# Sending Money Abroad from Austria (2026)

> €0 to Germany, €12.50 to Turkey, €65 by bank. Compare Wise, Revolut, Remitly, Western Union and Paysend across 18 corridors.

Updated: October 12 2026 · By Jules de Bruin · URL: https://www.how-to-austria.com/banking/money-transfer

A euro transfer to **Germany**, **Italy**, **Slovakia** or **Croatia** costs **€0** at effectively every Austrian bank, because a euro transfer anywhere in the **EEA** may not cost more than the same transfer inside Austria. Since **9 October 2025** an **instant euro transfer** may not carry a surcharge either. On these corridors a transfer service saves you nothing.

Outside the euro area the **exchange-rate margin** is the real cost, not the fee. **Wise** charges from **0.43%** at the **mid-market rate**, so **€1,000** to **USD** costs **€6.21**. The same **€1,000** to **Turkey** runs to about **€65** by **bank SWIFT**, and **€10 to €40** by **Western Union** once its margin is counted.

## Which Route Does Your Money Actually Take?

| Corridor | Currency | Rail | What it means for you |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia | EUR | SEPA / SEPA Instant | €0 at effectively every Austrian bank for an online transfer, and instant without a surcharge since 9 October 2025. A comparison site adds nothing here. |
| Poland, Hungary, Romania | EU non-euro | SEPA in EUR, or a fintech at the mid-market rate | The receiving account is usually in local currency, so somebody converts. A fintech is almost always cheaper than bank SWIFT or a euro SEPA transfer into a foreign-currency account. |
| United Kingdom, United States | Third country, liquid currency | SWIFT or fintech | [Wise](https://wise.com) quotes €6.21 per €1,000 to USD (calculator, 5 March 2026). [Erste Bank](https://www.sparkasse.at) charges €13.50 up to €5,500 plus a €10.50 USD charge, plus an exchange-rate margin. |
| Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, India, Philippines | Classic remittance | Fintech or money-transfer operator | This is where the price spread is largest and where the tables below do the work. |
| Syria, Afghanistan | Special corridor | A money-transfer operator at best, and restricted | [Wise](https://wise.com), [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com), Remitly and Paysend do not list them at all. See the special-corridor section. |

Table mapping Austrian outbound payment corridors to the rail each one uses, from euro SEPA to Turkey, Serbia, India and the Philippines, with the fee consequence per rail. As of August 2026.

Pick the route by **corridor**, not by brand. A transfer to **Germany** and a transfer to **Serbia** are different products even though your banking app shows one button for both. Inside the euro area your transfer rides **SEPA** and costs **€0**. Outside it, the money either crosses **SWIFT** through correspondent banks or lands with a local payout partner, and those two paths differ by **a factor of ten** on the same amount.

The middle case catches people out. **Poland**, **Hungary** and **Romania** are inside the EU but outside the euro, so a **euro SEPA** transfer arrives cheaply and then the receiving bank converts it at whatever rate it likes. Sending **PLN**, **HUF** or **RON** through a fintech at the **mid-market rate** is almost always cheaper than letting somebody else choose the rate.

## How Much Does It Cost to Send €500 or €1,000 Abroad?

### Sending €500

| Corridor | Wise | Revolut Standard | Remitly | Paysend | Western Union (online to bank) | Bank SWIFT |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Germany (EUR) | €0 SEPA | €0 | 1.76% + €1.99 ≈ €10.79 | n/a | n/a | €0 SEPA |
| Italy (EUR) | €0 SEPA | €0 | ≈ €10.79 | n/a | n/a | €0 SEPA |
| Slovakia (EUR) | €0 SEPA | €0 | ≈ €10.79 | n/a | n/a | €0 SEPA |
| Croatia (EUR) | €0 SEPA | €0 | ≈ €10.79 | n/a | n/a | €0 SEPA |
| Kosovo (EUR) | ~€2 to €3 (indicative) | Not published | ~€10.79 (EUR route) | €0 fixed + margin | Not published | €13.50 |
| Poland (PLN) | ~€3 to €4 (0.47 to 0.7%) | €0 in the free limit, then 0.5% | Not published | €1.50 + ~1 to 2% | Not published | €13.50 + 0.3% |
| Hungary (HUF) | ~€3 to €4 | €0 in the free limit | Not published | €1.50 + margin | Not published | €13.50 + 0.3% |
| Romania (RON) | ~€3 | €0 in the free limit | ~€3 to €5 | €1.50 + margin | ~€5 to €15 | €13.50 to €16 + 0.3% |
| Turkey (TRY) | ~€6.20 (1.1% + €1.66) | €0 in the free limit on a weekday, ~1% at the weekend | €1.99 flat + 0.5 to 3% margin | €1.50 + ~1 to 2% | €0.90 to €11.90 + 1 to 3% margin | ~€35 to €40 incl. margin |
| Serbia (RSD) | ~€4 to €5 | ~0.5 to 1% | ~€3 to €5 | €1.50 + margin | Not published | ~€35 to €50 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina (BAM) | ~€5 (indicative) | Often no direct route | ~€4 to €6 | €1.50 + margin | Not published | ~€35 to €50 |
| North Macedonia (MKD) | ~€5 (indicative) | Not published | EUR route: €6.99 under €300, €8.99 for €300 to €599.99 | Not published | Not published | ~€35 to €50 |
| Syria | Not available | Not available | Not listed | Not published | Not confirmed | Effectively not available |
| Afghanistan (AFN) | Not available | Not available | Not listed | Not published | Available, price only in the live calculator | Effectively not available |
| India (INR) | ~€3 to €4 (0.47 to 0.7%) | ~0.5% above the limit | €1.99 to €2.99 + margin | €1.50 + margin | Not published | €13.50 to €16 + 0.3% |
| Philippines (PHP) | ~€3.50 to €5 | ~0.5% above the limit | ~€2.99 + margin, promotional rate on the first €1,000 | €1.50 + margin | Not published | €13.50 to €16 + 0.3% |
| United Kingdom (GBP) | ~€2.88 (from €5.76 per €1,000) | €0 in the free limit | Not published | €1.50 + margin | Not published | €16 ([Bank Austria](https://www.bankaustria.at)) |
| United States (USD) | ~€3.10 (from €6.21 per €1,000) | €0 in the free limit, otherwise ~€1.50 | €2.99 + margin | €1.50 + margin | Not published | Erste: €13.50 + €10.50 USD charge |

