Is Monzo the best mainstream option to send small international transfers without silly fees?

hoc

Traditional banks and convenient options like Paypal take far too much commission. I know specialty services for international payments exist but I don't need the absolute cheapest, just something close enough when sending small amounts around £100 that will work without much hassle and setup. Monzo apparently use the same Transferwise service underneath so would a Monzo current account be the most convenient choice? This is for sending birthday money to family not for buying or paying for something so don't need any kind of buyer protection.

colsten

https://www.monito.com/ is a good tool to find the best deals.

Wise (formerly Transferwise) is often the keenest method. 

dr_adidas01

colsten said:

https://www.monito.com/ is a good tool to find the best deals.

Wise (formerly Transferwise) is often the keenest method. 

I use Wise (Transferwise) to send money to my Australian bank account as it has traditionally been the cheapest way to do it.

Monzo have partnered with Wise to do there international transfers, which you can read about here.

https://monzo.com/blog/new-international-transfers/

colsten

If you already have a Monzo account, Monzo might be offering the same deal as you would get with Wise directly, and you wouldn't need to set up a Wise account. But there is no need for a Monzo account - signing up to Wise, and verifying your account, is straight forward and easy to do.

msallen

I must admit to not using it since my (USA based) nephew turned 21 a few years ago so things may have changed, but I always used to send him money for Xmas/birthdays etc via his dad's Paypal account without any charges (on either end). From memory it used to be a case of designating the funds as "gift to family/friends" or something like that.

PRAISETHESUN

msallen said:

I must admit to not using it since my (USA based) nephew turned 21 a few years ago so things may have changed, but I always used to send him money for Xmas/birthdays etc via his dad's Paypal account without any charges (on either end). From memory it used to be a case of designating the funds as "gift to family/friends" or something like that.

Even with no "fees", you still lose out on the currency conversion as the exchange rate PayPal uses to convert GBP to USD is atrocious.

Another vote for Wise - I've used it for a while now without issue. If you already have a Monzo account then it makes sense to use that, otherwise if you'd need to open an account anyway Wise is the easier option IMO.

dj1471

It’s worth mentioning that although Monzo integrates with Wise, not every destination and currency is available for some reason.

Another reason to sign up with Wise directly.

gt94sss2

Monzo no longer offers the cheapest option that Wise offers, so you could save money using Wise directly