Author, Mike Smith
Last Updated on August 7th, 2024
I’ll explain what Santander charges for an International Transfer, how long it takes, and how to make a Santander International Payment.
Hopefully, it will save you time reading pages of bank jargon and confusing fee schedules.
Santander international payment charges
There are two charges you need to be aware of with a Santander international payment:
- Transfer fees
- Exchange rates
While the transfer fee is the more obvious, it is often the smaller charge.
A lot of people mistakenly think the transfer fee is the only charge.
But the exchange rate has a markup or profit margin added to it.
This is not visible, so it is often overlooked.
I’ll explain in more detail below.
Does Santander charge an international transfer fee?
You will be charged £25 for an electronic international transfer whether you use Online Banking, Telephone Banking, or visit a Branch with Santander.
| Santander International Payments | Online | Branch or Telephone | One Pay FX (mobile) |
| Transfer Fee | £25 | £25 | Free |
An international transfer fee is just a simple, flat fee charged per transfer.
It doesn’t matter how big or small your transfer is; the fee is the same.
The terminology used by Santander is an “electronic transfer”.
The One Pay FX mobile app was launched by Santander in 2018.
It’s a mobile app that is targeted towards smaller payments to friends and family.
One Pay FX has a £10,000 limit and can only make payments in Euros, US Dollars, and Polish Zloty.
While the £25 transfer fee charged by Santander is not massive, it is annoying and can add up if you make frequent payments.
Some of the other big UK banks charge a lower fee if you do your transfer online.
If you want to avoid paying transfer fees, you can use a money transfer specialist such as ourselves.
We don’t charge any transfer fees.
Santander exchange rates
There is no standard exchange rate charged by Santander.
The exchange rate depends on the size of your international transfer.
Put simply, the bigger your transfer, the better your exchange rate.
Unless you are looking to transfer a really large amount (over £100,000), you can expect a charge of between 2%-4%.
The exact charge depends on the currencies involved and the specific amount you transfer.
In my experience, there are much better rates available elsewhere.
If you just accept the rate charged by your bank, you could end up paying a lot more than you wanted, or your recipient could receive a lot less than they expected.
Small differences in the exchange rate can have a big financial impact.
As a quick example, say you were transferring £70,000 to Spain to buy a holiday home.
If the exchange rate margin charged by Santander was 2%, that would cost you £1,400 in exchange rate costs!
All I can suggest is getting a quote from an alternative provider.
A money transfer specialist is the easiest way for you to benchmark your bank and find out the potential savings.
Once you know what you can save, you can then make an informed decision.
Types of Santander International transfers
Santander offers three types of International Payments, but fear not, only one of the options applies to most people.
An “Electronic Transfer” is the type most people are looking for when sending money abroad.
An electronic transfer with Santander has a £25 charge.
Santander also offers an “Electronic Euro Transfer (or SEPA transfer)”.
But it does not apply to most Brits.
A SEPA transfer is used if you’re sending Euros to Euros – meaning there’s no currency conversion. For example, someone sending Euros from Spain to France.
The third type of International Payment is a “Currency Draft (Cheque)”.
A draft might be a bit old-fashioned, but it is sometimes required for settling financial transactions with a third party.
It is a slower way of sending money abroad because it involves the sender physically posting the draft to the recipient, who then needs to physically bank it.
How to make a Santander international payment
The first step is to choose how you want to send your money:
- Online Banking
- One Pay FX app
- Telephone Banking; or
- Branch
Here’s a quick overview of each…
For Online Banking, you log in as normal.
Within the Payments & Transfers, select International Payments.
It’s fairly intuitive from here.
You will need to enter the amount of Pounds and the currency you need.
The system will quote you a rate.
You will also need the IBAN of the recipient.
Once everything is entered and confirmed by you, Santander will ping you a Time Passcode to your mobile for security purposes.
For the One Pay FX app, here is a 1-minute instructional video you can watch.
Don’t forget this app is limited to £10,000 max and only three currencies (EUR, USD, PLN).
For Telephone Banking you call 0800 9 123 123.
For Branch, it will involve filling out forms. Hopefully, you will get someone who knows what they’re doing.
The information you will need
To send a Santander international payment, you need the following:
- Recipient’s full name (can be you or someone else)
- The Account Number and their bank BIC
Alternatively, you can use the IBAN (international bank account number) for the recipient’s bank account.
The IBAN includes the country code, bank code, branch code, and account number – that’s why it’s so damn long.
The easiest way to find the IBAN is to look at a bank statement.
If that’s not possible, you can go into a branch and ask.
You can also try and cobble it together yourself using a free online tool like this.
There are quite a few free online IBAN generators, so I’m not promoting any particular one.
One option might be to use a money transfer specialist. They can assist you with all the payment details and help make sure everything is correct.
International transfer limits with Santander
The international transfer limit with Santander, if you have a current account, is up to £25,000 for a single transfer, or up to £100,000 can be transferred per day.
Limits may vary depending on the destination you’re looking to transfer to or the type of account you have.
How long does a Santander international transfer take?
Santander says to allow up to 4 working days. It should be a bit quicker for EUR and USD transfers. Other currencies take longer.
While different time zones, weekends, and daily cut-off times can cause delays, the time taken is often a result of the recipient’s foreign bank.
The recipient bank will do its checks before they clear the money into your account.
That part is outside the control of Santander.
A trusted and helpful alternative: Key Currency
Key Currency is a UK-based money transfer specialist.
We have far lower overheads than big banks like Santander, which enables us to pass on the savings to our customers.
You won’t pay any transfer fees, and our exchange rates are highly competitive.
What’s more, we provide you with a service.
We won’t push you onto a trading platform or make you download an app.
Instead, we help you from start to finish, including setting up your payment details and guiding you on exchange rates and the timing of your transfer.
Our company has attained a 5-star “Excellent” customer rating on Trustpilot, with over 2,500 reviews.
You also have the peace of mind of knowing that Key Currency is an FCA-regulated Authorised Payment Institution (No. 753989), and as such, all money transfers are conducted through safeguarded client accounts.
If you would like to compare our rates to Santander, simply request a free quote below.
More money transfer guidance…
Bank exchange rates revealed (what to look for)