What does sending AED 1,000 home really cost?
When you send money home, you see the fee. You don't always see what the exchange rate takes. Guess first, then check your own transfer.
Check your own transfer
Type in what a provider shows you: the fee and the rate. We compare it with the mid-market rate and show the cost hidden in the rate. Nothing you type leaves your device.
AOffer A
BOffer B
The starting numbers are made-up examples: offer A says "zero fee", offer B charges a fee but gives a better rate. Replace them with real quotes.
Where the cost hides
Every transfer has two prices. One is printed in big letters. The other is tucked inside the exchange rate.
A fixed amount in AED, shown before you pay. Easy to compare.
The mid-market rate is the price at which banks trade currencies with each other. Most providers give you a little less and keep the difference. That gap is a cost too.
A transfer with no fee can still cost more if the rate is worse. The offer with the lowest fee is not always the cheapest.
For the same AED you pay, ask: how much will my family receive? That one number already includes the fee and the rate.
The bigger picture
World average cost of sending money abroad, fee and rate together (World Bank, Q3 2025).
The UN target for 2030. The same goal says no route should cost more than 5%.
The UAE is one of the biggest sources of money sent home in the world: third after the US and Saudi Arabia (World Bank and KNOMAD, 2021).
Send safely
Send through a bank or exchange house licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). The CBUAE publishes a register of licensed institutions on its website.
An unlicensed agent or a social media account promising a much better rate can disappear with your money, and you would have little protection.
Rates change every day. Look up the mid-market rate just before you send, then compare it with the rate printed on your receipt.
If you pay a fixed fee each time, sending once a month instead of twice halves what you pay in fees. Keep the receipt for every transfer.
Sources: World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide (global average cost 6.36% of the amount sent in Q3 2025, measured on a USD 200 transfer and counting both the fee and the exchange-rate margin); UN Sustainable Development Goal target 10.c (cut remittance costs to under 3% by 2030 and remove routes costing more than 5%); World Bank and KNOMAD bilateral remittance estimates for 2021 (UAE third-largest source after the US and Saudi Arabia); World Bank Migration and Development Brief (UAE outflows about USD 38.5 billion in 2023); Central Bank of the UAE (licensing and register of banks and exchange houses). Reference rates are approximate mid-market rates on 26 October 2026, worked out from public market data at the dirham's fixed rate of 3.6725 per US dollar. They are for illustration only. This page does not name, rank or recommend any provider and is not financial advice.