### Sending €1,000

| Corridor | Wise | Revolut Standard | Remitly | Western Union (online to bank) | Bank SWIFT |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia (EUR) | €0 SEPA | €0 | ≈ €19.59 (1.76% + €1.99) | n/a | €0 SEPA |
| Kosovo (EUR) | ~€5 (indicative) | Not published | ≈ €19.59 | Not published | €13.50 |
| Poland (PLN) | ~€5 to €7 | €0 up to the limit, then 0.5% ≈ €5 | Not published | Not published | €13.50 + €3 |
| Hungary (HUF) | ~€5 to €7 | €0 up to the limit, then 0.5% ≈ €5 | Not published | Not published | €13.50 + €3 |
| Romania (RON) | ~€6 | €0 to €5 | ~€3 to €5 + margin | ~€5 to €15 | ~€35 to €45 |
| Turkey (TRY) | ~€12.50 (1.1% + €1.66) | €0 in the free limit on a weekday, €9.97 at the weekend | €1.99 flat + margin | €0.90 to €11.90 + €10 to €30 margin | ~€65 |
| Serbia (RSD) | ~€7 to €9 | ~1% ≈ €10 | ~€3 to €5 + margin | ~€8 to €35 all-in | ~€50 to €70 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina (BAM) | ~€8 to €10 | Often no direct route | ~€5 to €8 + margin | ~€8 to €35 | ~€50 to €70 |
| North Macedonia (MKD) | ~€9 (indicative) | Not published | €15.99 (EUR route, €1,000 to €1,999.99 band) | Not published | ~€50 |
| Syria | Not available | Not available | Not listed | Restricted, not confirmed | Not available |
| Afghanistan (AFN) | Not available | Not available | Not listed | Available, price only in the live calculator | Not available |
| India (INR) | ~€6 to €7 | ~€5 (0.5%) | €1.99 to €2.99 + margin | Not published | ~€45 |
| Philippines (PHP) | ~€7 | ~€5 | €2.99 + margin, promotional rate on the first €1,000 | Not published | ~€45 |
| United Kingdom (GBP) | €5.76 | €0 in the free limit, otherwise €3 | Not published | Not published | €16 + conversion |
| United States (USD) | €6.21 | €0 in the free limit, otherwise €3 on a weekday | €2.99 + margin | Not published | Erste: €13.50 + €10.50 + margin |

Tables comparing the cost of sending €500 and €1,000 from Austria across 18 corridors including Germany, Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, India, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States, priced for [Wise](https://wise.com), [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com), Remitly, Paysend, Western Union and an Austrian bank SWIFT transfer. Every figure is the cheapest online variant paying out to a bank account, funded by SEPA bank transfer, as of 28 August 2026. Values marked indicative come from a provider calculator on the date shown and move daily. “Not published” means the provider quotes that route only in a live calculator, so no figure is stated here. Verify in the provider’s own calculator before you send.

Read the tables by **row**, not by column. For **euro SEPA** corridors the answer is **€0** from your own bank and every alternative is worse: **Remitly** charges **1.76% plus €1.99** on euro routes, which is **€10.79** on **€500** and **€19.59** on **€1,000** for a transfer your bank does for nothing.

On the remittance corridors the spread is brutal. **€1,000** to **Turkey** costs about **€12.50** through **[Wise](https://wise.com)**, **€1.99** plus margin through **Remitly**, and roughly **€65** through an Austrian bank on **SWIFT**. **Serbia** and **Bosnia** run **€50 to €70** by bank against **€7 to €10** through **[Wise](https://wise.com)**. The bank route is not slightly worse, it is **five to ten times** the price and takes **3 to 10 business days**.

Two columns need a caveat. **[Revolut](https://www.revolut.com)** shows **€0** on many rows because the **Standard** plan includes **€1,000** of mid-market exchange a month: send more than that, or send at the **weekend**, and the price changes. The **[Wise](https://wise.com)** figures for **Kosovo**, **Serbia**, **Bosnia** and **North Macedonia** are interpolated from its published route band of **0.43% to 1.1%**, so treat them as indicative and check the live quote.

## What Is the Exchange-Rate Margin and Why Does It Hide the Price?

The margin is the gap between the rate a provider quotes you and the **mid-market rate**, and it never shows up as a fee. **Ria** displayed **55.00 TRY** per euro in its calculator on **2 September 2026**. If the mid-market rate that day was **56.10 TRY**, the margin cost about **2%**, which is **€20** on a **€1,000** transfer. No line item said **€20**.

### “€0 fee” is not a price

**Western Union** states in its own small print that it also earns from currency exchange. Its typical margin of **1% to 3%** is **€10 to €30** on **€1,000**, which is why a **€1,000** cash-to-cash transfer lands at **€25 to €40** in total even when the advertised fee is small. **Remitly** carries **0.5% to 3%** in the rate, **Paysend** about **1% to 2%**. Only **Wise** commits to the **mid-market rate** with the fee shown separately.

