7 Ways To Transfer Money To Family or Friends In Crisis In Mexico

Quickly Transfer Money To Mexico With Remitly, Gift Card, Bank Transfer, Crypto, And Avoid This One Method To Send Emergency Funds To Family In Mexico

Emergencies arise and its nice to know you can help your family or friends with a transfer money to Mexico to them so they can buy medicine, food or a ticket home. Having money will keep them safe until you can make an alternative arrangements to send them cash or remove them from the situation they happen to be trapped in.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!

Travel controls in our current world situation add another challenge to transferring money to Mexico as well. With border crossings requiring covid passports and valid PCR tests or banning
entering or leaving the country altogether its more important than ever to have a fast and cost effective ay to send money online.

Some other things to consider when sending money to Mexico are:

  • will it be a one time payment or multiple payments over a period of time?
  • does the receiving party have a bank account in Mexico?
  • is your receiving party comfortable with using online or mobile technology?- ie: apps on phone, cryptocurrency wallets
  • what currency do they need? USD or Pesos

So whether you plan to make a digital transfer, send cash or money order there are proper ways and methods that should be used to insure that your money transfer arrives quickly and safely.

There are also things you should avoid when transferring money and we will talk about that later in the article.

Let's get right into some of the good options to transfer money quickly and safely all the while keeping transfer costs as low as possible.

1- Remitly - Quick and Free

2- E-Gift Cards - Quick and Free

3- Third Party P2P - Quick and Free

4- Cryptocurrency - Quick and Free

5- Bank Transfer - Quick

6- Prepaid Credit Cards - Quick

7- Money Order - Sometimes Quick

 

Option 1 - Remitly -Best Way To Transfer Money To Mexico

With over 40 000 branches around Mexico it makes it convenient to find a location near your recipient. Remitly money transfers are free over $500 and $3.99 for transfers under $500. All that is required is an email, receivers name and address and your bank account. Create an account here.

  • Pros:

-Good for one time payment or recurring payments

-Fast transfers, usually within a few minutes

  • Cons:

-Once payment is sent it cannot be reversed

Remitly has a minimum transfer amount of $0.01 and a maximum limit of $50,000 per day. However, it's important to keep in mind that not all providers have the same limits. Western Union and MoneyGram both have a minimum transfer amount of $20 and a maximum limit of $999,999 per transaction. So if you need to send more than $50,000, you'll need to use one of these services instead.

Option 2 - E-Gift Cards

There are a large variety of merchant e-gift cards and can be found online and emailed anywhere and often in the same day. Amazon.com, giftcards.com, and giftcardgranny.com are just some of the popular places to buy e-gift cards online. For example Visa gift cards can be used at almost all retailers across Mexico.

  • Pros:

-Good for one time payment

-Fast transfers, usually within the same day

-doesn't require a bank account or identification

  • Cons:

-Cannot not be used everywhere, check with recipient to be sure it can be used in stores nearby

-double check email address before sending as anyone can use the e-gift card

 

Option 3 - Third Party P2P Apps

PayPal, Google Pay, Cash App, Pay Pe, Alipay, Square Cash, Venmo, Xoom, Western Union, Remitly, Paytm and Apple Pay Cash are all examples of P2P (peer to peer) payment apps and can transfer money to Mexico. Some of these issue debit cards with a successful signup and help speed up any payment transfers but require a small fee of 1% if you want instant payment transfers. Security features normally use two factor authentication, email and or fingerprint, face verification.

  • Pros:

-Good for one time payment or recurring payments

-Fast transfers if you are willing to pay a fee and up to several days to use the free option to a bank account

  • Cons:

-Once payment is sent it cannot be reversed

-Both sender and recipient must have the app account

 

Woman sending money with phone

Option 4 - Cryptocurrency -Cheapest And Fastest To Transfer Money To Mexico

Bitcoin and Ethereum are popular cryptocurrencies but the coins with the lowest transfer fees are Dogecoin DOGE, TRX, NANO, BSC, Solana, Polygon (MATIC), Fantom and Iotex. Cash transfers are nearly instant and the cost is free or less than pennies. Both the sender and the recipient must have a wallet app installed and the recipient must have access to an off ramp to convert the digital cash to fiat money.

More and more places in Mexico however are accepting BTC, ETH, USDT, or USDC for payment so have the recipient check to see if this in an option to converting to fiat.

Some popular off ramps to convert crypto to cash is Binance.com, Localbitcoins.com and local service providers. A search online can find your best option for a local off ramp.

