How to send money to Sri Lanka?Fastest, cheapest, and safest!

Sri Lanka is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful island countries in South Asia. The current population of Sri Lanka is 21 Million as of 2019, based on the latest United Nations estimates. And the Sri Lankan diaspora around the world is estimated to be around 3 Million. After a crippling civil war of 30 years that ended in 2009 Sri Lanka’s economy grew exponentially. Although there are some signs of a slowdown in the last few years, Remittances still remain one of the highest contributors to the GDP at 8.2% in 2017.

Source: World Bank

So, how to send money to Sri Lanka?

Before we dive deeper, it is important to understand that there are parameters on both the sender and the receiver’s side that you must consider.

Sender’s side

• Medium of payment – Would you be paying by cash, card or online?
• Exchange Rates – What is the best exchange rate? Is it locked or Indicative?

Receiver’s side

• Speed of Delivery - How fast does your recipient need the money?
• Availability of the Internet - Does your recipient have access to the Internet?
• Location of the recipient - Is the recipient in a remote location?

Now, there are many ways of sending money. For example;

• Cheques
• Demand Drafts
• Money Order
• Foreign Exchange Agents
• Cash Pickup
• Bank Transfer
• Online, etc

Traditional methods like Cheques and money order are cumbersome and expensive. Agents and Bank transfers are still widely used today but they come at a higher cost. Cash pickup service providers like Western Union and Ria are the fastest way of moving money from one country to another but it comes at a significantly higher cost. Sending money online to is the best way of sending money. It is cheap, safe, convenient, and fast.

How to send money online?

First, compare the different service providers using the parameters above. You can easily use our filters to rank them depending on your preference as shown below. For example, whether you are looking for the best exchange rate, lowest transfer fees, the fastest speed of delivery, etc.

Case study

Let’s say you have saved up your hard earned money and you want to send $1000 from the USA to Sri Lanka. You want the highest exchange rate possible and lowest transfer fees so that your family can receive more money.

Simply go to www.compareremit.com, select the US as the sending country and Sri Lanka as the receiving click on Find the Best Rate. The search comes back showing Xoom as the best value as shown below. It gives you zero transfer fees and a locked exchange rate of Rs. 176.13 for every $1. In this case, you select Xoom and initiate a transfer.

What if you are in an emergency and want to send the money immediately?

In that case, you can use the filter and click on the “Fastest” instead of “Best Value”. The result comes back with Ria on top with a transfer fee of $5 at a locked exchange rate of Rs. 174.18 for every dollar.

You will notice that the fastest way of sending money sets you back Rs. 3000 more but it will move your money within the 1st hour

So, the best depends on your needs entirely. If you are sending the money for an emergency to Sri Lanka, go ahead and select the fastest. If you are willing to wait a few hours, you can take advantage of the highest exchange rate so that you get every single dollar’s worth.

There you go. Now, you know how to send money to Sri Lanka. Happy sending!