Global Contractor Payout Costs

RemitRoutes Data Desk · Published 2026-10-02 · 2026-09-25 – 2026-10-01

Key findings

• Median all-in cost with the typical provider: 1.16% across 30 destinations (7-day window, mid-band). Cheapest at-or-below-mid option averages 0.51%.
• On a conservative (at-or-below-mid-market) basis across 30 destinations: cheapest crypto averages 0.24% all-in vs 0.65% for the cheapest traditional option. Both exclude providers that delivered above mid-market in the window.
• 20 of 30 destinations have a provider delivering above mid-market (†) — that is, it delivers above mid-market (P2P premium or promotional pricing) — volatile; excluded from headline. Includes both crypto exchanges trading at a local premium and traditional providers with promotional pricing. See "Cheapest Overall" column for the magnitude.
• Annual cost at conservative basis (monthly USD 1,000 payouts): ~USD 61/yr. Outlier rows excluded (outside [-25%, 50%]): 7/18910.
• 30 countries selected by most distinct providers in the window, then first-hand count, then alphabetical — not by cheapest cost.

USD contractor payout costs — cheapest at-or-below-mid and cheapest overall (2026-09-25 to 2026-10-01, mid-band, avg over 7 days). † = cheapest overall delivers above mid-market (P2P premium or promotional pricing) — volatile; excluded from headline. 20 of 30 destinations have such a route.

To Currency	To Country	Cheapest Overall	Overall Cost (%)	Cheapest At-Mid Provider	Type	At-Mid Cost (%)	Premium vs Mid (pp) †	Crypto Best (%)	Trad Best (%)	Annual Cost (USD 1k/mo × 12)
TRY	Turkey	BTCTurk		BTCTurk	crypto		—
KRW	South Korea	Upbit		Upbit	crypto		—
IDR	Indonesia	Indodax		Indodax	crypto		—
PHP	Philippines	WorldRemit †		Binance P2P	crypto		0.41 pp †
MXN	Mexico	Binance P2P †		Instarem	traditional		1.49 pp †
THB	Thailand	Bitkub		Bitkub	crypto		—
CLP	Chile	Binance P2P †		Instarem	traditional		0.53 pp †
JPY	Japan	Coincheck		Coincheck	crypto		—
PKR	Pakistan	Binance P2P †		Remitly	traditional		7.77 pp †
INR	India	Coinbase †		Remitly	traditional		4.21 pp †
BRL	Brazil	OKX †		Remitly	traditional		0.38 pp †
COP	Colombia	Buda.com †		WorldRemit	traditional		2.9 pp †
SGD	Singapore	OKX †		Remitly	traditional		0.07 pp †
ZAR	South Africa	VALR †		WorldRemit	traditional		0.26 pp †
BDT	Bangladesh	Remitly		Remitly	traditional		—	n/a
EUR	France	Kraken †		Remitly	traditional		0.2 pp †
PEN	Peru	Binance P2P †		Instarem	traditional		1.76 pp †
GHS	Ghana	OKX P2P †		Instarem	traditional		4.62 pp †
ARS	Argentina	Bitso †		Instarem	traditional		5.76 pp †
VND	Vietnam	OKX P2P †		Instarem	traditional		1.4 pp †
DOP	Dominican Republic	Instarem		Instarem	traditional		—	n/a
GTQ	Guatemala	Instarem		Instarem	traditional		—	n/a
HKD	Hong Kong	HashKey †		Instarem	traditional		0.1 pp †
NGN	Nigeria	Luno †		Instarem	traditional		3.06 pp †
KES	Kenya	Binance P2P †		Instarem	traditional		3.96 pp †
MYR	Malaysia	Hata †		Instarem	traditional		0.18 pp †
NPR	Nepal	Western Union		Western Union	traditional		—	n/a
PLN	Poland	OKX P2P †		Wise	traditional		7.38 pp †
MAD	Morocco	Binance P2P †		Remitly	traditional		3.99 pp †
EGP	Egypt	Remitly		Remitly	traditional		—	n/a

EUR contractor payout costs — cheapest per destination (2026-09-25 to 2026-10-01)

