How does Remitly work in Ireland?

If you’re sending money overseas, using a specialist provider can be a great way to make an easy payment. One popular option is Remitly.

So, how does Remitly work, what does it cost, and how can I make a Remitly payment? This guide covers all you need to know.

We’ll also introduce Wise in Ireland, which offers international transfers and ways to hold and receive different currencies in one account.

Send money to +140 countries
with Wise 💰

What is Remitly and how does it work in Ireland?

You can use Remitly in Ireland to send money to 170+ countries, in 100+ currencies.¹ All Remitly payments are arranged digitally, via website or in the Remitly app, but you can choose to have your recipient get their money in various ways, including account deposit and cash pickup.

Remitly money transfer fees vary depending on the payment destination, with options including flat fees and percentage charges. In some cases you can choose to send different currencies (for example, either PHP or USD to the Philippines), and the costs may depend on this also. The Remitly exchange rate may also include a fee - we’ll look at that in a moment.

While Remitly has a convenient service with a good range of pay out options, it doesn't offer all the features you might get from another money transfer service.

For example, with a Wise Account you can receive payments in 8+ foreign currencies, and also get a Wise card to spend +40 currencies in 150+ countries around the world.

How to send money through Remitly?

With the Remitly send money service you’ll arrange your payment via website or through the app, and can pay using one of the following methods²:

• Visa, Maestro or Mastercard debit or credit cards
• Prepaid cards
• Apple Pay and Google Pay

When you set up your payment you’ll enter the amount and currency you want to send, and you can select how you’d like the payment to be received.

You may be offered different payment options, including Express or Economy transfers. Express payments can get to your recipient quicker, but may cost you more than Economy transfers.

All the details, including the fees and exchange rates available for your transfer, are shown before you confirm the payment. Delivery times can vary depending on where you’re sending to and how you pay.

Remitly exchange rate

Remitly exchange rates are shown on screen before you initiate a transfer. Remitly states you’ll be offered a competitive rate, but it’s good to know that you may still find a hidden fee included there. The reason is because Remitly states that they may earn revenue from the exchange rate applied into your transaction.⁴

This is a very common practice, and involves the money transfer service adding a percentage to the mid-market exchange rate offered to retail customers.

The mid-market rate is the rate the money transfer service is likely to have received when they bought currencies on the wholesale market - and also the rate you’ll usually find if you Google your currency pair.

To see if a markup has been added to the rate you’re offered you’ll need to compare the Remitly rate against the mid-market rate at the time of your transfer. Or, to make it easier, you could use Wise instead.

Wise doesn't add a fee to the exchange rate you’re quoted. Instead you’ll get the mid-market rate and all the costs of your payment are split out for transparency, making it easier for you to check and compare what you’re paying.

How to receive money with Remitly in Ireland

You can receive money with Remitly in Ireland in the following ways:

• Collect euros in cash from a Remitly agent
• Have EUR deposited to your Irish bank account
• Receive your payment to your EUR bank card

When you receive a payment through Remitly Ireland it’ll have been converted from the sender’s home currency to euros. And as we saw, this may mean that a markup was added on the exchange rate on top of the transfer charges.

If you’d prefer to avoid this cost, you could choose to receive your money into your Wise Account instead.

Wise offers local account details in +8 currencies, which allows you to get paid in GBP, USD, AUD and other major currencies, as well as EUR. This means you'll be able to use the account details to receive money in the local currency, without having to go through an international transfer.

Your sender may be able to make a local transfer to your Wise account in their home currency (often cheaper or even free for them) and you can then hold, send, spend or exchange your foreign currency balance whenever you’re ready.

Receive money with Wise

Main Remitly fees in Ireland 💰

Remitly fees for money transfers depend on:

• The amount you’re sending
• The country you’re sending to
• Your payment method

When you start to arrange your transfer online or in the Remitly app you’ll see a quote which includes the exchange rate offered, as well as the fee you’ll pay. If you have several different payment method options you can change the transfer configurations to see what different transfer types may cost, before picking the best one for you.

Don’t forget to also compare the exchange rate that’s used to convert your euros to the currency your recipient needs to receive. This may also include a fee, which is a percentage added on top of the mid-market rate for your currency pair.

Send, receive and spend money with Wise

If you’re looking for a different provider to make transfers and also manage your money, have a look at the Wise Account.

With the Wise Account you can:

• Hold 40+ currencies and convert between them at the mid-market rate. You'll see the conversion fees upfront
• Get local account details in 8+ currencies, including USD, GBP, and EUR
• Receive cashback on EUR, GBP and USD held in your account
• Order a Wise debit card which you can use with our Smart Conversion technology
• Set up Auto Conversions based on your desired rate in the Wise app or use our Wise Rate Tracker to request exchange rate notifications directly to your email
• Create Wise Virtual Cards, and save on online shopping
• Get instant notifications of all your purchases via the Wise app so you can track your expenses. If you lose your card, you can easily cancel it in the app to keep your money safe
• Have a supporting, English-speaking customer service.

Open your Wise Account
for free 🚀

Does Remitly offer a business account?

Remitly offers business services in the UK and US, but does not market this option for Irish business owners at the time of research.

If you’re looking for ways to send and receive low cost international transfers for your company, you may like Wise Business instead. Hold 40+ currencies, send payments to 140+ countries, and receive money with account details for 8+ currencies. That makes connecting with customers, contractors and suppliers around the world easier than ever.

Discover Wise Business

Sources used:

Sources last checked on date: 02 January, 2026