Sending money from South Africa to Malawi

The World Bank surveyed 13 providers on this corridor. On R1,370 the cheapest costs 14.46% of what you send and the dearest 78.97%. Enter your own amount below — the ranking changes with it.

Cheapest surveyed

ABSA via Western Union

R198.10 to send R1,370 (14.46%)

The dearest would cost you

R883.76

more, for the same transfer

Every provider, ranked at R1,370

The fee and the exchange-rate margin are shown separately on purpose. A transfer advertised as "no fee" can still be the expensive one, because the margin is where the cost hides.

Provider	Type	Fee	FX margin	Total cost	% of transfer
ABSA via Western Union 2 days	Bank / Money Transfer Operator	R185.36	R12.74	R198.10	14.46%
Mukuru Same day	Money Transfer Operator	R137.00	R66.99	R203.99	14.89%
Western Union Less than one hour	Money Transfer Operator	R214.02	R12.74	R226.76	16.55%
Hello-Paisa 2 days	Money Transfer Operator	R137.00	R95.90	R232.90	17.00%
EcoCash Remit 2 days	Mobile Operator	R95.90	R219.20	R315.10	23.00%
Mama Money 2 days	Money Transfer Operator	R66.00	R284.82	R350.82	25.61%
Sikhona Money Transfers Same day	Money Transfer Operator	R24.99	R415.93	R440.92	32.18%
WorldRemit Less than one hour	Money Transfer Operator	R25.00	R771.31	R796.31	58.12%
First National Bank of South Africa via MoneyGram Same day	Bank / Money Transfer Operator	R93.43	R816.93	R910.36	66.45%
First National Bank of South Africa 2 days	Bank	R130.00	R816.93	R946.93	69.12%
MoneyGram 2 days	Money Transfer Operator	R217.03	R821.73	R1,038.76	75.82%
Standard Bank 2 days	Bank	R259.00	R785.97	R1,044.97	76.28%
ABSA 3-5 days	Bank	R280.00	R801.86	R1,081.86	78.97%

Banks, transfer operators and mobile money

Who you send with matters more than anything else about the transfer. Median cost by provider type, on R1,370:

Bank — 76.28% (3 providers surveyed)
Bank / Money Transfer Operator — 40.45% (2 providers surveyed)
Mobile Operator — 23.00% (1 provider surveyed)
Money Transfer Operator — 25.61% (7 providers surveyed)

That ordering is for R1,370 and does not necessarily hold at your amount. Where a provider charges a flat fee, it is punishing on a small transfer and forgettable on a large one — which is enough to reverse the order entirely. The ranked table above is the one computed at your amount; this one is not.

How to read these numbers

The cost of a transfer is the fee plus the margin the provider takes on the exchange rate. The margin is invisible at the counter: you are quoted a rate, not the difference between that rate and the interbank one, so a "free" transfer can quietly cost more than one with a fee attached. Both are separated in the table above.

Percentages fall as the amount rises wherever a provider charges a flat fee, which is why the same provider can be the cheapest at one amount and not at another. That is exactly what the calculator is for — the ranking above is computed at your amount, not at a fixed one.

Source: The World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, available at https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org — survey period 2025 Q1, field-collected to 11 March 2025. Licensed CC BY 4.0. These are surveyed benchmark costs from a dated quarterly study, not live quotes, and providers change pricing between surveys — check the current cost with the provider before you send. The World Bank does not endorse this use of its data. This is general information, not financial advice.