To Currency	Cheapest Provider	All-In Cost (%)	Crypto Best (%)	Traditional Best (%)
PLN	OKX P2P
ARS	Western Union
UAH	OKX P2P
GHS	OKX P2P
INR	Coinbase
MAD	Binance P2P
KES	Luno
NGN	Remitly
COP	Buda.com
PEN	Binance P2P
MXN	Binance P2P
VND	OKX P2P
CLP	Binance P2P
TWD	MAX Exchange
BRL	OKX
EUR	Kraken
MYR	Hata
ZAR	VALR
HKD	HashKey
SGD	OKX
PHP	Coins.ph
KRW	Upbit
TRY	BTCTurk
IDR	Indodax
THB	Bitkub
JPY	Coincheck
DOP	Instarem		n/a
EGP	Remitly		n/a
HNL	Western Union		n/a

GBP contractor payout costs — cheapest per destination (2026-09-25 to 2026-10-01)

To Currency	Cheapest Provider	All-In Cost (%)	Crypto Best (%)	Traditional Best (%)
PKR	Binance P2P
PLN	OKX P2P
ARS	Western Union
UAH	OKX P2P
GHS	OKX P2P
INR	Coinbase
MAD	Binance P2P
KES	Binance P2P
NGN	Remitly
COP	Buda.com
PEN	Binance P2P
MXN	Binance P2P
VND	OKX P2P
CLP	Binance P2P
TWD	MAX Exchange
BRL	OKX
EUR	Kraken
MYR	Hata
ZAR	VALR
PHP	WorldRemit
HKD	HashKey
NPR	WorldRemit		n/a
SGD	OKX
KRW	Upbit
TRY	BTCTurk
IDR	Wise
BDT	Remitly		n/a
THB	Instarem
JPY	Coincheck

Frequently asked questions

What amount does "mid band" represent?

The mid amount band corresponds to a representative mid-range transfer size in our scraper (typically USD 1,000–5,000 equivalent). It avoids both the very small transfer premium and the large-transfer tier discounts.

How is annual cost calculated?

Annual cost assumes USD 1,000 per month × 12 months at the 7-day average all-in cost percentage. It is illustrative — actual cost depends on the exact amount, timing, and provider terms.

Why are some countries missing?

Only corridors with at least one active provider in our DB for the 7-day window appear. Coverage expands as we add more providers.

Can businesses use this data for vendor selection?

This data provides a starting benchmark. For large volumes, request custom quotes from providers — they sometimes offer negotiated rates. Cite RemitRoutes (CC BY 4.0) and check our live comparison tool for real-time quotes.

What does † (above mid-market) mean?

Rows marked † indicate the cheapest overall provider delivers above mid-market (P2P premium or promotional pricing) — volatile. All-in cost < 0%, meaning the recipient receives more local currency than a strict mid-market conversion predicts. This occurs both in crypto markets (local exchange trading at a P2P premium to the global reference) and occasionally in traditional providers with promotional pricing. It is a real financial benefit but is volatile and not guaranteed: it can narrow or reverse on short notice. The headline figure always uses the cheapest at-or-below-mid option as the conservative basis.

Methodology

RemitRoutes per-provider daily quotes, amount_band='mid', date range 2026-09-25–2026-10-01 (7 days; G1: window clamped to 2026-09-20 due to is_first_hand fix). Covers USD, EUR, and GBP senders. Outlier exclusion: rows outside [-25%, 50%] excluded (7/18910 rows, 0.04%). 30 countries selected by most distinct providers, then first-hand count, then alphabetical (not by cost). Headline: median of per-corridor medians across all providers; conservative avg = mean of cheapest at-or-below-mid option per corridor. All cost figures are all-in cost (fees + FX markup). 20 of 30 destinations have a provider delivering above mid-market (cheapest overall marked †; includes both P2P premium and promotional-pricing routes). Annual projection: conservative avg × USD 1,000 send × 12 months. Mid-market reference: ExchangeRate-API (open.er-api.com) daily USD rates, published once a day around 00:00 UTC; cross rates are derived via USD. Intraday currency moves between publications add noise to all-in cost estimates. See remitroutes.com/methodology.

Full methodology: /methodology.

Cite this study

RemitRoutes Data Desk. (2026). Global Contractor Payout Costs [Dataset]. RemitRoutes. https://remitroutes.com/data/studies/contractor-payout-costs

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