The check takes thirty seconds. Look up the **mid-market rate** for your currency pair, then read the rate the provider quotes in its calculator. Divide the difference by the mid-market rate to get the margin as a percentage, and multiply by your amount. **Headline fee plus margin is the real price**, and a provider that advertises **€0** and quotes a rate **2%** below mid-market is more expensive than one charging **€6** at the mid-market rate.

Bank transfers hide a second cost. On the default **SHA** charge option, **correspondent banks** along the **SWIFT** chain deduct **€15 to €30**, so **€1,000** can arrive as about **€950** with nothing on your statement to explain it. The **OUR** option shifts every charge to you so the full amount arrives, and **[Erste Bank](https://www.sparkasse.at)** charges **€21.87** for it on transfers up to **€5,500**.

## Which Provider Is Cheapest for Your Corridor?

Wise Europe SA, Belgium

### Wise

4.6

Cheapest to a Bank Account. Charges the mid-market rate with the fee shown before you send, from 0.43% of the amount, the cheapest transparent route to a bank account.

[Send money with Wise](https://wise.com/)
Not for you if: Anyone whose receiver needs cash over a counter, because Wise pays out only to a bank account or card.

- Transfer fee (Best): From 0.43% + €0.45 to €1.66

- Exchange rate: Mid-market, no markup

- €1,000 to the USA: €6.21

- €1,000 to the UK: €5.76

- Cash pickup: None

More details

- €1,000 to Turkey: About €12.50 (1.1% + €1.66)

- Weekend surcharge: None

- Speed: Minutes to 2 business days, 60% instant per Wise

- In-account conversion: From about 0.47% per currency pair

- Card: €7 one-time

- ATM: 2 withdrawals to €250 a month free, then 2.69% + €0.80

- Protection: Safeguarding, no deposit-guarantee scheme

- Complaints: Wise support, then Ombudsfin in Belgium

Figures as of August 2026, calculator values dated 5 March 2026. Verify on wise.com before sending.

Key information

- Eligibility: No Austrian address needed

- Fees: From **0.43%**, mid-market rate

- Protection: Safeguarding, no deposit guarantee

- Support: In-app and email, English

Best for People sending to a receiver who has a bank account and who want the total cost visible before they press send

Revolut Bank UAB, Lithuania

### Revolut

4.1

Free Inside the Monthly Limit. Converts up to €1,000 a month at the mid-market rate for nothing on a weekday, which beats every fee-charging rival on a one-off transfer.

[Send money with Revolut](https://www.revolut.com/en-AT/)
Not for you if: Anyone sending more than €1,000 a month or sending at the weekend, when the surcharge wipes out the saving.

- Currency exchange (Best): Free to €1,000 a month (Standard)

- Above the limit: 0.5% fair-use markup

- Weekend surcharge: 0.5% to 1%

- €1,000 to Turkey, weekend: €9.97

- Deposit guarantee: Lithuania, to €100,000

More details

- Paid plans: Plus €3.99, Premium €9.99, Metal €16.99, Ultra €55 a month

- ATM: €200 a month free on Standard, then 2%

- Speed: Instant between Revolut accounts, 1 to 5 business days on SWIFT

- Account opening: Minutes, no KSV1870 credit check

- Exotic currencies: Higher surcharge on rarely traded pairs

- Interest tax: KESt on account interest is not withheld, you declare it on E1kv

- Complaints: Revolut support, then Bank of Lithuania; the Austrian ombudsman is not competent

Figures as of August 2026, calculator values dated 5 March 2026. Verify on revolut.com before sending.

Key information

- Eligibility: Opens from abroad in minutes

- Fees: Weekend markup, **0.5%** to **1%**

- Protection: Bank licence, not e-money

- Support: Chat only, no phone line

Best for People sending one transfer a month on a weekday, inside the €1,000 free exchange limit

Remitly, Irish EU entity

### Remitly

4.3

Best for Cash Pickup. Charges a flat €1.99 on the Austria to Turkey route and pays out as cash or to a bank in 175+ countries, with a delivery guarantee.

[Send money with Remitly](https://www.remitly.com/at)
Not for you if: Euro SEPA transfers, where its 1.76% plus €1.99 charges €10.79 for what your bank does for nothing.

- Austria to Turkey (Best): €1.99 flat

- Austria to the USA: €2.99

- Euro routes: 1.76% + €1.99

- Exchange-rate margin: 0.5% to 3%, inside the rate

- Payout: Cash pickup and bank, 175+ countries

More details

- North Macedonia, euro route: €6.99 under €300, €8.99 for €300 to €599.99, €15.99 for €1,000 to €1,999.99

- Speed: Express in minutes by card, Economy 1 to 2 business days

- First transfer: Promotional rate on the first €1,000 for new customers

- Delivery guarantee: Fee refunded when a transfer arrives late

- Licence: Central Bank of Ireland, e-money, safeguarding

Provider price pages, April 2025 for the Turkey route and 2026 for the rest. Verify on remitly.com before sending.

Key information

- Eligibility: ID only above a threshold

- Fees: Margin hidden in the rate

- Protection: Fee refunded when late

- Support: Support in 18 languages

Best for People sending to Turkey, the Philippines, India or the Balkans, especially when the receiver wants cash

Western Union International Bank GmbH, Vienna

### Western Union

3.7

Best for Cash in Minutes. The one route that hands a receiver with no bank account cash in minutes at 500,000+ agent locations, paid for with a rate margin.

