Sending money home

Hidden FX fees on bank transfers from the Gulf: how to check your own

By Amman Abbasi•Published: Sep 12, 2026•Updated: Oct 19, 2026•5 min read

The short answer

A transfer with “no fee” can still cost you money: the bank converts your dirhams or riyals at a rate worse than the mid-market rate and keeps the difference. You can measure it yourself from one transfer — divide what arrived by what left your account, compare that with the mid-market rate for the same day, and the gap is your markup.

1. Where the cost hides: the fee and the rate

Sending money abroad has two prices. One is the fee, which is printed. The other is the exchange rate, which is easy to overlook. The mid-market rate is the midpoint between the wholesale buy and sell prices of a currency; it is the rate banks trade with each other, and the one a currency-data site publishes. A provider that converts at that rate and adds a visible fee is charging you in the open. A provider that advertises no fee but converts at a worse rate is charging you through the rate — the cost is the same kind of money, just not on the receipt.

Neither pricing is wrong in itself. The problem is only that the second kind cannot be compared by looking at the fee line, because the fee line says zero.

2. How to calculate your bank’s exchange-rate markup

You do not need anyone’s estimate. One transfer and your statement are enough:

The 4-step statement check

Step 1: What left, what arrivedFind the amount debited from your account (for example AED) on your statement, and the amount the recipient received in the other currency (for example INR, PHP, EGP or GBP) from the transfer receipt.
Step 2: The rate you actually gotDivide the amount received by the amount debited. That is the effective rate. If a fixed fee was charged on top, leave it out for now and count it separately.
Step 3: The mid-market rate that dayLook up the mid-market rate for the date of the transfer from an independent source, such as a central bank’s published rate or a currency-data site’s history.
Step 4: The markupSpread % = ((mid-market − your rate) ÷ mid-market) × 100. Then add the fee, as a percentage of the amount sent, to get the total cost.
Illustrative numbers: if the mid-market rate is 1 AED = 23.00 INR and your bank converts at 1 AED = 22.31 INR with “zero fees”, the markup is (23.00 − 22.31) ÷ 23.00 = 3.0%. On AED 5,000 that is AED 150 you never saw on a receipt. These figures show the method; they are not a measurement of any bank.

3. What is a normal cost? Use the published data, not a guess

The most reliable public figures are the World Bank’s. Remittance Prices Worldwide is its database of what providers charge on each sending-and-receiving corridor, collected quarterly. The cost it reports counts both the fee and the exchange-rate margin, which is exactly the pair this guide is about.

It also gives you a yardstick. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 10.c is to bring the global average cost of sending $200 down to 3% or less by 2030, and to leave no corridor with an average above 5%. If the total you measured in section 2 is well above those numbers, look up your corridor and compare providers before the next transfer.

4. Two ways a provider can charge

Cost inside the rate

  • Advertised as “free” or “0% commission”.
  • The rate is set below the mid-market rate, and the difference is the charge.
  • The cost grows with the amount sent.
  • You can only see it by doing the calculation in section 2.

Cost shown as a fee

  • The conversion uses the mid-market rate, or very close to it.
  • The charge is a separate, visible fee.
  • Comparing two providers means comparing two numbers on the screen.

The simplest comparison needs no formula at all: ask each provider how much the recipient will receive for the same amount sent, and take the higher number.

5. What MyFulus does with money you send home

MyFulus does not know exchange rates and never converts one currency into another, so it cannot calculate the markup for you. What it does is read the statement you upload, find the transfer, and file it under its own category, Family Support & Remittances, rather than leaving it in “Other”. That keeps the debited amounts from step 1 in one place and shows what you send home each month next to the rest of your spending. The transfer still counts as money out, because it left your account.

Frequently asked questions about FX markups

What is an exchange-rate spread on a bank transfer?

The spread is the gap between the mid-market rate — the midpoint between the wholesale buy and sell prices of a currency — and the rate your bank gives you. The bank keeps the gap. If the mid-market rate is 23.00 and your bank converts at 22.31, the spread is 3.0%, even when the transfer fee was zero.

How do I check what my bank charged me?

Divide the amount that arrived by the amount that left your account, then compare that rate with the mid-market rate for the same day: spread % = (mid-market − your rate) ÷ mid-market × 100. Add any fixed fee separately. The four steps on this page walk through it.

What is a reasonable cost for sending money home?

The UN's Sustainable Development Goal 10.c aims for the global average cost of sending $200 to fall to 3% or less by 2030, with no corridor averaging above 5%. The World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide database publishes what providers charge on each corridor, counting both fees and the exchange-rate margin, so you can set your provider against the others on your route.

Can MyFulus calculate the spread for me?

No. MyFulus has no exchange rates and never converts one currency into another, so it cannot measure a spread. It reads your statement, finds the transfers, and files money sent home under its own category so you can see how much you send. The comparison with the mid-market rate is the manual step above.

See how much you send home

Upload a bank statement and MyFulus lists every transfer to family under one category, in the currency it was sent in. The first few statements are free.

Read my statement

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