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7 Great Ways to Send Money

The best ways to send money are fast, free or low in fees, and offer good options for sending and receiving funds.

Written by

Spencer Tierney
Senior Writer & Content Strategist
12 years of experience

Expertise

• Certificates of deposit
• Deposit accounts
• Neobanks or fintech firms

Spencer Tierney is a consumer banking writer at NerdWallet. He has covered personal finance since 2013, with a focus on certificates of deposit and other banking-related topics. His work has been featured by The Washington Post, USA Today, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times, among others. He is based in Oakland, California.

Published in

Co-written by

Ruth Sarreal
Editor & Content Strategist
10 years of experience

Expertise

• Bank account bonuses
• Consumer deposit accounts

Ruth Sarreal is a former editor and content strategist covering consumer banking topics at NerdWallet. She has over a decade of experience writing and editing for consumer websites. She previously edited content on personal finance topics at GOBankingRates. Her work has been featured by Nasdaq, MSN, TheStreet and Yahoo Finance.

Published in

Edited by

Tony Armstrong
Head of Content, Banking
12 years of experience

Expertise

• Consumer deposit accounts

Tony Armstrong leads the banking team at NerdWallet. He has covered personal finance for over a decade. Tony began his NerdWallet career as a writer and worked his way up to editor and then to head of content on the banking team. His writing has been featured by the Los Angeles Times, MarketWatch, Mashable, Nasdaq.com, USA Today and VentureBeat. Tony lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Published in

other

Updated Oct 22, 2025

How to send money online, on mobile or in person

Jump to each of our picks for the best ways to send money to friends and family:

• Bank wire transfer: Best for sending large amounts from bank to bank.
• Cash App: Best for earning a referral bonus.
• PayPal: Best for non-bank money transfers in high amounts.
• Venmo: Best for socially engaging money transfers.
• Walmart2Walmart: Best for frequent Walmart shoppers.
• Western Union: Best for extensive network of worldwide locations.
• Zelle: Best for bank-to-bank transfers within minutes.

Bank wire transfer: Best for sending large amounts from bank to bank

Why it’s our pick:

• Delivers large amounts ($10,000 or more) from one bank to another within hours or minutes.

Cash App: Best for earning a referral bonus

Why it’s our pick:

• Receive a bonus when someone uses your referral code to sign up and send money.
• No fees to send or receive money.

PayPal: Best for non-bank money transfers in high amounts

Why it’s our pick:

• High transfer maximum.
• More than 400 million active accounts worldwide.

Venmo: Best for socially engaging money transfers

Why it’s our pick:

• Highly rated app for iOS and Android.
• Free, easy, socially engaging money transfers.

Walmart2Walmart: Best for frequent Walmart shoppers

Why it’s our pick:

• Convenient option for sending cash to and/or from a Walmart store.

Western Union: Best for extensive network of worldwide locations

Why it’s our pick:

• Extensive worldwide network of locations so you can send money internationally.
• Many ways to send and deliver money.

Zelle: Best for bank-to-bank transfers within minutes

Why it’s our pick:

• Delivery tends to be within minutes.
• Already integrated with over 1,000 financial institutions, connecting more than 100 million people.

What to know about the best ways to send money

Several different options for sending and receiving money are available. Depending on the money transfer service provider, options can include:

• Sending money from an app (generally funded by a bank account, debit card or credit card), a bank account, a debit or credit card.
• Receiving money in a bank account, an app balance, mobile wallet or as cash at an in-person pickup.

Some money transfer services are free but others charge fees. The amount you can send may be limited. Each provider generally has a certain amount you’re limited to spending. There may be per-transaction, daily or monthly limits. Some providers allow a higher limit if you verify your identity, which may require sharing personal information such as your Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).

Delivery time varies. Some providers offer instant transfers with money showing up in the recipient’s account immediately or within minutes or hours. Other options may include delivery within a day or up to a few business days.

For app-based money transfer services, you can generally cash out to your bank account. Cashing out, or transferring your balance, to a bank account or debit card can take a few business days. You may be able to opt for an instant transfer but it might cost a fee.

You can avoid money transfer and P2P payment scams by following best practices. Note that you should always take precautions when using person-to-person (P2P) services to ensure you’re sending money to the right contact. In most cases, you’re not guaranteed a refund if your money goes to the wrong recipient.

If you’re sending money abroad, there are some key terms it’s helpful to understand. When sending money to a different country, if currency exchange is involved there may be more fees than with a domestic money transfer.

Definitions: Money Transfer Rates

Three rates determine how much your money transfer will cost and how much money your recipient will receive.

1. Exchange rate: An exchange rate is the price of one currency in relation to another currency. For example, if you want to convert U.S. dollars to euros, you would check what one U.S. dollar is worth in euros.
2. Midmarket rate: The midmarket rate, also called the interbank rate or interbank exchange rate, is the exchange rate that big banks use to swap currencies among one another.
3. Exchange rate markup: Most providers use an exchange rate markup when pricing your transfer. They give customers an exchange rate that’s the midmarket rate plus an additional percentage, or markup, to make a profit on the transfer. The higher the markup, the less your recipient gets in their currency.

General advice for international money transfers

1. Know how exchange rates work (and how to find the best). One of the ways money transfer providers make money is through exchange rate markups. Most transfer providers won’t give you the exchange rate you’d find on a currency exchange platform like the one at Bloomberg.com or Reuters.com. Those sites just tell you the price of one currency in relation to another, but they are a helpful starting point to know what the best rate looks like this minute.
2. Compare total transfer costs across multiple providers. There are two types of costs: upfront fee and exchange rate markup. Find the provider that has the lowest fee combined with the best exchange rate you can get. Usually online nonbank providers offer cheaper transfers than banks.
3. Avoid paying with a credit card. It’s an option for some providers, but there might be a higher upfront fee and your credit card issuer may tack on costs such as interest and cash advance fees. A transfer paid by bank account directly tends to be a much cheaper (and much slower) transfer. If you need money delivered quickly, use a debit card, which will also incur a lower fee than using a credit card.