[Send cash with Western Union](https://www.westernunion.com/at)
Not for you if: Regular monthly transfers to a bank account, where the rate margin makes it several times the price of a fintech.

- Online to a bank, Turkey: From €0.90

- Cash in, cash out: Up to €11.90 and above

- Exchange-rate margin: 1% to 3%, €10 to €30 per €1,000

- Real cost, €1,000 cash to cash: €25 to €40

- Payout speed (Best): Cash in minutes

More details

- Online limit: €5,000 a day

- Bank payout: 1 to 3 business days

- Card funding: Your card issuer may add a cash-advance fee

- Licence: Western Union International Bank GmbH, Vienna, supervised by the FMA

- Complaints: Member of the Austrian banking ombudsman scheme

- Special corridors: Afghanistan listed for Austrian senders, price only in the live calculator

Provider pages and calculator comparisons, March 2025 to August 2026. Verify in the live calculator before sending.

Key information

- Eligibility: No account needed, ID only

- Fees: **1%** to **3%** rate margin

- Protection: No recall after cash pickup

- Support: German and English, agent network

Best for Emergencies, and receivers with no bank account in rural Serbia, Bosnia or Kosovo

Paysend, Ireland and the UK

### Paysend

4.3

Best Card-to-Card. Sends straight to the receiver's Visa or Mastercard for about €1.50 flat, so you never need to ask them for an IBAN.

[Send money with Paysend](https://paysend.com/)
Not for you if: Anyone comparing on total cost alone, because the 1% to 2% inside the rate outweighs the flat fee on larger amounts.

- Card-to-card fee (Best): About €1.50 flat

- Bank transfers: €0 fixed fee on many routes

- Exchange-rate margin: About 1% to 2%, inside the rate

- Countries: 170+

- Speed: Card in minutes, bank 1 to 3 business days

More details

- Real cost per €1,000: €10 to €20 sits in the rate

- Receiver needs: A card number, not an IBAN

- Limits: Low until you complete full verification

- Licence: Central Bank of Ireland and UK FCA, safeguarding

Calculator values dated 17 May 2026. Verify on paysend.com before sending.

Key information

- Eligibility: Receiver needs only a card

- Fees: **1%** to **2%** inside the rate

- Protection: Safeguarding, no deposit guarantee

- Support: App in German and English

Best for Senders whose receiver has a payment card but will not share bank details

Erste Bank and Sparkassen, Bank Austria, Raiffeisen

### Your Austrian bank, by SWIFT

3.3

Best for Proof of Payment. The only route that produces a SWIFT record and an OUR charge option, which is what authorities and courts accept as proof that you paid.

[See Austrian bank accounts](/banking/open-bank-account)
Not for you if: Family support and everyday remittances, where it costs five to ten times a fintech transfer.

- Erste Bank, non-SEPA online: €13.50 up to €5,500, then 0.20%

- Bank Austria: €16 to €5,000, €32 to €10,000

- Currency conversion (Bank Austria): 0.3%, minimum €4

- €1,000 to Turkey, all-in: About €65

- Speed: 3 to 10 business days

- Deposit guarantee (Best): Einlagensicherung AUSTRIA, €100,000

More details

- Correspondent banks (SHA, BEN): €15 to €30 deducted along the way

- Erste, OUR option: €21.87 up to €5,500

- Erste, USD charge: €10.50

- Erste, express: €7.76 online, €14.35 in branch

- Erste, cancellation: €34

- Erste, in branch: €11.53 to €13.50 and above

- Bank Austria, USD or CAD: €8

- Rarely traded currencies: €7

Erste Bank price list dated 2 February 2025, Bank Austria notice dated July 2023, Turkey total from press research dated 27 May 2026.

Key information

- Eligibility: Your existing Austrian account

- Fees: **€13.50** to **€32** plus margin

- Protection: SWIFT record, OUR option

- Support: No total cost before sending

Best for Payments that need documentary proof, such as a court, a tax office or a property purchase

Two more names belong on the list without a price. **Ria Money Transfer**, part of the **Euronet** group, covers **190+ countries** including **Kosovo**, **North Macedonia** and **Bosnia**, waives the fee on your first transfer with its published promo code, and caps you at **€10,000** per transfer and **€25,000** per **365 days** for the rest of Europe. Its per-corridor fees at **€500** and **€1,000** exist only in its live calculator, so no figure is stated here.

**MoneyGram** runs the second-largest cash-pickup network after **Western Union** and is available in Austria online and through agents. It publishes **no dated fee table** for Austria, only a live calculator, so every price you read about it elsewhere is unverified. Treat both the same way: open the calculator, note the fee *and* the quoted rate, and compare the amount that actually arrives.

## Wise or Revolut: Which One Wins Which Transfer?

| Feature | Wise | Revolut Standard |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Licence | E-money institution, [Wise](https://wise.com) Europe SA, Belgium | Full bank, [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com) Bank UAB, Lithuania |
| Balance protection | Safeguarded, no deposit guarantee | Lithuanian deposit guarantee to €100,000 |
| Fee logic | From 0.43% plus a small fixed fee, every transfer | €1,000 a month at the mid-market rate free, then 0.5% |
| Weekend | No surcharge | About 0.5 to 1% extra while markets are shut |
| €1,000 to the UK | €5.76 | €0 inside the monthly allowance |
| €1,000 to the USA | €6.21 | €0 inside the allowance |
| €1,000 to Turkey | About €12.50 | €0 on a weekday inside the allowance, about 1% at the weekend |

[Wise](https://wise.com) prices from its calculator on 5 March 2026; the Turkey formula dates from an older calculator reading and is indicative. [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com) terms from its Standard plan as of August 2026.

