Three in four Singaporeans unaware of hidden costs in money transfers

Banks charge $30-40 for both upfront fees and exchange rate markup for an overseas transfer of $1,000.

Three in four Singaporeans believe banks make it easy to understand the true cost of overseas money transfers, but 88% underestimate how much fees are charged for an overseas money transfer, TransferWise said.

According to research, on average Singapore banks charge $30-40 for upfront fees and exchange rate markup for an overseas transfer of $1,000.

DBS is the cheapest of major bank providers when accounting for upfront fees and exchange rate markups. Standard Chartered and HSBC charge the highest.

PayPal has the highest exchange rate markup compared to all other providers – more than 4% across all routes and transaction amounts. Citibank is the bank that offers the highest exchange rate markup for overseas money transfers.

The research also revealed that it was most expensive to send money to India, followed by Australia and then Hong Kong, across all amounts of money to transfer.

On average, total fees for transfers to India cost $47.35, whilst for Australia, it costs $42.46, and in Hong Kong, it costs $41.08.