Sending money home from UAE: What is the cheapest way?

I want to remit a lump sum to my home country in the next few weeks. What is the cheapest way of doing this? HJ, Dubai

Expert 1:

Samer Chehab, chief operating officer at compareit4me.com

Finding the cheapest option depends on a couple of factors: the country you are sending to and the exchange rates of the day.

According to a relatively recent World Bank report, the world’s cheapest “corridor” for sending money from one country to another is from the UAE to Pakistan, and sending money from the UAE to India is fifth-cheapest.

Still, there are other ways to save depending on how much you want to send and how quickly you want the cash to appear in your home country. Exchange houses are good for a quick turn­around and they offer decent transfer rates, but you will only be able to send up to about Dh29,000 in a single transfer, or 100,000 rupees (Dh5,695) if you are sending to India.

If your lump sum falls under that number, then exchange houses are the way to go. Most will charge a flat rate for the actual transfer – but some may be better than others. You can check rates on most of the big exchange firms’ websites, so look at a few options before actually heading down to an exchange house. Even a slightly better exchange rate will net you some decent savings if you are transferring thousands of dirhams.

Exchange houses do face competition from local banks keen to offer remittance services to their customers. Emirates NBD, for example, has ramped up its foreign exchange business in recent years, with its Direct Remit product offering a quick way to move money to your home country at attractive rates.

It used to be the case that bank transfer costs were generally higher, but banks now offer more attractive rates when remitting to certain countries. What’s more, a bank will give you the flex­ibility to send as much as you want – provided there are no limits on incoming cash at the receiving bank.

But again, call your bank and ask for a breakdown of all the costs involved in the transaction and compare that with the best options from exchange houses. Unfortunately, the only sure-fire way of working out the best rate is by doing a lot of man­ual legwork, noting down prices from different institutions and comparing them once you’ve got all of the information.

Expert 2:

Sudhesh Giriyan, chief operating officer of Xpress Money

Typically, a customer can walk into an exchange house and choose how they would like their beneficiary to receive the money. These include cash payouts (where the beneficiary receives the remitted money in cash), bank account transfers, cash transfers to mobile wallets and door delivery services.

Cash transactions are generally the fastest way of sending money and very competitive in terms of fees. From the UAE to India, for instance, cash transfers can be collected almost instantly. It is also one of the most affordable corridors in the world in terms of remittance costs.

Meanwhile, the door delivery service is a value-added service where the beneficiary can receive cash in the comfort of their home. While very convenient, door-to-door deliveries are not as rapid as cash transfers.

Bank account transfers are also convenient; the target account gets credited with funds relatively quickly. Remittance brands are tying up with banking partners internationally to enable this service. However, remittance fees and processing times can vary depending on the destination.

Mobile wallets are an exciting new trend gaining traction worldwide, where funds can be sent directly onto digital wallets on smartphones. Mobile wallets benefit from speed and are also extremely convenient and affordable. However, they are currently only operational for a handful of destinations from the UAE.

Next question:

I‘m Italian/Brazilian, my wife is Polish and we married in the UK. We have two children (ages five and six) with Brazilian and Polish passports. I live in the UAE and they live in Bahrain. What’s the quickest and cheapest way to divorce? HJ, Dubai

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