Can you send money to South Africa? Yes you can and it is probably easier to transfer money to another country than you realize. Of course you can always send money to South Africa by visiting your local bank branch and doing a bank wire transfer. The problem with this method is that it will probably cost you a lot more money when compared to other money transfer services.
A great alternative is to use what many people refer to as an email money transfer method and a couple of the most popular methods are PayPal or Skrill. Both these methods offer transactions in multiple currencies so transferring money to South Africa should be easy. Depending on your country of residence you can transfer money to bank accounts and debit cards for easy withdrawal. Or you can simply use the funds to pay for online purchases.
Most of the cost is hidden in the exchange rate
When a transfer advertises a low fee, the real charge is usually built into the exchange rate — a margin added quietly on top of the mid-market rate before the money moves. It does not appear as a line item, which is exactly why it is easy to miss.
If you send money to South Africa every month, that margin is not a one-off. At around 6% — the global average the World Bank reports — a year of monthly transfers costs you roughly three quarters of an extra transfer. Wise charges a stated fee against the mid-market rate instead, so what you save compounds the same way the cost does.
Bank wire details for South Africa
If you still prefer to use a bank wire to send money to South Africa then you will need the following details:
- SWIFT country codeZA
- CurrencyRand
- Currency codeZAR
Overall, it is very easy to send money overseas to countries such as South Africa and depending on how much and how often, it shouldn’t cost a lot of money.