  • Pros:

-Good for one time payment or recurring payments

-Fast transfers, instant or usually within a few minutes

-Good for large transfers

  • Cons:

-Once payment is sent it cannot be reversed

-Need to have an off ramp to convert to cash if needed

-Both sender and recipient must have the wallet app installed

 

Option 5 - Bank Transfer - e-Transfer

Traditional banks have a real-time transfer option, wire transfers, which cost a hefty fee to send and receive the money and can take several days if sending internationally. If you don’t mind a few days’ delay you can choose the low- to no-cost option of sending an online transfer to a linked account via ACH transfer. Bank wires go through the Federal Reserve’s system, which banks, businesses and government agencies use regularly and is quite secure.

Transferwise now rebranded to Wise is an online bank that offers better exchange rates and much lower bank transfer fees than traditional banks and is a great option for transferring money to Mexico. Check them out here if you want to open an account.

e-Transfers can be sent to Mexico using the international option in your bank account.

  • Pros:

-Good for one time payment

-Medium fast transfers, usually within a few days

  • Cons:

-Once payment is sent it cannot be reversed

-High transfer fees

 

Option 6 - Prepaid Credit Cards

Are very similar to debit cards but you need to load funds on the card before use. When you want to send funds to your loved ones, buy two and give one to them. Then you can transfer funds from one card to the other one from your online account. Some banks even offer a prepaid card that can have sub accounts added and these can be given to friends and family before they travel to Mexico. Prepaid cards can have fees related to monthly usage or just flat monthly fees. You will need to find the best offers on prepaid credit cards buy doing a little research online.

  • Pros:

-Good for one time payment or recurring payments

-Fast transfers, usually within a few minutes

Similar to debit cards and can be used almost anywhere

Don't need to have a bank account

  • Cons:

-Monthly or usage fees

-Needs to be arranged ahead of emergency with identification such as name, social security number and address

 

Option 7 - Money Orders

Are similar to personal cheques in that you will have to mail it. You can purchase money orders at Money Gram, Amscot, Western Union, Walmart, and the post office and normally cost a few dollars. Once the recipient receives the money order in the mail they can cash it at the same place it was issued or their bank account if they have one in Mexico.

  • Pros:

-Good for one time payment

-Good network of money order depots to transfer money to Mexico

-Low cost

-Money order can be replaced if it is stolen or lost.

  • Cons:

-Takes time to send in the mail

-Need to have a bank account in Mexico or a money order depot nearby

 

Option 8 - Cash

Sending cash is not suggested especially by mail. If you are not using security envelopes the cash can be seen and taken by anyone in the postal system.

  • Pros:

-None

  • Cons:

-Can be stolen or lost in route to your loved one

-Slow transfers in postal mail but couriers can take a couple days

 

Conclusion: Best Way To Transfer Money To Mexico

There are many options to send money to a loved one in crisis in Mexico but find the one that works best for your particular situation. Preparation ahead of time can make an emergency cash transfers much easier but there are some options after the fact as well like Remitly, Cryptocurrency and Transferwise that work well.

Transfer Money To Mexico Questions & Answers

What is the best way to transfer money to Mexico? There are a lot of variables to know before I can answer that question but all the methods presented above cover 99% of all cash transfer situations.

Is it safe to transfer money to Mexico? Yes, there are many safe, quick and low cost options to send money in Mexico.

How do I send an e-transfer to Mexico? Log into your online or mobile banking app and select the account. Select “Send Money” > International and then select the recipient's destination and banking information. Your request is sent to the recipient and you will receive a notification via email when the funds have been sent.

Can you send money online with a credit card to Mexico? Yes, Xendpay and WorldRemit allow to send money online with a credit card to Mexico.

Can you send money online instantly? Yes, some online transfer companies offer instant transactions like PayPal, Google Pay, Cash App, Pay Pe, Alipay, Square Cash, Venmo, Xoom.

Can I send money home to my family in Mexico? Yes, there are several money transfer options listed above that will allow you to send money to your family or friends.

What is a fast and low cost option send money to Mexico? Cryptocurrency has some of the fastest and low cost options to send money to Mexico, NANO, MATIC, Solana, and Avalanche are some of the lowest cost options with NANO having free money transfers.

transferring cryptocurrency online

Perhaps you are looking for ways to transfer money internationally or looking for fastest and cheapest options? Here is our list of bests

  • Best money transfer options

- Remitly and Western Union

  • Best for mobile transfers

- Remitly

  • Best nonbank transfers

- Walmart2Walmart

  • Best for easy sign-up

- Transferwise

  • Most popular transfers on web

- Paypal

  • Fastest international cash transfer

- Cryptocurrency or Xoom

  • Low cost international transfers

- Cryptocurrency or OFX

  • Best referral bonuses

- Cash App

  • Best domestic money transfers in US

- Google Pay or Zelle

  • Best crypto transfers

- NANO, Solana, MATIC

 

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links and I will get a small commission if you buy a service or product. This helps keep the content on this site updated and free. Thank you for your support 🙂