What the middle takes
Correspondent banks, the conversion spread, and the deductions that appear on nobody's statement.
Still yours, and statedTaken, never statedUnit changes; scale restarts
Four steps from instruction to arrival. One step carries no figure: the hatching marks where the money leaves and is not drawn to scale, because there is no figure to draw. Nothing here adds them up, since an amount you cannot see is not an amount you can subtract. The unit changes part-way down: the figures below the break are in another currency, the bars below it are drawn against the published rate, and the first figure and the last are not the same kind of number. The section where the figures stop and the estimates start.
The Spread Is the Fee
The stated fee is the small number, and the margin inside the exchange rate is usually the large one.
The Mid-Market Rate, and Why You Do Not Get It
The rate published everywhere is the midpoint between two prices, and nobody transacts at a midpoint.
Correspondent Banks
Banks without a direct relationship pay each other through a third, and the third takes something on the way.
The Deduction Nobody Itemises
A payment can arrive short by an amount that appears on no statement at either end and is nobody's to explain.
Fixed Fees Against Small Payments
A flat charge on a small transfer is a large percentage, which is why weekly payment costs more than monthly.
The Route Was Chosen for the Sender
Whoever pays for the transfer picks the route, and the cheapest route for them is rarely the best for you.
Payment Services, and What They Are Underneath
A consumer transfer service is usually an account in each country and a ledger between them, which changes the costs.
Local Rails and Why They Cost Less
A domestic transfer in the destination country is cheap and fast, and the question is how the money got there.
Receiving in a Currency You Do Not Hold
Your own bank converts on arrival, at its own rate, with no competition and no requirement to tell you first.