cheapest provider and number of options for the most popular transfer corridors.
Where comparing matters most
Across the 270 corridors where at least 3 providers quote a $1,000 transfer, the median corridor costs 1.52% more through the middle-ranked provider than through the cheapest — about $15 per $1,000 sent. The gap is measured against the median provider rather than the dearest, because the dearest is often a single outlying bank and the median is what a sender who does not compare actually lands on.
Widest gaps among corridors with 5 or more providers quoting, so the median is taken over a real field. Cost is fee plus exchange-rate markup, as a share of the amount sent. Which provider wins most often answers who to pick once you know the gap is worth closing, and transfer cost by amount shows how this ranking changes below $1,000.
Methodology
The SendMoneyCompare Remittance Cost Index is calculated from live quotes collected directly from provider APIs and websites. Our automated scrapers run every 6 hours across 80+ providers; 85 of them quoted a $1,000 transfer in the current dataset and 59 did so on at least 5 corridors, the threshold for a ranking. The figures on this page are from quotes collected on October 3, 2026.
True total cost is what the recipient loses against a transfer at the mid-market rate: (amount × mid-market rate − amount received) ÷ (amount × mid-market rate). It captures the transfer fee and the exchange rate markup in one figure, because the amount received is what lands after both. We report it per $1,000 sent. Fee and markup are also shown separately as percentages of the amount sent — the only way to compare a fee quoted in yen with one quoted in dollars.
Provider averages are computed across every corridor where a provider quoted $1,000 (or 1,000 units of its send currency). Providers with fewer than 5 such corridors are excluded, and specialists and banks are ranked separately so a bank priced on five corridors is not read against a specialist priced on three hundred. Quotes implying a cost below −2% or above 40% are treated as scrape artifacts and dropped.
Data priority:when multiple sources exist for the same provider-corridor pair, a first-party API or browser scrape wins over a third-party comparison aggregator. The same dataset, priority and mid-market baseline feed every comparison table on this site and the measured markup shown on each provider review, so no two pages can disagree about a provider's cost.
Crypto rails vs banks
Where the recipient earns a premium
We price stablecoin and Bitcoin rails against banks and fintechs across 251 corridors, updated every 6 hours. On the corridors below, the cheapest crypto route beats the mid-market rate— meaning the recipient gets more local currency than a flawless bank rate would give, before the bank adds a cent of markup. This is the number traditional comparison sites can't show, because they don't measure crypto.
| # | Corridor | Best crypto route | Recipient gains |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USD → PKR | Binance P2P (PKR) · Solana (USDC) | +7.83% |
| 2 | AED → PKR | Binance P2P (PKR) · BNB Chain (USDT) | +7.70% |
| 3 | SAR → PKR | Binance P2P (PKR) · BNB Chain (USDT) | +7.70% |
| 4 | GBP → PKR | Binance P2P (PKR) · Solana (USDC) | +7.55% |
| 5 | USD → ARSBTC | Bitso · Stellar (USDC) | +5.99% |
| 6 | AED → ARS | Bitso · Stellar (USDC) | +5.94% |
| 7 | SAR → ARS | Bitso · Stellar (USDC) | +5.94% |
| 8 | HKD → ARS | Bitso · Stellar (USDC) | +5.91% |
| 9 | EUR → ARS | Bitso · Stellar (USDC) | +5.72% |
| 10 | GBP → ARS | Bitso · Stellar (USDC) | +5.72% |
| 11 | SGD → ARS | Bitso · Stellar (USDC) | +5.72% |
| 12 | CAD → ARS | Bitso · Stellar (USDC) | +5.72% |
"Recipient gains" is how far the cheapest crypto rail beats the mid-market rate, in percentage points, on a $1,000-equivalent transfer. Computed from live exchange order books and network fees. Crypto rails require exchange accounts and carry price/liquidity risk — see each cash-out guide for how it works. Not financial advice.
Find the cheapest transfer for your corridor
The index shows averages — your specific corridor may be cheaper. Compare live quotes now.
Compare providersFrequently asked questions
What does the Remittance Cost Index measure?
The Remittance Cost Index measures the true total cost of sending $1,000 internationally through each provider: the transfer fee plus the exchange rate markup (the gap between the provider's rate and the mid-market rate), expressed as what the recipient loses against a transfer at the mid-market rate. A lower total cost means more money reaches your recipient.
How is the data collected?
We collect live quotes from provider APIs and websites every 6 hours using automated scrapers. Not every provider quotes every corridor, so the number ranked here (59, each with quotes on at least 5 corridors at $1,000) is smaller than the 80+ providers we track. Each quote includes the exact fee, exchange rate and receive amount; the markup is the distance from the mid-market rate published by XE at the time of the quote.
Why are specialist providers cheaper than banks on average?
Specialist money transfer providers operate with lower overhead than traditional banks and price much closer to the mid-market rate — some, like Wise, at the mid-market rate itself with a visible fee. On our data that gap is $25.85 against $37.89 per $1,000. It is an average across each group: the cheapest banks we measure undercut many specialists, and the two rankings above are kept separate so you can see both.
How often is the index updated?
The index is recalculated from the latest quotes every time the site is rebuilt, and the scrapers behind those quotes run every 6 hours. The figures on this page are from quotes collected on October 3, 2026. The methodology has not changed since it was published in March 2026.
Can I use this data in my research or article?
Yes. You are welcome to cite data from the SendMoneyCompare Remittance Cost Index in your research, articles, or reports. Please credit SendMoneyCompare and link back to this page (sendmoneycompare.com/remittance-cost-index) as the source.
Cite this index
SendMoneyCompare. “The 2026 Global Remittance Cost Index.” SendMoneyCompare.com, data as of October 2026. https://sendmoneycompare.com/remittance-cost-index