How Much Does Remitly Charge in the UAE? (2026)

Remitly is a US-headquartered money-transfer company and one of the biggest names for UAE-outbound transfers. Its UAE product is regulated by the DFSA (Dubai Financial Services Authority). Popular corridors from the UAE are the Philippines, India and Pakistan.

This page is about one thing only: how much Remitly charges. If you're wondering whether Remitly is safe or how it compares to other apps, we have separate pieces linked at the bottom.

The short answer

Remitly charges you in two places: a flat fee in AED, and a small margin baked into the exchange rate. Both are shown in the app before you press Send. We deliberately don't publish a single 'fee for AED 1,000' number on this site — it changes with the delivery method, speed, funding method and corridor. What we do explain is how each part of the pricing works, so you know exactly what you're looking at when you open the app.

The two parts of Remitly's price

Almost every provider charges in two places, but Remitly is unusually clear about splitting the two:

1. A flat sending fee, shown as AED X. This can be zero on some corridors, on your first transfer, or when you send larger amounts.
2. An exchange-rate margin — the difference between the mid-market rate you'd see on Google and the rate Remitly gives you. This is where most of the real cost lives on large transfers.

Both numbers show up on the same review screen before you confirm. The single number that matters to you is the recipient amount — the pesos, rupees or Pakistani rupees that will actually land.

Express vs Economy — the same recipient, two prices

For most Remitly corridors, when you set up a transfer, you're offered two speeds:

• Express — arrives in minutes on cash-pickup and mobile-wallet payouts, or same-day / next-day on banks. Costs more.
• Economy — takes 3-5 business days. Costs less, and usually gives you a noticeably better exchange rate.

The Express option pays for the faster payment rails and the priority processing that gets the money to the recipient the same hour. Economy uses a slower back-end and a cheaper FX pool. Neither one is 'better' — they are two prices for the same delivery, and you pick based on when your recipient needs the money.

New-customer welcome offer (as of 24 Sep 2026)

For the UAE → Philippines corridor, Remitly's official page shows a promotional welcome rate for brand-new customers: 1 AED = 17.16 PHP on the first AED 4,000 you send, and no fee on your first transfer. New customers only, one per customer, limited time.

Funding methods (and what each does to your fee)

Remitly UAE accepts:

• Visa debit and Mastercard debit — usually the cheapest funding.
• Visa credit and Mastercard credit — may attract an extra card-processing fee inside Remitly, plus a possible cash-advance charge from your bank.
• Prepaid cards — supported.

If you fund a transfer with a credit card, always factor in the card issuer's own fee. This is not something Remitly can show you — it comes out of your credit-card statement separately.

Delivery methods per corridor

How the recipient collects the money is often where the small final differences live. On Remitly UAE:

• Philippines: bank deposit, cash pickup, GCash, Maya, home delivery. Partners include GCash, Maya, BDO, BPI, Cebuana Lhuillier and M.Lhuillier.
• India: bank deposit, UPI, cash pickup.
• Pakistan: bank deposit, cash pickup.

GCash and Maya wallet deliveries are usually faster and cheaper than a bank deposit. Cash pickup is convenient when the recipient has no bank account, but the fee is often the highest of the three options.

Where to see the exact number for your transfer

Open the Remitly app or its UAE website, enter the exact AED amount, choose the delivery method your recipient prefers, and read the recipient amount. That's the number that matters. Do the same in Wise and one exchange-house app (Al Ansari or LuLu) for the same amount. Send with whichever gives the biggest recipient number.

What Remitly does NOT charge for

• There is no monthly account fee.
• There is no fee to hold or top-up an account.
• There is no 'inactivity' fee.

All the cost is inside the individual transfer: the AED fee + the FX margin. If you never send, you never pay.

Bottom line

Remitly is not the always-cheapest provider on any single corridor. On its best days — Economy option, GCash or Maya delivery, no promo, everyday amount — it is close to the sharpest fintech alternative. The pricing is transparent enough that you never need to guess what the total cost was: look at the recipient number, compare it against another app for the same amount, and pick the winner today.