Best ways to send money from USA to Mexico: Ria, PayPal or TransferWise?

In this article I tell you my experience sending money from USA to Mexico using different methods: bank transfer, Ria MoneyTransfer, MoneyGram, Wester Union, PayPal and TransferWise.

Updated Feb 11, 2021

0. The different ways of sending money from USA to Mexico

On several occasions I have had to send small amounts of money to relatives from USA to Mexico using traditional methods, online payment services and P2P money transfer methods.

Let’s analyze what it costs today to send $500 to Mexico from USA, with the recipient receiving the money in Mexican pesos, by comparing 3 methods:

• Traditional methods: RiaMoneyTransfer or MoneyGram
• Online payment services: PayPal
• P2P money transfer services: TransferWise.

For comparative purposes, all calculations were made on Feb 11, 2021. The results are very similar if you send euros, pounds or other currencies

The first thing I have to say is that for small amounts of money, a bank wire transfer is the worst method, since the fees charged by the banks (from both the issuing bank and the receiving bank in Mexico) are usually very high. For this reason, I have stopped using bank transfers for sending money to Mexico many years ago, since these are very expensive.

1. Traditional methods: Ria and MoneyGram

Ria Money Transfer or MoneyGram are specialized companies in sending money abroad. They have an extensive network of offices, which I have used on different occasions, though they are now offering the money transfer service through their Internet website.

Sending $500 to Mexico from United States through Ria Money Transfer asumes an exchange rate of 19.94 MXN.

This means that if you send $500 to Mexico today, the recipient in Mexico will receive 9,970 MXN. In addition, you have to pay a commission of $3.

RiaMoneyTransfer offers a good support service in case you have any problem.

Trustpilot: 4,3.

2. Online payment services: PayPal

PayPal is a payment method already known by virtually anyone, which allows you to buy in many websites, as well as transferring money between users by email.

PayPal, contrary to what many people think, is not an economic method to send money to Mexico, mainly due to two reasons:

• Firstly, when it comes to international personal money transactions to Mexico, the commission is not free, as PayPal charges a fee of 2.99 USD. In the case of commercial transactions, commissions are even higher. You can check the commissions in this link.

• Secondly, when you send dollars to a recipient in Mexico, Paypal applies a rather unfavorable exchange rate. Today it applies an exchange rate of 19.1827 pesos per dollar.

Thus, if you send $500 to a relative or friend of Mexico, the commission would be $2.99, but your friend or Mexican family member would receive in its Paypal account a total of 9,591.36 Mexican pesos. Also, keep in mind that if the recipient wants to transfer this money to its Mexican bank account, it would have to wait a couple of days to have the money available.

Also, PayPal support service is very bad and I say this from my own experience.

Trustpilot: 1,2

3. P2P Money Transfer Services: TransferWise

Recently, several financial peer to peer (P2P) online services have emerged, offering money transfers with low commissions and that apply the actual exchange rate of the moment. The most popular of all is TransferWise (from the creators of Skype).

For example, sending $500 from US to Mexico today has a commission of 6.33 USD, but the good thing about TransferWise is that it applies an exchange rate close to the real exchange rate, 19.97 pesos per dollar.

As a result, the recipient in Mexico receives 9,856.86 Mexican pesos, having discounted already the applied commission, unlike other methods where commission is paid separately.

The great advantage of TransferWise is the simplicity of use and the good support they offer in case of any problem. For this reason this is the method that I have been using.

TransferWise is the money transfer service that offers the best support service.

Trustpilot: 4,7

4. In summary

Ria Money Transfer:

• You send $500 and the recipient in Mexico receives 9,970 MXN
• In addition, you have to pay a commission of $3.

PayPal:

• You send $500 and the recipient in Mexico receives 9,591 MXN.
• In addition, you have to pay a commission of $2.99.

TransferWise:

• You send $500 and the recipient in Mexico receives 9,856 MXN (with the commission of $6.33 already discounted of this amount in pesos, unlike previous methods where commission is paid separately).

In my experience the two best alternatives to send money from the United States to Mexico are TransferWise and RiaMoneyTransfer. While Ria is a bit cheaper, TransferWise offers better support in case you have any problem.

All calculations were made on Feb 11, 2021.

Have you sent money from US to Mexico? You can tell me about your experience below.