The cheapest way to send British pounds to US dollars right now is usually a specialist provider such as Wise, which hands you the real mid-market rate and adds a small, clearly shown fee. On a £1,000 send that works out to roughly £4.42, or about 0.44% of the amount.
A high-street bank doing the same transfer often takes 3% or more, most of it hidden inside a worse exchange rate. The UK to USA route is one of the busiest in the world, used for family support, moving savings, and paying for things in the US, so the choice matters. The figures here are modelled estimates, so confirm the final price on the provider's own site before you transfer.
- A specialist beats the bank on almost every amount. Providers like Wise charge well under 1% all-in, while a typical bank takes 3% or more, mostly hidden in the rate.
- The winner depends on how much you send. Small sends favour one provider and large sends another, so check the modelled tables below for your exact amount.
- The exchange-rate markup is the real cost. A low advertised fee can hide a poor rate, so compare the all-in cost, not the fee on its own.
- How the money arrives matters. A bank deposit is usually cheapest; for a very large investment-related conversion, Interactive Brokers can undercut transfer firms.
The cheapest way to send pounds to dollars
Send £1,000 and the providers that pass on the real rate come out on top. The table below ranks every option we track, from the cheapest at the top to the dearest at the bottom, using today's mid-market rate of about 1.3507 dollars to the pound.
For a plain bank deposit, Wise sits near the top: it gives you that mid-market rate and adds a fee of about £4.42, roughly 0.44% of what you send. The number you see at checkout is the number you pay, with no weekend surcharge and no monthly limit to watch.
Revolut can be cheap too on a small weekday send, where its cost is limited to a small built-in spread, but it adds a markup on weekends and a further fee once you pass its monthly limit. The big banks sit at the bottom of the table, often past 3%.
The markup is what catches people who only glance at the fee. A provider can advertise "zero fees" and still deliver fewer dollars than a rival that charges a small fee and a fair rate. On a £1,000 send, the gap between a 0.5% all-in cost and a 3.5% one is about £30, which is a month of groceries.
How you pay changes the price as well. Funding a transfer by bank transfer is usually the cheapest option, while paying by debit or credit card is faster but often adds a surcharge, and a credit card can add a cash-advance fee on top. On the other end, a US bank deposit by ACH is the norm and is usually free to receive, so the dollars land straight in the recipient's account. If speed matters more than cost, a card-funded transfer can arrive the same day, but you pay for that convenience.
Sending a larger amount
Push the amount to £10,000 and the picture can shift. A fixed fee barely registers on a big transfer, so a provider with a low percentage cost pulls ahead, while a provider with a flat fee looks cheaper than it did on a small send. The modelled table below shows the current order.
The lesson is simple: never assume the winner at £1,000 is still the winner at £10,000. If a large GBP-to-USD conversion directly supports genuine investing, trading or hedging in the brokerage account, compare Interactive Brokers first: its exceptionally low spot-FX pricing can beat transfer firms on pure cost. A specialist is usually the right route when the dollars are going to somebody else.
The stakes are bigger too. A 3% markup on £10,000 keeps about £300, while a 0.5% all-in cost keeps about £50. If you send to family every month, one larger transfer is often cheaper than several small ones, because you pay any fixed fee just once.
The rate itself moves all day, so the dollar figure you lock on Monday can differ from the one on Friday. Most specialists show you the rate before you commit and hold it for a short window, which is plenty for a single transfer. If you are moving a large sum over several months, some providers let you set a target rate and convert automatically when it is hit, which takes the timing guesswork out of a big move.
What affects the cost
Four things decide what a transfer really costs.
The fee. This is the charge you can see, either a fixed amount or a percentage of what you send. Wise, for instance, adds about 0.4% plus a small fixed charge. A fee is easy to spot, which is exactly why some providers keep it low and make their money somewhere else.
The markup. This is the hidden part, baked into a worse exchange rate. Cash and transfer operators often advertise a small fee, or none at all, but the markup is usually where their real cost sits. Two providers can quote the same fee and still deliver very different amounts of dollars, because of the rate. Our guide to markup versus transfer fee explains the difference in full.
The amount. A fixed fee shrinks as a share of a big transfer and grows on a small one. A percentage cost stays flat whatever you send. So the cheapest provider for £200 is not always the cheapest for £20,000.
The provider. Specialist fintechs price this route to win your business, and high-street banks do not, which shows. The gap between the best and the worst option here is often several percent, and on a large send that is real money.
Who should use what
Use Wise if you want the simplest, cheapest bank deposit and you do not need anything fancy. It gives you the real mid-market rate and a small, clearly shown fee, the same price every time, with no weekend surcharge. Our Wise review has the full picture.
Use Revolut if it is already your everyday account and the transfer is just moving your own money, or you send small amounts on weekdays and stay inside its limit. For a very large conversion tied directly to investment, trading or hedging activity, compare Interactive Brokers first.
Use your bank only if you have no other option. A typical high-street bank adds around 3% or more, most of it hidden in the rate, plus a wire fee on top. Switching to a specialist is the single biggest saving you can make on this route, and our guide to cutting FX fees shows how. The full comparison tool ranks every option for your exact amount.
Frequently asked questions
Is Wise the cheapest way to send money to the USA?
For a bank deposit to another person, often yes. Wise passes on the real mid-market rate and adds a small fee, which tends to make it one of the cheapest options on this route. If you are instead making a larger conversion for genuine investing, trading or hedging in a brokerage account, compare Interactive Brokers first.
Can I send a large amount, such as for a house deposit or tuition?
Yes. Most specialists let you send large sums, and the math usually favours them even more at size, because a fixed fee shrinks as a share of a big transfer. Interactive Brokers can be exceptionally cheap when the conversion supports genuine investing, trading or hedging, but it is not the normal route for paying a house seller or university. Either way, expect extra identity checks on a large transfer, and confirm the final figure before you send.
Are the fees shown here exact?
They use the current mid-market reference and, where available, a Wise account-holder API estimate. Other providers use stored published fee and markup models, not live quotes. Real prices vary by provider, by the amount you send, by how you pay, and by how the money arrives. Always confirm the final figure on the provider's own site before you transfer.
Cost figures are worked out from each provider's published fee structure applied to the current mid-market reference rate. They are modelled estimates for this route, not live quotes, and availability and exact pricing vary by provider, by the amount you send, and by how you pay. Always confirm the final figure on the provider's own site before you send. We may earn a commission from affiliate links at no extra cost to you; this never affects our rankings. Nothing here is financial advice.
Sources: Wise pricing (opens in a new tab), Revolut exchange fees (opens in a new tab), Airwallex pricing (opens in a new tab), Interactive Brokers currency trading (opens in a new tab), Interactive Brokers commissions (opens in a new tab), Interactive Brokers withdrawal fees (opens in a new tab), Interactive Brokers IBUK/IBLLC client agreement (opens in a new tab). Accessed August 2026.