**[Revolut](https://www.revolut.com) wins** the small, regular transfer. Up to **€1,000** a month of currency exchange runs at the mid-market rate for **€0** on the free **Standard** plan, so **€1,000** to the **UK** on a Tuesday costs nothing, against **€5.76** at **[Wise](https://wise.com)**. It also holds money in a licensed bank, so your balance sits under the **Lithuanian deposit guarantee** up to **€100,000**, and the account and the card live in the same app.

**[Wise](https://wise.com) wins** everything else: amounts above the monthly allowance, any transfer sent on a **Saturday or Sunday**, and anyone who wants the exact amount guaranteed before pressing send. The common mistake runs the other way round. **[Wise](https://wise.com)** is an **e-money institution**, not a bank: client money is **safeguarded**, held apart from [Wise](https://wise.com)’s own funds, but no deposit-guarantee scheme pays out if it fails, so treat a [Wise](https://wise.com) balance as money in transit rather than savings.

## Can You Send Money to Syria or Afghanistan from Austria?

**Afghanistan** yes, through **Western Union**, which ran an active Afghanistan page for Austrian senders when this was checked in **August 2026**. The fee appears only in its live calculator, so no published figure exists and any number quoted elsewhere is **unverified**. **[Wise](https://wise.com)**, **[Revolut](https://www.revolut.com)**, **Remitly** and **Paysend** do not list Afghanistan as a destination at all.

**Syria** is harder. No regular online route from Austria could be confirmed in **2026**: **Western Union** does not list Syria in its prominent corridor selection the way it lists **Afghanistan**, and Austrian banks decline Syria payments on compliance grounds. Whether individual money-transfer counters still serve the corridor is **unverified**, so check with the operator directly rather than trusting a third-party list.

### Hawala is a criminal risk, not a workaround

Informal value-transfer networks operate an **unlicensed payment service** under the **Bankwesengesetz** read together with the **Zahlungsdienstegesetz**, and using one exposes you to **criminal risk** in Austria. If no licensed route exists for your corridor, the honest answer is that there is **currently no legal way**, not that you should find an unofficial one.

## Is an Instant Euro Transfer Free at Austrian Banks?

| Bank | Sends instant | Fee | Limit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Erste Bank](https://www.sparkasse.at) / Sparkassen (George) | Yes | €0 | Set per customer, typically €5,000 to €25,000 a day |
| [Bank Austria](https://www.bankaustria.at) (24You, app, BusinessNet) | Yes | €0, no extra cost against a standard SEPA transfer | Businesses set their own; retail limit is internal |
| BAWAG / easybank | Yes | €0, free on every account package since 1 January 2025 | Via eBanking and the app only |
| [Raiffeisen](https://www.raiffeisen.at) (Mein ELBA) | Yes | €0 where the standard transfer is free | Set by each regional bank |
| Volksbank | Yes | €0 online | €5,000 to €25,000 is usual |
| Oberbank / BKS / BTV | Yes | €0 | Set per institution |
| bank99 | Yes | €0 | Set internally |
| [N26](https://n26.com), [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com), [bunq](https://www.bunq.com), [Trade Republic](https://traderepublic.com), [Wise](https://wise.com) | Yes | €0 | Set in the app |

Table of SEPA Instant availability, fee and daily limit at [Erste Bank](https://www.sparkasse.at) and Sparkassen, [Bank Austria](https://www.bankaustria.at), BAWAG and easybank, [Raiffeisen](https://www.raiffeisen.at), Volksbank, Oberbank, BKS, BTV, bank99 and the neobanks [N26](https://n26.com), [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com), [bunq](https://www.bunq.com), [Trade Republic](https://traderepublic.com) and [Wise](https://wise.com). As of August 2026. [Raiffeisen](https://www.raiffeisen.at) limits are set per regional bank and are not published centrally.

Yes. Since **9 October 2025** an **instant euro transfer** may not cost more than a standard one, so wherever your online transfer is free, instant is free too. **97%** of Austrian providers take part in the instant scheme. Some Austrian banks charged **€0.30 to €0.55** per instant transfer before the rule landed, **[Bank Austria](https://www.bankaustria.at)** among them, and those charges are no longer lawful where the standard transfer is free. If your bank still bills you, complain to the **FMA**.

The same date brought **Verification of Payee**: your bank now checks the name you typed against the name on the **IBAN** and answers **match**, **close match** or **no match**. A **close match** can be waved through. A **no match** should stop you, because it is the signal that catches an invoice with a swapped IBAN. The complaint that arrived with the feature is warning fatigue: the check also fires on perfectly correct transfers, and readers learn to click past it.

## How Do You Send Money Home Every Month?

For a **euro** destination, set up a **Dauerauftrag**, a standing order, in your banking app. It is **free** to create, change and stop online at every Austrian bank. Doing the same thing at an **[Erste Bank](https://www.sparkasse.at)** counter costs **€3.96**, the same charge that applies to a counter cash transaction or a paper **Zahlschein**, where branch payment slips run **€3 to €7** each.

For a non-euro destination, the monthly pattern changes which provider wins. **[Revolut](https://www.revolut.com)** is free only inside **€1,000** of mid-market exchange a month, so a recurring **€500** transfer is free and a recurring **€1,200** one is not. **[Wise](https://wise.com)** charges from **0.43%** every time but has **no weekend surcharge** and no monthly ceiling, which makes it the steadier choice for a standing commitment. **Remitly** keeps its flat **€1.99** on the **Turkey** route whatever the amount, but its promotional rate covers only the first **€1,000**.

