The cost of a transfer is the fee plus the exchange rate margin plus anything taken off at the other end. Here is how each part works, with a worked example and what our own data shows about the gap between providers.
The cost of sending money abroad has three parts: the fee you pay upfront, the margin built into the exchange rate, and any fees taken after the money leaves you. A "zero fee" transfer can still cost more than one with a fee if its rate is weaker. The only fair comparison is the amount your recipient receives, for your exact amount, on the same day.
How we checked. We used the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide report (Issue 53, March 2025, covering Q1 2025), Wise's published pricing for 10 October 2026, CheckRate's own rate records for six corridors from May to October 2026, and IRS and Federal Register documents on the US remittance tax. Sources were checked between 9 and 11 October 2026.
Corrections. An earlier version of this post contained a worked example with arithmetic errors. It gave fee and margin ranges for named providers and banks without any source. It said Sendwave pays to OPay and PalmPay wallets in Nigeria, which Sendwave's own Nigeria page does not support (it lists bank deposit and cash pickup, and no mobile wallets). It also described the US remittance tax as if it applied to all transfers, when it applies only to transfers funded with cash or similar physical instruments.
CheckRate is not paid by the providers named here, and our links go to their public websites.
The three parts of the cost
1. The upfront fee
This is the charge shown separately when you set up the transfer: a flat amount, a percentage, or both. A low or zero fee tells you little on its own, because the provider can still earn through the rate.
2. The exchange rate margin
The mid-market rate is the midpoint between the buying and selling rates on currency markets. Providers that do not use the mid-market rate give you a lower rate and keep the difference. That difference is the margin. It is rarely labelled as a cost, which is why people call it hidden. To see it, compare the rate in the app with the mid-market rate at the same moment.
3. Fees after sending
Money can also be reduced after it leaves you. A receiving bank or wallet may apply its own charges. Ask the recipient whether their bank or wallet charges for incoming international payments, and look for the provider's statement of the exact amount to be received.
A worked example
The numbers below are illustrative only. They are round figures chosen to make the arithmetic easy to follow, not real quotes from any provider.
You want to send CAD 500 to Nigeria. Assume the mid-market rate is NGN 1,000 per Canadian dollar.
| Provider A | Provider B | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount you pay | CAD 500 | CAD 500 |
| Upfront fee | CAD 5 | CAD 0 |
| Amount converted | CAD 495 | CAD 500 |
| Rate offered (illustrative) | NGN 980 | NGN 970 |
| Margin below mid-market | 2.0% | 3.0% |
| Amount received | NGN 485,100 | NGN 485,000 |
The sums: Provider A converts CAD 495 (CAD 500 minus the CAD 5 fee) at 980, so 495 × 980 = NGN 485,100. Provider B converts the full CAD 500 at 970, so 500 × 970 = NGN 485,000.
At the mid-market rate with no fee, CAD 500 would be NGN 500,000. So Provider A's total cost is NGN 14,900 (about CAD 14.90, or 2.98% of the amount sent), and Provider B's is NGN 15,000 (CAD 15.00, or 3.0%). The provider that charges a fee comes out slightly ahead. That is the point of the example: you cannot judge cost from the fee or the rate alone.
A real example: how Wise prices transfers
Wise is a useful real case because it separates the two parts. It uses the mid-market rate and charges a visible fee instead of a margin. On 10 October 2026, for CAD to NGN paid by bank transfer, Wise's fee was about CAD 2.06 plus 0.666% of the amount. On CAD 500 that is about CAD 5.40. For GBP to NGN, Wise's fee was about GBP 0.61 plus 0.546%.
This is why CheckRate's rate tables leave Wise out: our records do not capture its checkout fee, so a rate-only comparison would flatter it. Compare Wise by the amount received in its quote.
What the World Bank averages show
The World Bank tracks the total cost of sending the equivalent of USD 200. In its Remittance Prices Worldwide report, Issue 53 (Q1 2025):
| Measure | Average total cost of sending USD 200 |
|---|---|
| Global average | 6.49% |
| Banks | 14.55% |
| Money transfer operators | 5.04% |
| Digital-only money transfer operators | 3.55% |
| Sending from Canada | 5.98% |
| Sending to Sub-Saharan Africa | 8.78% |
These are averages across many corridors. They show banks costing far more on average than digital-only operators, but not what any single provider charges on your route.
