Remitly money transfer in the UK – fees, timings and how it works

In this helpful guide, we’ll walk you through how Remitly works for UK users. This includes currencies, fees, exchange rates, limits and everything else you need to know.

But remember that Remitly isn’t the only option for making international transfers. A great alternative is Wise (WISE.LON). It’s fast, secure and transparent, letting you send money worldwide at the mid-market exchange rate for low fees*.

For now though, let’s get back to Remitly.

What is Remitly money transfer?

Remitly is a money transfer provider. It’s a digital service without any physical locations, where all payments are set up and managed online or via the Remitly mobile app.

You’ll have a choice of methods to fund your payment, along with a range of delivery/collection methods too (depending on where you’re sending to).

Remitly supports sending money to over 170 receiving countries worldwide.¹

Is Remitly a bank?

Remitly isn’t a bank. However, it is a UK registered payment services company that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).¹

Do you need a bank account to use Remitly?

Remitly offers a few different methods for funding payments, but most require you to have a bank account.

You can pay for your transfer using your bank account, or a credit or debit card. However, if you don’t have a bank account, you can also use a prepaid card with Remitly.²

Is it safe to send money through Remitly?

Remitly works in partnership with financial institutions all over the world. It also has a number of security measures in place. According to the website, this includes account verification processes, SSL with 256-bit encryption, secure payment technologies and multi-level password security.³

However, like using any transfer service, you should be cautious about who you send money to (especially people you don’t know) and take steps to keep yourself safe. And it’s also important to be mindful of any additional fees - but more on that later.

What countries and currencies does Remitly support?

Remitly supports transfers in 100+ currencies,¹ including all major currencies. The following countries are part of its worldwide network:

Country	Currency
Albania	ALL or EUR
Algeria	DZD or EUR
Andorra	EUR
Anguilla	XCD
Antigua and Barbuda	XCD
Argentina	ARS
Armenia	EUR or USD
Australia	AUD
Austria	EUR
Azerbaijan	USD
Bahamas	BSD
Bahrain	BHD
Bangladesh	BDT
Barbados	BBD
Belarus (currently unavailable	BYN
Belgium	EUR
Belize	BZD
Benin	XOF
Bermuda	BMD
Bhutan	BTN
Bolivia	BOB or USD
Bosnia and Herzegovina	BAM or EUR
Botswana	BWP
Brazil	BRL
Brunei Darussalam	BND
Bulgaria	BGN or EUR
Burundi	BIF
Cabo Verde	CVE
Cambodia	USD
Cameroon	XAF
Canada	CAD
Cayman Islands	KYD
Chile	CLP or USD
China	CNY
Colombia	COP
Comoros	KMF
Congo Brazzaville	XAF
Costa Rica	CRC or USD
Côte d'Ivoire	XOF
Croatia	HRK
Cyprus	EUR
Czech Republic	CZK
Denmark	DKK
Djibouti	DJF or USD
Dominica	XCD
Dominican Republic	DOP or USD
DR Congo	USD
Ecuador	USD
Egypt	EGP or USD
El Salvador	USD
Equatorial Guinea	XAF
Eritrea	ERN
Estonia	EUR
Ethiopia	ETB
Fiji	FJD
Finland	EUR
France	EUR
Gabon	XAF
Gambia	GMD
Georgia	EUR or USD
Germany	EUR
Ghana	GHS
Gibraltar	EUR
Greece	EUR
Guatemala	GTQ
Guinea	GNF
Guinea Bissau	XOF
Guyana	GYD
Haiti	USD
Honduras	HNL or USD
Hong Kong	HKD
Hungary	HUF
Iceland	EUR
India	INR
Indonesia	IDR or USD
Ireland	EUR
Israel	EUR or USD
Italy	EUR
Jamaica	JMD
Japan	JPY
Jordan	JOD or USD
Kazakhstan	USD
Kenya	KES
Kiribati	AUD
Kosovo	EUR
Kuwait	KWD
Kyrgyzstan	EUR or USD
Laos	USD
Latvia	EUR
Lebanon	LBP or USD
Lesotho	LSL
Liberia	USD
Liechtenstein	EUR
Lithuania	EUR or USD
Luxembourg	EUR
Macau (coming soon)	MOP
Madagascar	MGA
Malawi	MWK
Malaysia	MYR
Maldives	MVR
Malta	EUR
Mauritania	MRU
Mauritius	MUR
Mexico	MXN
Moldova	EUR or USD
Monaco	EUR
Mongolia	MNT or USD
Montenegro	EUR
Morocco	MAD
Mozambique	MZN
Myanmar	MMK
Namibia	NAD
Nepal	NPR
Netherlands	EUR
Nicaragua	USD
Nigeria	NGN
North Macedonia	EUR or USD
Norway	NOK
Oman	OMR
Pakistan	PKR
Panama	USD
Papua New Guinea	PGK
Paraguay	PYG
Peru	PEN or USD
Philippines	PHP or USD
Poland	PLN
Portugal	EUR
Qatar	QAR
Puerto Rico	USD
Romania	RON or EUR
Russia (currently unavailable)	RUB
Rwanda	RWF
Samoa	WST
San Marino	EUR
Saudi Arabia	SAR
Senegal	XOF
Serbia	EUR
Seychelles	SCR
Sierra Leone	SLL
Singapore	SGD
Slovakia	EUR
Slovenia	EUR
Solomon Islands	SBD
Somalia	USD
South Africa	ZAR
South Korea	KRW
Spain	EUR
Sri Lanka	LKR
St Kitts and Nevis	XCD
St Lucia	XCD
Suriname	EUR
Sweden	SEK
Switzerland	EUR
Taiwan (coming soon)	TWD
Tajikistan	EUR or USD
Tanzania	TZS
Thailand	THB
Timor Leste	USD
Togo	XOF
Tonga	TOP
Trinidad and Tobago	TTD
Tunisia	TND
Turkey	TRY or EUR
Turkmenistan	TMT
Turks and Caicos	USD
Uganda	UGX
Ukraine	EUR or USD
United States	USD
US Virgin Islands (coming soon)	USD
Uruguay	UYU or USD
Uzbekistan	USD
Vanuatu	VUV
Vietnam	VND or USD
Zambia	ZMW or USD
Zimbabwe	USD

