Personal Finance Bank accounts

The cost of receiving a £2,000 international payment in Germany

Wise

14.08.17 (updated more than 1 year ago)

Read time 1 minute

Are you using your bank or PayPal to receive business payments in Germany? If so, we’ve got data from independent research agency PCM that shows you’re probably losing out.

Research methodology

The research was carried out between the 15th May and 22nd May 2017 (“ Research Period ”) by market research agency, PCM in conjunction with Wise.

Part 1 of the project was conducted on the basis of a mystery shopping exercise contacting the major UK providers used by SMEs: Barclays, RBS, Santander, Lloyds, Natwest, Western Union, and HSBC, (“ Researched UK Providers ”).

Part 2 of the project was conducted on the basis of a mystery shopping exercise contacting a sample of German providers used by SMEs: Commerzbank, HypoVereinsbank, Postbank, Deutsche Bank (“ Researched German Providers ”).

The reference to “Provider Average” in the table below refers to the average total fees charged by the Researched UK and German Providers.

Part 3 of the project was conducted on the basis of a mystery shopping exercise of PayPal.

There are three types of fee recorded for this price comparison: an upfront international money transfer fee; the mark-up the UK Researched Providers and PayPal added to their exchange rate; and the international receiving fees charged by the Researched German Providers and PayPal.

The Data

Part 1:

Here’s the result of our comparison with the Researched UK and German Providers in overview.

Wise makes it up to 7* cheaper than the Researched Providers to receive £2,000 in Germany.

Date of research	22/05/2017	22/05/2017
Provider	Wise	Provider Average
Real exchange rate	1.158	1.1598
Rate quoted by transfer company	1.158	1.1331
% exchange rate mark-up	0.00%	2.30%
Exchange rate mark-up in £	£0.00	£46.05
Transfer fee	£9.95	13.5
Total sending costs	£9.95	£59.55
Quoted received (local currency)	2304.48	2250.97
Receiving fee €	-	13.38
Payout fee	0.5	-
Total that arrives in German bank account (€)	2304.48	2237.6

The total costs associated with sending £2,000 to EUR for a UK business with each R esearched UK Provider is documented here.

The receiving fee charged by the Researched German Providers for receiving a £2,000 payment in Germany is documented below.

Bank Name	International receiving fee
Commerzbank	€18.00
HypoVereinsbank	€15.00
Postbank	€15.00
Deutsche Bank	€5.50

Part 2:

Here’s the result of our comparison with PayPal in overview:

Wise makes it up to 12x cheaper than PayPal to receive £2,000 in Germany.

	Wise	PayPal
Real exchange rate	1.1629	1.1629
Rate quoted by transfer company	1.16289	1.11973
% exchange rate mark-up	0.00%	4.32%
Exchange rate mark-up in £	£0.00	£86.34
Transfer fee	£9.95	£0.00
Total sending costs	£9.95	£86.34
Quoted received (local currency)	2325.78	2239.46
Receiving fee €	0	42.9
Payout fee	0.5	0
Total that arrives in German bank account	2325.78	2196.56

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.