Frequently Asked Questions

A remittance corridor is the route money travels between a sending country and a receiving country. The US-Mexico corridor is the world's largest single corridor by dollar volume. PlainRemit covers 322 corridors, showing transfer costs and flow volumes for each country-to-country pair.

The World Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide (RPW) program uses mystery shopping — trained researchers obtain actual quotes from service providers for a standardized $200 transfer on each corridor. Total cost includes the explicit service fee plus the exchange rate margin (the spread between the mid-market rate and the rate offered). Costs are expressed as a percentage of the $200 transfer amount.

The exchange rate margin is the hidden cost built into the exchange rate a money transfer provider offers. If the mid-market USD/MXN rate is 17.50 but the provider offers 17.00, the 2.9% difference is an additional cost to the sender. Many services advertise 'no fees' but earn revenue through exchange rate margins. The World Bank RPW captures both explicit fees and exchange rate margins in its total cost figure.

Transfer costs reflect market competition, regulatory environment, banking infrastructure, and corridor volume. High-volume corridors like US-Mexico and US-India tend to be more competitive (lower costs) because many providers compete for the business. Remote or smaller corridors may have fewer providers and higher costs. Regulatory requirements (anti-money laundering compliance) also add costs on some routes.

The G20 and UN Sustainable Development Goal 10c set a target of reducing the global average cost of remittances to 3% of the amount transferred by 2030. As of recent World Bank data, the global average remains around 6-7%, with significant variation by corridor. PlainRemit shows which corridors already meet the 3% target and which are furthest from it.

The World Bank publishes RPW data quarterly. We update our database when new quarterly data is released. Remittance prices can change significantly quarter to quarter, especially on competitive corridors, so always verify current rates with providers directly before sending money.

No. PlainRemit is an independent data portal and is not affiliated with the World Bank, any money transfer operator, or any government agency. We do not receive commissions or referral fees from any service provider. We present World Bank data to make remittance cost information more accessible.