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Domestic transfers
Check out these options when sending less than $10,000 within the United States, plus information about bank wire transfers for sending more.
VENMO: BEST RATED FOR MOBILE
Why it’s our pick:
- Highly rated app for iOS and Android phones
- Free, easy, socially engaging money transfers
There’s also a fun element. You can see friends’ transactions, except the amounts, on a Facebook-like news feed. Money you receive shows up instantly on your Venmo balance. But when you cash out to a bank account, funds become available at one of two speeds: The standard bank transfer is free and takes one to three business days, or for 25 cents you can transfer your balance to your debit card within about 30 minutes.
Two things to be aware of: Although Venmo encrypts its data like other providers, a Venmo balance doesn’t insure your money like a bank account does. In addition, Venmo has been known to freeze accounts for violating terms and conditions, such as when its app gets used for selling or buying, even between friends. (For more details, read our Venmo review.)
ZELLE: FASTEST (TIE WITH GOOGLE WALLET)
Why it’s our pick:
- Delivery tends to be within minutes
- Already integrated with 50 banks, connecting over 86 million people
Unlike other P2P apps listed, Zelle’s service might already be on your smartphone. This past summer many banks launched a new P2P feature on their websites and mobile apps by partnering with the Zelle digital payment network, a service provided by the bank-owned consumer reporting agency Early Warning Services. Zelle can send and deliver money within minutes between bank accounts at different financial institutions. About 50 banks and credit unions are on board, which means that all their 86 million or more customers combined can use Zelle within their current bank’s mobile app. If your bank isn’t part of the network, Zelle is also available as a standalone app.
Bank accounts are required to fund and receive payments, and Zelle doesn’t charge any fees, though any of its partner banks can decide to. Although limits vary by bank, some of the largest banks set a daily transfer maximum of $2,000 or $2,500.
GOOGLE WALLET: FASTEST (TIE WITH ZELLE)
Why it’s our pick:
- Smooth integration of money transfer service in email
- Instant transfer of funds to debit cards
Unlike Venmo and PayPal, Google Wallet insures its in-app balance, so if the company ever fails, you’d still recover any money you leave in the digital wallet. Google Wallet also covers 100% of all verified unauthorized transactions.
Google Wallet also synchronizes with other Google accounts, including Gmail. This lets you send or request money by clicking a dollar sign at the bottom of an email.
PAYPAL: MOST POPULAR ONLINE
Why it’s our pick:
- High transfer maximum
- Over 200 million active accounts worldwide, more than other P2P services
The maximum amount per transfer, $10,000, surpasses Venmo’s weekly maximum. Like Venmo, transferring money to bank accounts for free takes one to three business days, depending on the time and day of the week you send money. You can use its website or mobile app on iOS, Android and Windows phones, and receive money from friends the same way or at PayPal.Me, where you create your own link that family and friends can use to pay you. (Read our PayPal review.)
WALMART-2-WALMART: BEST FOR NONBANK TRANSFERS
Why it’s our pick:
- Beats traditional money transfer companies for cheap cash transfers
If you want to transfer straight cash, Walmart has a service that’s cheaperthan traditional money transfer companies such as Western Union and MoneyGram. The cost goes up to $16 for sending the maximum, $2,500. You can send to one of the thousands of U.S. Walmart stores, where a recipient can pick up the money within minutes. (For more about Walmart financial services, read our Walmart Money Center post.)
BANK WIRE TRANSFER: BEST FOR SENDING $10,000 OR MORE WITHIN U.S.
As convenient as P2P apps are, they limit how much you can send per transfer, generally $2,000 to $10,000. To send the maximum, you have to verify your identity, and those transfers can take multiple days for delivery.
Sending a wire transfer through your bank might be a better bet to send a large amount quickly. There’s a steep fee per transfer, though. The average domestic wire has a $25 fee to send and a $9 fee to receive money, based on an analysis of big banks. If you need to send a lot of money within minutes, though, the cost might be less important.