What our own data shows about the gap between providers
CheckRate records the published standard rates of several providers each day. The table shows the median gap between the best and worst published rate on a day, by corridor. Remitly's first-transfer promotional rates and Wise are excluded, there is a gap in September 2026 when our collector was offline, and these are published rates rather than the exact app quote for every amount or payment method.
| Corridor | Period | Days | Median gap, best vs worst | Largest daily gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GBP to NGN | 14 May to 11 Oct 2026 | 103 | 0.92% | 2.19% |
| USD to NGN | 14 May to 11 Oct 2026 | 103 | 1.18% | 2.24% |
| GBP to ZAR | 18 May to 11 Oct 2026 | 99 | 1.04% | 3.29% |
| GBP to KES | 18 May to 11 Oct 2026 | 99 | 1.33% | 1.81% |
| CAD to NGN (days with 5+ providers) | 18 May to 10 Oct 2026 | 98 | 2.6% | 3.8% |
| CAD to GHS | 14 May to 11 Oct 2026 | 103 | 2.71% | 5.26% |
On CAD to NGN, a 2.6% median gap was worth about NGN 13,000 on CAD 500. The gap is not the same everywhere: on GBP to NGN the median gap was 0.92%, while from Canada to Ghana it was close to 3%. On every corridor, the provider with the top rate changed over the period.
Rates, fees, delivery times and the amount received all change, so check the live comparison for your route, for example CAD to NGN or GBP to NGN, before you send.
First-transfer promotional rates
Some providers, Remitly among them, offer a better rate on your first transfer. Our data uses Remitly's standard (Economy) rate and excludes these offers. A promotional rate can be good value once, but it is not what you will get next time.
Payment method can change the quote
How you pay can change the fee, the rate or both. Paying from a bank account, by debit card or by credit card may produce different quotes from the same provider for the same amount. We have not recorded these differences, so we do not give numbers here. Before you confirm, switch between the payment options in the app and see how the amount received changes.
The US 1% remittance tax
Since 1 January 2026, the United States charges a 1% excise tax on some remittance transfers (Internal Revenue Code section 4475). IRS Notice 2025-55 says the tax "applies only to remittance transfers for which the sender provides cash, a money order, a cashier's check, or any other similar physical instrument to the remittance transfer provider." The proposed regulations published on 13 April 2026 say there is no tax where funds are withdrawn from an account at a financial institution or funded with a US-issued debit or credit card. So a transfer made in an app and paid from a US bank account or US card is not taxed.
How to compare properly
Frequently asked questions
What is the exchange rate margin?
It is the gap between the mid-market rate and the rate you are given, and it is how a provider can earn on a transfer without showing a fee. You can see it by comparing the app's rate with the mid-market rate at the same moment.
Is a zero fee transfer always cheaper?
No. A weaker rate can cost more than a fee, as the worked example above shows. Compare the final amount received, not the fee line.
Why does CheckRate leave Wise out of its rate tables?
Wise charges its fee at checkout and our records capture rates only, so a rate-only table would make it look cheaper than it is. Get a Wise quote for your amount and compare the amount received with other apps.
How much do providers really differ?
It depends on the corridor, from a median gap of 0.92% on GBP to NGN to 2.71% on CAD to GHS in our data. The gap changes daily, so check the live corridor page for your route.
Does the US remittance tax apply to my app transfer?
Not if you pay from a US bank account or a US-issued debit or credit card. IRS Notice 2025-55 limits the tax to transfers funded with cash, money orders, cashier's checks or similar instruments, and the proposed regulations say account and US card funding is not taxed.
Should I choose a provider for its first-transfer rate?
It can be worth it for one transfer, but later transfers use the standard rate. If you send regularly, compare standard quotes.
Sources
Related: How we collect rates · CAD to NGN rates · Send money from Canada to Nigeria · Wise · Sending money from the UK to South Africa
CheckRate Editorial Team
The CheckRate team records remittance providers' published exchange rates and compares them using provider terms and regulator records. We are not paid by the providers we compare.