Sending money home shouldn't cost a fortune or cause headaches. We compared the top remittance apps for families — from cash pickup for unbanked relatives to real exchange rates for regular transfers — and found the best options for every situation.
Every month, millions of families send money across borders to support parents, siblings, and children back home. The old way — bank wires with hidden fees, slow processing, and painful exchange rates — is finally giving way to apps built for the job. Here are the best remittance apps for families, whether your recipient needs cash in hand or a direct bank deposit.
| App | Best For | Fees | Delivery | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remitly | Unbanked families | Low with intro waivers | Bank, cash pickup, mobile wallet | Minutes to days |
| Wise | Best exchange rates | Mid-market rate, low fee | Bank deposit only | Minutes to 1 day |
| Xoom | PayPal users | Moderate | Bank, cash pickup | Minutes to hours |
| WorldRemit | Mobile wallet users | Low | Bank, cash pickup, mobile wallet | Minutes to hours |
| Ria | Cash pickup network | Low | Cash pickup, bank | Minutes to hours |
If your family member doesn't have a bank account — and many don't — Remitly is the app to beat. It offers flexible delivery options including cash pickup at thousands of locations worldwide, plus direct bank deposits and mobile wallet transfers.1
The app is designed for regular senders: you can set up recurring transfers, track every transaction, and take advantage of introductory fee waivers that make the first transfer effectively free. For families sending money monthly, that adds up fast.
Why it wins for families: Cash pickup is the killer feature. Your aunt in a rural province doesn't need a bank account or a smartphone — she just needs an ID and the pickup code. Remitly's network covers over 100 countries with cash pickup options.
Wise (formerly TransferWise) is the gold standard for honest exchange rates. It uses the real mid-market rate with no hidden markups — what you see is what you get.2
You can send money to over 160 countries, often within minutes. The fee structure is crystal clear: a small percentage on top of the real exchange rate, displayed upfront before you confirm.
Best for: Families who send larger amounts less frequently, where even a fraction of a percent on the exchange rate means real money. If your recipient has a bank account, Wise is the most cost-effective option.
Trade-off: No cash pickup. Your recipient needs a bank account. For unbanked family members, go with Remitly.
Xoom is a PayPal subsidiary, which means if your family already uses PayPal, you can send money without creating a new account.3 Transfers are fast — often arriving within minutes — and you can choose between bank deposits, cash pickup, or even home delivery in some countries.
Best for: Families who are already in the PayPal ecosystem and want the convenience of a single login. The cash pickup network is solid, though not as extensive as Remitly's.
WorldRemit shines when your recipient uses mobile money — think M-Pesa in Kenya, GCash in the Philippines, or bKash in Bangladesh. It supports over 130 destinations and offers bank deposits, cash pickup, and airtime top-up alongside mobile wallets.
Best for: Families in regions where mobile money is the primary financial tool. Fees are competitive, and transfers are typically fast.
Ria operates one of the largest cash pickup networks in the world, with over 500,000 agent locations globally. If your family lives somewhere with limited banking infrastructure but plenty of corner stores and exchange houses, Ria is likely there.
Best for: Families who need cash pickup in hard-to-reach areas. The fees are low, and the network is genuinely massive.
When you're sending money to your mom or your cousin, the experience matters as much as the rate. Here's what we looked at:
Cash pickup networks. Roughly 1.7 billion adults worldwide remain unbanked. If your recipient is among them, cash pickup isn't a nice-to-have — it's the only option. Remitly and Ria lead here.
Ease of use for elderly recipients. Your grandmother shouldn't need to navigate a fintech app. Apps that offer cash pickup with just an ID and a code win for this use case.
Cost of regular sending. If you send $200 every month, even a 1% difference in fees saves you $24 a year. Wise's transparent pricing makes it the long-term winner for bank-to-bank transfers.
We evaluated each app on fees, exchange rate markup (not just the advertised fee), delivery speed, and the breadth of their cash pickup and mobile wallet networks. We also considered real user reviews and expert analysis from financial publications.1
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