Two rails people reach for and should not. **PayPal** is **free** for euro person-to-person payments across the EU, but the **Friends and Family** option carries **no buyer protection**, which is precisely why fraudsters ask for it, and its currency conversion adds **3% to 4%**. A **SEPA direct debit** you granted can be reversed for **8 weeks** without giving a reason and for **13 months** if it was never authorised, but a failed direct debit costs you **€5 to €7.50** at your own bank and another **€3 to €8.75** plus reminder charges at the other end, so a bounced monthly payment lands at **€8 to €20**.

Our calculation: the cost of sending €300 to Turkey every month for a year, as of October 2026. Method: each provider’s published fee logic applied to €300, times 12. [Wise](https://wise.com) uses its 1.1% plus €1.66 Turkey formula, which dates from an older calculator reading; Remitly’s €1.99 flat fee plus the low and high end of its 0.5 to 3% exchange-rate margin; [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com)’s Standard allowance and its weekend surcharge of about 1%; the bank row counts only [Erste Bank](https://www.sparkasse.at)’s €13.50 SWIFT fee, before any margin or correspondent charge.

| Route | Per transfer | Per year |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com) Standard, sent on a weekday | €0 | €0 |
| [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com) Standard, sent at the weekend | About €3 | About €36 |
| Remitly, low margin | €3.49 | €41.88 |
| [Wise](https://wise.com) | €4.96 | €59.52 |
| Remitly, high margin | €10.99 | €131.88 |
| Austrian bank SWIFT, fee alone | €13.50 or more | €162 or more |

A year of **€300** monthly transfers to **Turkey** costs anything from **€0** to well over **€162**, depending on the route and the day. **[Revolut](https://www.revolut.com)** on a weekday is free because **€300** sits inside the monthly allowance. **Remitly** is cheap or dear depending on a margin you only see in the quoted rate, between **€41.88** and **€131.88** a year. **[Wise](https://wise.com)** lands at about **€59.52** with the price fixed before you send, and the house bank costs at least **€162** in fees before its exchange-rate margin is even counted.

## What Has Gone Wrong at Transfer Providers Since 2024?

| Date | Provider | What happened |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 8 April 2025 | [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com) Bank UAB | The **Bank of Lithuania** fined it **€3.5 million** for weak anti-money-laundering transaction monitoring, settled by agreement; the regulator found no confirmed laundering ([LRT](https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2531818/revolut-bank-fined-eur3-5m-for-breaching-anti-money-laundering-rules)) |
| October and November 2025 | [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com) | Accounts of **Russian and Belarusian citizens** living in the EU on residence permits were frozen, with cards, deposits and transfers blocked, which [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com) tied to the EU’s 19th sanctions package ([Meduza](https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/11/03/russian-clients-living-in-the-e-u-struggle-to-regain-banking-access-after-fintech-company-revolut-freezes-accounts)) |
| 2024 to 2026, recurring | [Wise](https://wise.com) and [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com) | Account reviews that hold a transfer for days while source-of-funds or residence documents are checked, the most common complaint in user reviews of both |

None of these incidents makes either provider unsafe to use, but each one changes how you should use it. A **review freeze** is the realistic risk for a newcomer: it tends to fire when documents change, such as a new residence permit, or when a large sum arrives from an unfamiliar source. Keep your current **residence title** and a **payslip or contract** ready to upload, and do not route a property deposit or a rent payment due tomorrow through an account you opened last week.

Readers holding a **Russian or Belarusian passport** should keep their main salary account at an Austrian bank, whose duty to offer a basic payment account under the **VZKG** gives a domestic fallback that an app based in Lithuania does not. The second lesson comes from the receiving end: a cheap sending fee says nothing about what the **receiving bank** deducts, which is why a small test transfer is worth its cost on a new corridor.

### What residents report

- − **Wise to a Bosnian bank**: Someone sending family money from Austria tested €20 through Wise, paid a €3.99 fee, and reported that the Bosnian receiving bank then took a further cut, so far less arrived than the app had shown. ([r/bih](https://www.reddit.com/r/bih/comments/1c6aiwl/send_money_for_family_from_austria_to_a_bosnian/), 2024)
- + **Western Union cash pickup**: In the same thread another sender recommended Western Union cash pickup, paid from an Austrian card at about €2 for a similar sum, with the advice to choose payout in convertible marks rather than euro. ([r/bih](https://www.reddit.com/r/bih/comments/1c6aiwl/send_money_for_family_from_austria_to_a_bosnian/), 2024)

Paraphrased from public posts, each dated and linked. A small sample, not a representative survey.

## Who Pays When a Transfer Turns Out to Be Fraud?

It turns on one question: did **you** approve the payment? For an **unauthorised** payment, your bank must refund the amount **without delay** and restore the account (**§ 67 ZaDiG 2018**), and your own liability before you report a lost or stolen payment instrument is capped at **€50** under **§ 68 Abs. 1 ZaDiG 2018**. For a payment **you approved yourself**, which is what almost every scam produces, there is **no statutory refund right** at all. Your only route is a damages claim for a breach of duty by the bank, typically failed **fraud monitoring**.

The **€50** cap falls away if you acted with **gross negligence**, and the bank has to **prove** it. The bank must also show that **strong customer authentication** worked properly. Report a disputed debit **immediately** and in any case within **13 months** of it appearing on your statement (**§ 65 ZaDiG 2018**), or the claim lapses.

