How transfer pricing actually works (and where the cost hides)

Every cross-border transfer carries up to three separate charges. Providers differ in which ones they show you.

• The upfront fee: a flat or percentage charge shown at checkout.
• The exchange-rate margin: the gap between the mid-market rate and the rate you are given. This is usually the largest cost and the easiest one to miss.
• Intermediary and payout charges: fees applied by correspondent banks or the receiving institution before the money lands.

Ignore the fee line and compare a single number: how much the recipient actually receives for the same amount sent, on the same day. That figure absorbs the fee, the margin and any deduction the provider has disclosed.

Also check the delivery estimate. A cheaper quote that settles three days later is not automatically better — for rent, payroll or school fees, timing carries its own cost.

FTFT Pay quotes the recipient amount and the rate used together, so the comparison above is possible in one screen. You can try it with the calculator on our home page before creating an account.