» Need a place to stash your savings? Check out our best high-yield online savings accounts
International transfers
When you make a transfer abroad, you generally encounter two costs: the upfront fee and the foreign exchange margin. The second one refers to the difference between the exchange rate used by financial institutions transferring money among themselves, called the “midmarket rate,” and the exchange rate that’s generally marked up and given to you. Banks and other transfer providers differ in how much they mark up exchange rates. Both fees and margins are considered in our recommendations below.
TRANSFERWISE: CHEAP (TIE WITH OFX)
Why it’s our pick:
- No foreign exchange rate markups
- Consumer-friendly web experience from signup to delivery
TransferWise sends money from the U.S. to over 50 countries more cheaplythan most providers. It prides itself on keeping foreign exchange rates at the midmarket rate, saving customers from higher rates that banks generally charge. There’s a flat fee as low as $3 for smaller transfers; or for larger transfers, a fee as a percentage of the transaction, such as 1%. From the U.S., you can transfer only between bank accounts, and delivery generally takes several business days. (Read our TransferWise review).
OFX: CHEAP (TIE WITH TRANSFERWISE)
Why it’s our pick:
- No fees
- Setting target rates leads to cheaper transfers
But OFX has a high minimum amount per transfer of $1,000. In contrast, most international providers considered have minimums below $50. If you’re sending a lot of money, then you can take advantage of OFX’s cheap transfers. Its rates tend to be better than through other providers because of low markups. Delivery typically takes several business days. (Read our OFX review for more details.)
XOOM: FAST (TIE WITH MONEYGRAM)
Why it’s our pick:
- Transfers to bank accounts abroad within one or two days
Cost is where Xoom lags behind competitors. Although transfers from one bank account to another are free for sending the maximum amount in over 60% of countries served, fees can be high if you use a debit or credit card. Sending money to Germany using a debit or credit card, for instance, costs a fee that ranges between about $5 and $301. Like some providers, Xoom makes money off exchange rates and gives better rates for sending higher amounts to some countries. (For more information, see our Xoom review.)
MONEYGRAM: FAST (TIE WITH XOOM)
Why it’s our pick:
- Fast transfers to bank accounts or as cash for pickup worldwide
Like Xoom, costs aren’t cheap. Average fees for sending $200 to $1,000 range from $10 to $25. Exchange rates also aren’t that favorable, with average markups of 1% to 6% above the midmarket rate. (See our MoneyGram review.)
WESTERN UNION: BEST TRANSFER OPTIONS
Why it’s our pick:
- Extensive worldwide network of locations
- Many ways to send and deliver money
The transfer giant’s physical network covers over 200 countries and territories with half a million locations globally.
Downsides? Transfers aren’t the cheapest overall, and only some options include same-day or next-day delivery. Some online transfer options, generally the cheaper ones, can take several business days for delivery. In addition, the company has had a crackdown on fraud in its system; it paid federal government agencies $586 million in January 2016 as part of a settlement for not taking action against wire fraud. (Read our Western Union review.)
Spencer Tierney is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: spencer@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @SpencerNerd.
Updated Dec 27, 2017.
METHODOLOGY FOR DOMESTIC TRANSFERS
To determine the best domestic transfer services, we examined the following features for 11 providers: fees, delivery speed of cash or money to recipient’s bank account, user reach (where transaction data were available), sending amount limit and security measures. Priority went to those that offer no-cost transfers, have established histories and maintain high security standards. We excluded single-bank P2P services since they usually limit users to a given bank.
Note: All transfer amount limits given assume users have verified their identity as each app requires. There are also initial amount limits when first using the app.
Money transfer providers surveyed: Apple Pay Cash, Circle, Dwolla, Facebook Messenger, Google Wallet, MoneyGram, PayPal, PopMoney, Ria, Square Cash, Venmo, Walmart, Western Union and Zelle.
METHODOLOGY FOR INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS
We analyzed 11 top money transfer providers that operate in the U.S., including major players and smaller, innovative companies in the international money transfer industry, based on market research, experts, cost analysis and U.S. internet traffic.
Providers considered: MoneyGram, OFX, Placid Express, Remitly, Ria, Transfast, TransferWise, Western Union, World First, WorldRemit and Xoom.
Fees and exchange rate markups mentioned are based on the analysis linked below.
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