When sending money home, timing is key

Fluctuating rates a headache for remitters sending money home?

Money transfer exchange rates fluctuate regularly, so if you are thinking of sending money home to your loved ones, the timing of your transfer could make a significant difference in the total amount your recipient gets.

Lets take an example scenario to illustrate this. 

We will examine exchange rate fluctuations for British Pound (GBP) to Indian Rupee (INR). Below is a chart of how GBP-INR rates changed over a 1 month period from 20 Feb 2015 through 22 Mar 2015.

Image from www.xe.com

As the graphic above demonstrates, GBP-INR exchange rate experienced a lot of change during the 1 month duration we are examining in this scenario. Below are some noteworthy pieces of information from the above graphic.

30 day high/low

• Highest rate - 96.36887 on Feb 26, 2015
• Lowest rate - 91.57449 on Mar 17, 2015
• Difference - 4.79438

Some variations within same day and consecutive days

• 96.36887 @Feb 26 4:00 UTC to 95.17701 @Feb 26 18:00 UTC = 1.19186 difference 
• 94.84399 @Mar 11 1:00 UTC to 93.53885 @Mar 11 17:00 UTC = 1.30514 difference 
• 96.36887 @Feb 26 4:00 UTC to 95.16287 @Feb 27 22:00 UTC = 1.20600 difference 
• 94.84399 @Mar 11 1:00 UTC to 92.79128 @Mar 12 18:00 UTC = 2.05271 difference 

Now, lets imagine that you send GBP 1000 home to your family in India. If we apply that amount over some of the above fluctuations of money transfer exchange rates, we get the following high level monetary gains/losses:-

• Savings of INR 4794.38 with the best rate over 30 days
• Savings of INR 2052.71 if sent on Mar 12 instead of Mar 11
• Savings of INR 1305.14 if sent on Mar 11 evening instead of Mar 11 morning

If you are a regular remitter who sends money to their loved ones very frequently, the above savings could translate to significant annual savings for you.

Clearly, timing is the key when you want to send money home!

At RemitFinder, we have tried to solve this exact problem by providing our users with access to latest exchange rates from multiple remit service providers. You can set free custom alerts to stay updated on money transfer exchange rates as they vary. Try RemitFinder to see how we can help you save on your next money transfer.