Sending money from South Africa to Zimbabwe

The World Bank surveyed 14 providers on this corridor. On R1,370 the cheapest costs 4.97% of what you send and the dearest 32.79%. Enter your own amount below — the ranking changes with it.

Cheapest surveyed

Sasai Money Transfer

R68.09 to send R1,370 (4.97%)

The dearest would cost you

R381.09

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
Sasai Money Transfer 2 days	Money Transfer Operator	R0.00	R68.09	R68.09	4.97%
WorldRemit Less than one hour	Money Transfer Operator	R27.41	R44.11	R71.52	5.22%
EcoCash Remit 2 days	Mobile Operator	R75.34	R1.92	R77.26	5.64%
Sikhona Money Transfers Less than one hour	Money Transfer Operator	R24.99	R71.51	R96.50	7.04%
Mama Money Less than one hour	Money Transfer Operator	R68.50	R37.54	R106.04	7.74%
First National Bank of South Africa via MoneyGram Same day	Bank / Money Transfer Operator	R93.43	R22.33	R115.76	8.45%
Mukuru Same day	Money Transfer Operator	R129.00	R1.51	R130.51	9.53%
First National Bank of South Africa 2 days	Bank	R130.00	R23.02	R153.02	11.17%
ABSA via Western Union Same day	Bank / Money Transfer Operator	R185.36	R12.74	R198.10	14.46%
Western Union Less than one hour	Money Transfer Operator	R214.02	R12.74	R226.76	16.55%
MoneyGram 2 days	Money Transfer Operator	R217.03	R26.58	R243.61	17.78%
ABSA 2 days	Bank	R290.00	R12.47	R302.47	22.08%
Standard Bank 2 days	Bank	R381.90	R11.23	R393.13	28.70%
Nedbank 2 days	Bank	R420.00	R29.18	R449.18	32.79%

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 — 25.39% (4 providers surveyed)
Bank / Money Transfer Operator — 11.46% (2 providers surveyed)
Mobile Operator — 5.64% (1 provider surveyed)
Money Transfer Operator — 7.74% (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.