The exact services on offer vary by country, so you’ll need to check which payment routes are available to you by modelling the transaction on the Remitly website.

It’s also worth checking out how Remitly compares to other providers, especially if the country or currency you want to send to isn’t on its list.

Please see the Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise fees & pricing for the most up-to-date information on pricing and fees.

If you need to make regular international payments, it’s worth checking out the Wise account. It lets you send money worldwide in dozens of currencies. You can hold 40+ currencies in your account at once and switch between them whenever you need to.

Unlike some other providers, all currency conversions with Wise are carried out at a fair exchange rate without an expensive mark-up – this is known as the mid-market rate. Choose Wise to send your money overseas to save time and money with transparent and upfront fees*.

Open your Wise account 🚀

How to send a transfer with Remitly

You should find it pretty simple to use Remitly in the UK.

You simply need to follow these steps:⁴

1. Create an account online or on the app
2. Set up your account details and profile
3. Start a new payment - select ‘send’ or ‘get started’ if using the app, or ‘send money’ if sending online
4. Enter the amount you’d like to send
5. Choose a delivery method
6. Enter your recipient’s name, phone number and bank details (for bank to bank transfers)
7. Confirm your payment method.
8. Check the details and hit ‘send money’
9. You’ll receive a confirmation receipt, followed by another notification once your payment arrives.

Ways to send money with Remitly

You’ll have a choice of delivery methods with Remitly, but not all are available in every country. The main ones are - bank deposit, cash pickup, home delivery and mobile wallet.

Bank deposit

One delivery method that’s available for almost all countries is a bank transfer.

This is where you’ll send funds from your bank account, directly to your recipient’s account. Remitly offers either express or economy options for bank deposits for the UK users. Each has different fees and delivery times.

Cash pickup

In some countries, it’s possible to arrange for your recipient to collect their money in cash from an agent location near to them. This is convenient if they don’t have easy access to a bank account - but can cost more in fees, depending on where you’re sending the money to.

