Starling Bank international transfer: fees, rates and transfer time

Need to send money overseas? There are lots of ways you can do it, including using your bank. In this guide, we’ll be taking a close look at how to make international transfers with Starling Bank.

Read on to find out about the fees, exchange rates and other important info you need to know about sending money abroad with Starling. This includes a step-by-step guide to the process, along with how long it’ll take for your payment to arrive.

We’ll also show you how Wise might be a low-cost alternative for international money transfers - so you can send money to 160+ or receive money from 8+ at the mid-market exchange rate for only a low, transparent fee*.

Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

How do international transfers with Starling Bank work?

It’s really straightforward to make an international transfer with Starling Bank. However, you will firstly need to open a Starling personal or business current account, or one of its foreign currency accounts.

Once you’ve signed up, you can send money abroad from your online banking or Starling mobile app.

You can also check the fees and exchange rates in advance, on the Starling Bank website.

One important thing to note is that you can’t send international transfers on weekends or bank holidays. Starling says that it only processes international payments from 02:00 Monday to 22:00 Friday.¹

Need to make an international transfer on a Saturday or Sunday? With Wise, the mid-market rate is available even at weekends, for only a low, transparent fee*.

Supported countries and currencies

You can send money to 34 countries in 17 currencies with Starling Bank.¹ Here are just a few of the destinations you can send to:

• United States
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Europe - including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Austria and Denmark
• Turkey
• Ireland
• Hong Kong
• Singapore
• South Africa.

Starling Bank international transfer fees

Now, let’s take a look at one of the most important factors when choosing an international transfer provider - how much it costs.

Here’s a quick look at the main fees and charges you need to know about for overseas transfers with Starling Bank. This includes fees for sending and receiving money internationally.

Starling Bank international transfers	Fees
Sending payments - transfer/currency conversion fee	0.4%1
Sending payments - delivery fee	From £0.30 - local network payment £5.50 - SWIFT bank-to-bank payment1
Receiving payments	2% conversion fee (if the payment is in EUR)2

You’ll notice from the above that Starling offers something called a ‘local network payment’.

This is much cheaper than sending a SWIFT transfer (which is how banks normally send international payments) but it’s worth noting that it can be slower. Plus, you won’t get a payment reference for your recipient.³

Starling bank exchange rates

Alongside the upfront transfer fee, it’s always important to check the exchange rate when making an international transfer.

Some banks and providers add a mark-up on what is known as the mid-market exchange rate, which is how they make a profit on the transaction. But unfortunately, this means that less of your money makes it to your recipient.

So just because upfront fees appear to be low, this doesn’t mean there isn’t a ‘hidden fee’ within an unfavourable exchange rate.

Thankfully, Starling Bank is one of those rare examples - just like Wise - which doesn’t add a mark-up to the exchange rate.¹ This means you get the mid-market exchange rate (or very close to it) with Starling, which should help to keep costs down for your transfer.

Remember that you can always check what the mid-market rate is for any currency pairing using the Wise currency converter.

Use our currency converter to see the latest mid-market rates:

Additional fees with Starling Bank

Starling is upfront and transparent about its fees and charges, but there are some extra costs you might need to know about.

These mainly relate to sending an international transfer. You know about Starling’s fees, but there may also be extra charges from your recipient’s bank for processing the payment.

Plus, if you’re sending money via the SWIFT network, it’s likely that other banks will be involved along the way. Each may charge their own fees, which are outside of the control of the sending bank.⁴

A quick cost comparison - Starling Bank vs. Wise

To give you a better idea of how much fees and exchange rates can affect the cost of your transfer, let’s do a quick example.

Hypothetically, let’s imagine you’d like to send £1,000 to a friend in France, with the money arriving in EUR. Here’s how much it would cost with Starling Bank, compared to Wise:

	Starling Bank1	Wise5
Transfer fee	£4	£3.88
Delivery fee	£5.50	-
Exchange rate	1.18259	1.18292
Amount sent	£990.50	£996.12
Amount received	€1171.36 EUR	€1,178.33 EUR

Details correct at time of writing - 17 June 2024

Remember that it is possible to pay a lower delivery fee with Starling Bank, but this kind of transfer is sent via local partners and can be slower. There’s also no reference, so it’s harder to track the payment and you can’t recall it if a mistake has been made.

Wise - a convenient, low cost alternative for overseas transfers

If you regularly send money overseas, you’ll be looking for the cheapest possible way to do it. After all, a few extra pounds in fees or a poor exchange rate can soon add up over time.

Wise is a great alternative to using your bank, even one with relatively low fees and fair exchange rates like Starling Bank. You’ll always get the mid-market rate - even at weekends. And you’ll only pay low, transparent fees for fast, secure transfers all week long*.

Open a Wise account and you can also hold 40+ currencies at once, and receive money from overseas for low to no fees using handy local account details*.

Open your account 🌍

There’s also the Wise card, a contactless international card for spending in 150+ countries - which automatically converts currency at the mid-market rate whenever you spend for a small, but transparent, conversion fee*.

Learn about the Wise card 💳

How do you make an international transfer with Starling Bank?

If you’ve done your homework, compared fees and exchange rates, and are happy to make your first international transfer with Starling Bank - here’s how to do it:⁶

1. In the Starling banking app, head to ‘Payments’
2. Select ‘Add a payee’ and choose whether it’s a personal or business account
3. Enter the name of the recipient
4. Select the country you’re sending to
5. Enter the account details (we’ll cover exactly what you’ll need to provide in just a moment)
6. Confirm ‘Create Account’
7. Enter the amount you want to send and a reference
8. Check the fees and exchange rates, and if you’re happy tap ‘Make Payment’

There are two important things to note when setting up Starling Bank international transfers. Firstly, you can only send money in the currency of the destination country. So, you can send EUR to France but not USD.

There are also restrictions on when you can send money. Due to the foreign exchange market closing on weekends, Starling Bank can only process international payments from Monday to Friday.¹

What do I need to make an international transfer with Starling?

To send money overseas with Starling Bank, you’ll need the following:⁸

• The recipient’s name, address and bank account details
• TheirInternational Bank Account Number (IBAN) - Calculate anyStarling Bank IBAN number here.
• For SWIFT payments, their bank’s Business Identifier Code (BIC) or SWIFT code.

What do I need to receive an international transfer with Starling?

To receive money from overseas into your Starling account, you’ll need to give your sender all the same details as above.

This means your IBAN, SWIFT/BIC code and your standard account number and sort code. Check your IBAN number with our IBAN checker and we’ll tell you if it’s the right format.

How long does an international bank transfer with Starling take?

The time it takes for international payments to arrive depends on the method you’ve chosen to send the money.

If you’ve chosen SWIFT, you can expect the payment to take up to 5 working days to arrive.³

For low cost payments using Starling’s local partner network, your recipient may have to wait longer - although the bank doesn’t give a specific timescale for this.

There may also be delays for payments made over the weekend, as you’ll need to wait until Monday for processing of your payment to begin.

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And that’s pretty much it - everything you need to know about international transfers with Starling Bank. We’ve covered fees, exchange rates and how to actually arrange your payment, and how to receive one from abroad too.

You should be all set to make your first overseas transfer. Just make sure you’ve compared fees and rates first, so you can be sure you’re getting the best possible deal.

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Sources used:

1. Starling Bank - Send money abroad
2. Starling Bank - Help - Can I receive different currencies into my Starling accounts?
3. Starling Bank - Help - When will my international transfer arrive?
4. Starling Bank - Rates, Fees and Charges
5. Wise - Send money
6. Starling Bank - Help - How do I make an international payment?

Sources last checked on date: 17-06-2024