Two rulings mark the boundary. In **7 Ob 95/24g** the **OGH** found gross negligence where a customer handed over credentials after a **phishing SMS** and then approved every transaction himself: **full liability**, and no duty on the bank to block authorised transactions while its monitoring looked plausible. In **April 2026** the **OLG Linz** split a loss **50:50** after a **fake bank call** moved **€200,000** in **41 transfers** inside **90 minutes**, because the bank’s **fraud monitoring** never triggered and professional social engineering is not gross negligence by the victim.

Practice has moved with those rulings. **Gross negligence** is no longer assumed from a single click. The questions that decide it are how professional the forgery was, whether you were under **sustained pressure**, whether a layperson could have spotted it, and whether your device **clearly displayed** the IBAN and the amount you were approving. Reading a **TAN** down the phone while the screen showed a stranger’s IBAN is gross negligence. Deception with no visible discrepancy is **slight negligence**, and then the **bank pays in full**.

The numbers say how common this is. The **BKA Cyber Crime Report 2025** counted **31,001** internet-fraud cases, down **2.4%** from **31,768** in **2024**, inside **63,459** cybercrime offences overall, with investment fraud alone costing around **€120 million**. The **banking ombudsman** handled **831** payments cases and **242** phishing cases in **2025**. The **2025** phishing report puts the average loss at **€4,333.38** per case across **4.3** misused payments, of which **63%** were card cases and **28%** transfers, averaging **€8,513.82** per SEPA transfer, and **77%** of cases had at least one payee abroad.

The patterns are stable. A **fake bank call** from a spoofed official number, paired with a remote-access app, is the dominant one, because the victim authorises everything personally. Then **phishing SMS and email** in the livery of **George**, **ELBA** or **[Bank Austria](https://www.bankaustria.at)**; approving the **attacker’s device** as your authorisation device through a phishing link; the **messenger “hi mum” trick**, down to about **1,100** cases and **€3.2 million** in **2025** from roughly **5,000** cases and **€9.3 million** in **2023**; **cyber trading fraud** at around **€120 million** a year; and marketplace scams with fake buyer-verification links.

## What Do You Do First After a Fraudulent Transfer?

The order matters more than the speed of any single step, and most people get it wrong by reporting to the police first. The recall window is **minutes to a few hours**, and the police cannot open it. Work through these five steps in sequence.

- **1. Your bank, immediately.** Call the **24/7 blocking hotline**, block online banking, and ask for a **recall** in the same call. The success window is **minutes to a few hours**; after that, recovery depends entirely on the **receiving institution**. Once cash has been collected at a counter, there is **no recall**.
- **2. Report to the police.** Any station takes the report, and there is an online form. You need the case number for every step that follows.
- **3. Report the scam itself.** File with [watchlist-internet.at](https://www.watchlist-internet.at), the reporting office close to the **Bundeskriminalamt**, and with the **ombudsman office for payment problems and phishing** at the social affairs ministry.
- **4. The banking ombudsman, if the bank refuses.** [Bankenschlichtung](https://www.bankenschlichtung.at/) is **free** for consumers, and **55%** of the procedures it completed in **2025** ended in an agreement. A further **36%** went nowhere because the bank declined to take part, which is worth knowing before you count on it.
- **5. The FMA, then the civil courts.** Complain to the [FMA](https://www.fma.gv.at) for a supervisory breach, such as a missing instant-transfer price parity or a failure of **strong customer authentication**, and to the civil courts for the money itself.

### Recovery agencies are the second scam

Firms that promise to get your money back **for a fee paid up front** are targeting people who have just been defrauded, and the **Bundeskriminalamt** warns about them specifically. Every legitimate step above is **free**: the bank, the police, the reporting offices, the ombudsman and the regulator. Pay nobody to recover money for you.

## What Are Your Rights When You Send Money?

| The rules behind this page | ZaDiG § 77 |
| --- | --- |
| Law | [Zahlungsdienstegesetz 2018 (ZaDiG 2018), § 77 on execution deadlines, with EU Regulation 260/2012 for SEPA](https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=20010182) |
| Regulator | [OeNB, payments supervision, shared with the FMA under PSD2](https://www.oenb.at/Zahlungsverkehr.html) |
| Free tool | [Bankenschlichtung, the banking ombudsman, free for consumers](https://www.bankenschlichtung.at/) |
| Your right | A euro transfer anywhere in the EEA may cost no more than the same transfer inside Austria (Art. 3(2) EU Reg. 260/2012). Your bank must credit the recipient's bank by the end of the next business day after it receives the order, plus one more day if you filed it on paper (§ 77 ZaDiG 2018). Carrying €10,000 or more across an EU external border must be declared. |
| Applies since | SEPA price equality since 31 March 2012; the execution deadline since 1 June 2018 |

## German Terms Glossary

- Auslandsüberweisung: International transfer, a payment out of Austria

- Echtzeitüberweisung: Instant euro transfer, credited in under ten seconds

- Empfängerüberprüfung: Verification of Payee, the IBAN-to-name check

- Devisenmittelkurs: Mid-market exchange rate, with no margin added

- Überweisungsrückruf: Recall, the request to pull a transfer back

- Dauerauftrag: Standing order, a transfer that repeats on a fixed date

Sources: provider price pages and calculators for [Wise](https://wise.com), [Revolut](https://www.revolut.com), Remitly, Western Union, Ria and Paysend; [Erste Bank](https://www.sparkasse.at) and [Bank Austria](https://www.bankaustria.at) price lists; OeNB and WKO on instant transfers and Verification of Payee; OGH 7 Ob 95/24g; OLG Linz, April 2026; the Bundeskriminalamt Cyber Crime Report 2025; the Bankenschlichtung annual report 2025; and the 2025 phishing report. Corridor prices as of 28 August 2026 and they move daily, so verify in the provider’s own calculator before you send.