You can select cash pickup when sending with Remitly from the UK, but only if you’re sending to a small number of countries. If it’s available for your recipient’s location, you’ll see it as an option when setting up the transfer.

Home delivery

Home delivery of the payment is also available from the UK to some countries, but you’ll need to check with Remitly before sending.

This means that the payment you send will be couriered right to your recipient’s door and handed over in cash in the local currency. As you may imagine, there are fees to pay for the convenience.

Mobile wallet

In a few countries, you also have the option of sending money to a mobile wallet. Remitly works with mobile wallet providers and apps in other countries to enable this, so you can send money straight to your recipient’s phone.

Limits on Remitly money transfers

There are limits to the amount of money you can send abroad with Remitly.

When you first sign up, your limit is automatically set at £5,000 in 24 hours, £15,000 in 30 days, and £50,000 in 180 days.⁵

If you want to increase these limits, you’ll need to provide some further information and documentation to Remitly.

You’ll need to show a government issued photo ID, and evidence of the source of the funds you’re transferring. You’ll also need to give some details about the reasons for your transfer.

This process is in place to ensure that Remitly comply with legislation to ensure money is not used for illegal purposes.

If they’re satisfied after carrying out the checks, your limits could be increased to £25,000 over 30 days, and £75,000 in 180 days. If you’d like to increase it further, the maximum you’ll be able to send is £150,000 in 180 days.⁵

There may be other limits in place in addition to these, depending on the laws in the country you’re sending to. You’ll be informed when you arrange your transaction if that’s the case.

How long does a Remitly transfer take?

The length of time it’ll take for your recipient to get their money depends on where you’re sending to, and which payment route you choose.

Remitly has two options - Economy and Express. Economy is the slowest and cheapest, while Express is designed for payments that need to arrive quickly.

However, Remitly doesn’t say exactly how long these two options take. You’ll need to create an account and enter the details of the transfer before Remitly will give you a delivery timescale.

What are the fees for using Remitly?

Here’s an idea of the costs to make a transfer with Remitly. For more specific costs, model the transaction you want to make on the Remitly website.

Remitly transfer fees

The fee depends on the amount you’re sending, where it’s going, and how you want your recipient to receive it.

Here are some examples:

• Sending £500 to a bank account in India will cost £1.99 in upfront fees⁶
• Sending £1,000 to a bank account in France cost £0 in upfront fees⁷
• Sending £2,000 to a bank account in Australia costs £2.99 in upfront fees.⁸

Cash pickup or home delivery fees

If the country you’re sending to offers cash pick up or home delivery options, these may incur an additional cost. These will be set out when you arrange the transfer.

Exchange rate markup

Remitly may add a margin to the mid-market exchange rate, which it keeps. Unfortunately, this makes the transfer more expensive for you.

Here’s what the company’s user agreement says:⁹

“If the currency you choose when submitting a Transaction is different to the Recipient's currency, an exchange rate is applied to the Transaction and includes a small margin, which we keep.”

Exchange rate markups can make international transfers far more expensive, even if the initial fee seems low. To avoid this, you may wish to use an alternative like Wise instead.

Check out our live Remitly exchange rate comparison tracker.

Wise only ever uses the mid-market exchange rate. This is a fair rate, and the one banks use when they sell currency on the wholesale market. There are no margins, mark-ups or hidden costs, just a small, transparent fee*.

Which means a cheaper transfer for you.

Open your Wise account 🚀

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And that’s it - everything you need to know about Remitly money transfers. We’ve covered the lot, from fees and exchange rates to delivery methods and transfer times.

You should be all set to make your first transfer. Just make sure you compare all alternative options first, because there could potentially be a better deal out there.

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Sources used:

1. Remitly - number of currencies served/FCA regulation
2. Remitly - how to pay for a transfer
3. Remitly - security
4. Remitly - how to send a transfer
5. Remitly - increase limits
6. Remitly - send money to India
7. Remitly - send money to France
8. Remitly - send money to Australia
9. Remitly - Remitly User Agreement

Sources last checked on date: 22-July-2024