8 Best Ways to Send Money

Sending a wire transfer through your bank might be the best way to send a large amount quickly; P2P apps limit how much you can send (generally $1,000 to $10,000 per transfer) and delivery can take multiple days. 

Bank wire transfers generally are delivered within hours or minutes.

There’s a steep fee for transfers. Based on an analysis of big banks, the median domestic wire cost for sending is $25, and $15 for receiving (see what most banks charge). 

The cost could be worth it if you need to send a lot of money within minutes.

Cash App lets you send and receive money for free with cash from your linked bank account or debit card. 

You can create your own $Cashtag, or username to make it easier for people to find you and send you payments. 

Cash App offers a bonus when someone signs up with your referral link and sends at least $5 from their new account. 

You don’t need to have a bank account to use Cash App. If you have a Cash Card (Cash App’s debit card), you can make deposits to it to fund your Cash App balance.

Money you receive will show up instantly in your app balance, but it takes one to three days for the money to show up in your bank account if you choose to transfer. 

You can cash out instantly to your debit card but you’ll pay a 0.5%-1.75% fee.

You’re limited to sending and receiving a maximum of $1,000 per 30 days. 

To increase your limit, you’ll need to provide more personal information such as your full name, date of birth and last four digits of your Social Security number. 

If you send money using a credit card, you’ll be charged a 3% fee. (For more information, see our Cash App review.)

Transfer money for free using a QR code, the recipient’s name, phone number or email address. 

Cash out instantly from the in-app wallet to a debit card for a 1.5% fee. 

Cash out for free to a bank account, which takes one to five business days. 

The maximum you can send is $5,000 every seven days. 

Bank accounts and debit cards can fund transfers, but credit cards and prepaid cards cannot.

Google Pay may refund you for purchases that you believe are fraudulent, which isn’t a given for all money transfer apps and services.

PayPal offers free transfers in the U.S. when you fund with a bank account or PayPal balance. 

Paying with a credit card — and unlike other providers, a debit card — costs a fee: 2.9% of the sending amount plus 30 cents. 

Bank account transfers are free.

Depending on your currency, the maximum amount you can send per transfer ranges from $10,000 to $60,000. But if you’re sending that much money, doing so through a federally insured bank provides more safeguards for your balance, such as Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) insurance.

Transferring money to bank accounts for free takes one to three business days. 

You can also pay for an instant transfer to a linked debit card. 

You can send or receive money on the website or mobile app on iOS and Android, or at PayPal.Me, where you create your own link that family and friends can use to pay you. (Read our PayPal review.)

Venmo’s app ratings are strong from both Android and iOS users.

It’s free to send and receive money when you link a bank account, debit card or prepaid debit card. 

Using a credit card costs 3% of the transaction. 

After you’ve verified your identity, you can send up to $60,000 per week.

Your and your friends’ transactions will pop up — without amounts — on a news feed. 

If you prefer privacy, you can change your settings so that only your friends or only you and the other user you’re paying or receiving money from can see them. 

Money you receive shows up instantly in your Venmo balance, but cashing out to a bank account takes one to three business days. 

You can also transfer funds to a debit card, typically within 30 minutes, for a 1.75% fee. (For more details, read our Venmo review.)

Walmart is a convenient option to transfer cash, especially if you and/or your recipient are near a store: You can send money from a Walmart store for pickup at a Walmart. 

Walmart partners with several money transfer service providers, so you can also send money from any MoneyGram, Ria or Western Union location for pickup at any of the thousands of U.S. Walmart stores, where a recipient can pick up the money within minutes. 

You can also send money from a Walmart for pickup within minutes at a Western Union or MoneyGram location (Ria locations aren’t a pickup option).

The maximum you can send in a day is $1,000, and prices start at $2.50. (For more about Walmart financial services including information on the FTC lawsuit against the company, read our Walmart Money Center review.)

Western Union offers a sizable range of transfer options. 

On the provider’s price estimator tool online, you’ll see more than a dozen combinations of sending channels, payment methods and delivery options. 

Send money from the Western Union website or its mobile app using a bank account, debit card or credit card — or send from a nearby agent location using cash.

The transfer giant’s physical network covers over 200 countries and territories and hundreds of thousands locations globally.

Transfers are expensive — especially compared with most of the P2P apps on this list, which offer free ways to send and receive money.

Only some options include same-day or next-day delivery. 

Some online transfer options at Western Union can take several business days for delivery. (Read our Western Union review.)

Note that in general, when you make a transfer abroad, you generally encounter two costs: 1) the fee for sending money (also known as the outbound or upfront fee) and 2) the foreign exchange fees, or the markup on the exchange rate that financial institutions use when transferring money among themselves. Consider both fees to find the best deal.

With Zelle, you can send and deliver money within minutes between bank accounts at different financial institutions. 

You might already be using Zelle’s service through your bank’s website or mobile app. More than 2,000 banks and credit unions use the service which means that 150 million-some customers can use Zelle within their bank’s website or mobile app. 

If your bank isn’t part of the network, Zelle is also available as a standalone app.

Zelle is not made for buying or selling things, and you’re not protected for those transfers. 

In addition, if you send money to the wrong person or transfer the wrong amount, you might be out of luck. 

Protections are limited to when someone steals your Zelle account or password and uses it to send money.