Citibank International Transfers: Fees, Exchange Rates, Alternatives, and More

Operating out of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States with 723 local branches, 1,494 branches in Mexico, and thousands more in seventeen other countries, Citibank offers international money transfers from the U.S. dollar to Mexican pesos, Canadian dollars, and other foreign currencies across the globe.

However, Citibank's secure and wide coverage of international wire transfers comes with a rather steep price tag. While Citibank does offer a range of competitive wire transfer fees, depending on the client's service plan, even their lowest fee for standard account holders remains rather expensive.

In this guide, we look at Citibank's international wire transfer fees and their exchange rates before exploring alternatives that you can consider when sending your money abroad.

Citibank International Transfer Fees

Citibank international payments are processed as international wire transfers. As a client, you can set one up through your local branch, although Citibank allows you to conveniently do this fully online with their Citibank Online interface.

After setting up your one-time transfer or your repeat transfer, Citibank will securely wire your funds over SWIFT to reach its destination in a foreign country and currency. Citibank charges fixed fees to process international transfers, which vary according to your payment destination.

Sending to Other Citibank Accounts

You can use the 'Citibank Global' service to send U.S. dollars to any Citibank account in the U.S. or to any Citibank account in a limited number of countries* free of charge.

*These countries include Australia, Bahrain, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jersey C.I, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

Sending to Other Banks

To send foreign currency into a non-Citibank bank account, then take a look at the fees that will affect you depending on your account type:

Other Fees to Anticipate

Another fee you might pay is a correspondent bank fee (typically ranging between $10.00 and $100.00 per transfer) if your wire transfer cannot be made directly to your beneficiary's bank and requires the help of correspondent banks to get the payment through. As a bank that wires money with SWIFT, Citibank may use intermediary banks to finish the job. We recommend that you ask your Citibank representative for an estimate of these fees prior to completing your transaction.

Citibank Exchange Rates: Beware of Hidden Fees

In addition to the fixed fees outlined above, Citibank will also charge a variable fee called an exchange rate margin on each transfer you send abroad. Citibank mentions on the footnotes on its wire transfer services page that a fee will be charged for converting your U.S. dollars into foreign currency.

This means that Citibank will convert your dollars at a less powerful rate than the standard rate you see on Google, for example (known as the mid-market exchange rate).

While Citibank in the United States does not publish its daily exchange rates publicly, its large American competitors charge exchange rate fees that range between an estimated 4.2% to 9.5% of the transfer amount depending on the currency involved. Not only are these rates already fairly expensive, but these costs continue to stack up the more you send.

Photo John McArthur, Unsplash

The Costs Combined

When accounting for both the fixed fees and the variable costs for international wire transfers, especially for larger transfer amounts (i.e. more than $2,500.00), Citibank's standard services become quite expensive. While Citibank does not publish the exchange rates that it uses to process your wire transfers internationally, we have found that its American bank competitors charge rates from 4.2% to 9.5%.

If we assume you used Citibank to wire transfer $2,500.00 to a friend in Canada at a 5% exchange rate margin, then $158.26 in total fees would be deducted from the send amount (calculated by the $35.00 handling fee and the $123.25 exchange rate margin*). The remaining amount would be converted across to Canadian dollars and deposited into your friend's bank account at around CA$3,007.

Contrast that to using Wise, a London-based global money transfer service, for the same transfer. With Wise, you'd pay only $15.60 in service fees without an exchange rate margin, getting your friend CA$3,192 — 17% more than if they had received your money through Citibank.

To get a more detailed look at how much your international wire transfers might cost with Citibank's standard services across different sizes and different currencies, take a look at the following chart:

* Conversion made at 5%, which is a typical exchange rate charged by large American banks.

While Wise is a leading money transfer service, it is not always the best one to use if sending money from the United States. The best provider for you will largely depend on the size of your transfer and the currency of its destination.

To find the best deal on every transfer, compare the top money transfer services on Monito's real-time comparison engine and save up to 95% compared to the bank:

Is Citibank Right for Your International Transfer?

Citibank has been in business since the War of 1812 and is indeed a trustworthy and world-class bank for your everyday needs. As a client, you'll be able to rely on their wide range of services and their high-quality security.

International Money Transfer Specialists

However, the international money transfer industry has become highly developed by specialists like Wise, Remitly, and Small World. In fact, Citibank closed nearly 40 branches in India because the company's international payment services in the region became less necessary¹. To see which service may be the most cost-effective and convenient for you, run a search on Monto's real-time comparison engine above!

To get a better picture of how Citibank's foreign exchange services compare against the top international money transfer services in the U.S. market, see the table below that outlines a $2,500.00 transfer to Canada:

References Used in This Guide

1. The Economic Times. Citibank may get to 'sleep' now as tech obviates need for branches. 1 March 2017.