Best Way to Send Money Abroad from the UK 2025: Cheapest Options Compared

Sending money internationally from the UK has become significantly cheaper over the past decade thanks to specialist transfer services that compete directly with traditional banks on price. Yet many people still use their high street bank for overseas transfers and pay substantially more than necessary, either through high transfer fees, poor exchange rates, or both. For regular transfers, property purchases in Europe, or moving your salary between currencies, the difference between the cheapest and most expensive options can amount to hundreds or thousands of pounds per year.

This guide compares the main options for sending money from the UK to European and other international destinations in 2025. Use our currency converter to check current exchange rates and understand what your transfer should cost at mid-market rates.

Why bank transfers cost so much

Traditional high street banks make international transfers expensive in two distinct ways. First, they charge a flat transfer fee, typically £15 to £40 per transaction. Second, and more significantly, they add a margin to the exchange rate. Rather than giving you the interbank mid-market rate (the rate you see on news sites or our currency converter), the bank uses a rate that is typically 1% to 3% less favourable. On a £10,000 transfer that rate margin alone can cost £100 to £300 on top of the fixed fee.

The total cost of a bank international transfer is therefore the fee plus the exchange rate margin. Banks typically do not make this total cost transparent, which is why it is easy to underestimate. Regulations now require UK banks to disclose exchange rate margins for international transfers, but the disclosure is often presented in a way that makes it difficult to compare directly with alternatives. Knowing the mid-market rate for your currency pair and comparing it to what your bank is offering is the starting point for understanding the real cost.

Specialist transfer services: how they compete

Services like Wise (formerly TransferWise), Revolut, Currencyfair, XE, and OFX compete primarily on exchange rates rather than fees. Wise uses the mid-market rate and charges a transparent fixed percentage fee of 0.35% to 1.5% depending on the currency and amount. For a £10,000 transfer to euros, the Wise fee is typically £35 to £60, versus the implicit exchange rate cost of £100 to £300 at a typical bank rate. The total saving is meaningful and scales with the transfer amount.

Wise vs Revolut: which is better for European transfers

Both Wise and Revolut have become the default choice for individuals sending regular smaller amounts to Europe. Wise holds the edge on transparency and regulatory standing: it is a fully licensed payment institution with its own banking licence in several countries, and it shows you the exact exchange rate and fee upfront before you confirm. It is particularly good for one-off transfers in specific amounts where you want certainty.

Revolut is primarily a multi-currency account rather than a pure transfer service. On paid plans, Revolut allows large currency exchanges at interbank rates up to monthly limits, beyond which a 0.5% to 1% markup applies. For people who hold euros and sterling in a Revolut account and need flexibility to exchange between them or pay in different currencies, Revolut's account structure is very convenient. For straightforward bank-to-bank transfers where the recipient has a euro account, both services are competitive.

Large transfers: property purchases and lump sums

For large transfers such as property purchases, mortgage deposits, or pension transfers, the exchange rate matters enormously. A 1% difference in rate on a £200,000 transfer is £2,000. Specialist currency brokers including Moneycorp, TorFX, Global Reach, and OFX focus on large-value transfers and can negotiate rates for significant transactions that approach or match interbank rates. Many of these services also offer forward contracts that lock in an exchange rate for a future transfer date, protecting against adverse currency movements during a property purchase.

Forward contracts are particularly useful for property buyers who have agreed a purchase price in euros but need time to complete the sale of a UK property before transferring funds. Currency markets can move 3% to 5% or more in the months between exchange of contracts and completion, which on a €300,000 purchase represents €9,000 to €15,000 of exchange rate risk. A forward contract fixes the rate so you know exactly what the purchase will cost in sterling. Our currency converter shows current mid-market rates and historical movement to help you understand current rate levels in context.

Regular payments to Europe: pensions and mortgages

UK nationals living in Europe who receive UK pension income, rental income from UK property, or other regular sterling income and need to convert it to euros regularly benefit from setting up a recurring transfer arrangement rather than making ad hoc transfers each time. Most specialist transfer services allow you to set up regular transfers on a schedule, often at preferential rates for recurring clients. This removes the administrative burden and often comes with slightly better pricing for committed volume.

If you have a euro mortgage on a European property and pay it from UK sterling income, the exchange rate fluctuation means your effective mortgage payment in sterling varies month to month. Some people with significant long-term currency exposure use hedging strategies such as regular forward contracts or options to smooth this volatility. For amounts and timescales where this matters, speaking to a currency risk specialist is worthwhile. If you are evaluating whether a European property investment stacks up financially, our European mortgage calculator and European rental yield tool give you the numbers to model the full investment case.