## Related Guides

[Open a Bank Account: Step-by-step guide to opening your first Austrian bank account.](/banking/open-bank-account)

[Debit Cards: N26, Revolut, Wise and the Bankomatkarte compared on fees and IBAN.](/banking/debit-cards)

[Fintech Apps: The neobanks and money apps that work in Austria, and what they cost.](/banking/fintech-apps)

[Using Cards Abroad: Foreign-exchange fees, ATM traps and how to avoid the DCC markup.](/banking/cards-abroad)

[Revolut vs N26: Head-to-head on fees, IBANs and features for Austrian users.](/banking/revolut-vs-n26)

[Card Disputes: How chargebacks work in Austria and when the bank has to refund you.](/banking/card-disputes)

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## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is the cheapest way to send €1,000 from Austria to Turkey?

**Remitly** charges a flat **€1.99** on the Austria to Turkey route plus an exchange-rate margin of **0.5% to 3%**. **Wise** costs about **€12.50** per **€1,000** (**1.1%** plus **€1.66**) at the **mid-market rate** with no margin on top. **Revolut** is **free** on a weekday inside the **€1,000** monthly exchange limit and costs **€9.97** at the weekend. A **SWIFT** transfer from an Austrian bank runs to roughly **€65** all-in.

### How much does it cost to send money from Austria to Germany?

Nothing, at effectively every Austrian bank. **Germany**, **Italy**, **Slovakia** and **Croatia** are **euro SEPA** corridors, so an online transfer costs **€0**, the same as a transfer inside Austria. Since **9 October 2025** an **instant euro transfer** may not cost more than a standard one, so instant is **free** too wherever the standard transfer is free. For these corridors a transfer service is a detour, not a saving.

### What is the exchange-rate margin and how do you check it?

The margin is the gap between the provider’s rate and the **mid-market rate**, and it never appears as a fee. **Ria** showed **55.00 TRY** per euro in a calculator on **2 September 2026**. If the mid-market rate was **56.10 TRY**, the margin cost about **2%**, or **€20** on a **€1,000** transfer. **Western Union** says in its own small print that it also earns from currency exchange. Compare the quoted rate against the mid-market rate before you send: **headline fee plus margin is the real price**.

### Why did the receiver get €30 less than I sent?

Because the transfer went out on the **SHA** charge option, which is the default. **Correspondent banks** in the **SWIFT** chain deduct **€15 to €30** on the way, so **€1,000** can arrive as about **€950**. The **OUR** option makes you pay all charges so the full amount lands, and **Erste Bank** charges **€21.87** for it on transfers up to **€5,500**. Fintech routes do not use correspondent banks, so the amount you see quoted is the amount that arrives.

### Can you send money to Syria or Afghanistan from Austria?

**Afghanistan** yes, through **Western Union**, which ran an active Afghanistan page for Austrian senders in **August 2026**. The fee appears only in its live calculator, so no figure is published. **Syria** has **no confirmable regular online route** from Austria in **2026**, and Austrian banks decline Syria payments on compliance grounds. Informal **hawala** networks are an **unlicensed payment service** and carry **criminal risk** in Austria under the **Bankwesengesetz** and the **Zahlungsdienstegesetz**.

### Does the bank refund a transfer a scammer tricked you into sending?

Not automatically. If you **authorised** the payment yourself, there is **no statutory refund right**, only a damages claim if the bank breached a duty such as **fraud monitoring**. The **€50 liability cap** under **§ 68 ZaDiG 2018** covers a **lost or stolen payment instrument**, not a payment you approved. The **OGH** ruled in **7 Ob 95/24g** that a customer who passed on credentials and approved every transaction bore the **full loss**. The **OLG Linz** split a **€200,000** loss **50:50** in **April 2026** because the bank’s monitoring never triggered on **41 transfers** in **90 minutes**.

### How fast do you have to act to recall a transfer?

**Minutes to a few hours.** Call your bank’s **24/7 blocking hotline** first, block online banking and ask for a **recall** in the same call. After that window the money depends on the **receiving institution**, and once cash has been collected at a **Western Union** or **MoneyGram** counter there is **no recall** at all. Report to the **police** second, then to [watchlist-internet.at](https://www.watchlist-internet.at) and the payments ombudsman office, then to the **banking ombudsman** if the bank refuses to refund.

### Is money held at Wise protected like a bank deposit?

No. **Wise** Europe SA in Belgium is an **e-money institution**, not a bank, so the **€100,000 deposit guarantee** does not apply. Client money is **safeguarded** instead: held separately from **Wise**’s own funds so that it should be returned if **Wise** fails, but with no guarantee scheme behind it. **Revolut** Bank UAB holds a full **Lithuanian banking licence**, so a **Revolut** balance is covered by the Lithuanian scheme up to **€100,000**.

### Wise or Revolut for €1,000 to the UK from Austria?

On a **weekday**, **Revolut**: **€1,000** sits inside the free **Standard** plan’s monthly allowance, so it costs **€0**, against **€5.76** at **Wise** per its calculator in **March 2026**. At the **weekend**, or once the **€1,000** allowance is used that month, **Wise** wins, because **Revolut** then adds about **0.5 to 1%** or its **0.5%** fee above the limit, while **Wise**’s price does not change by day.

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Source: https://www.how-to-austria.com/banking/money-transfer
Last updated: Updated: October 12 2026
Format: LLM-readable Markdown twin (.md) of the canonical HTML page.