Skrill Review Verdict
Skrill is a fast, well-connected digital wallet that does its best work inside its own ecosystem. For sending money to a bank account abroad, it is an expensive way to do a simple job, because the cost is hidden in the rate.
The headline says "zero fee" on a bank-funded transfer. The reality is an exchange-rate markup of up to 3.99%, so on £1,000 you pay roughly £40 you never see as a line item.
Best for
- Instant, free transfers to another Skrill wallet
- People already inside the Skrill ecosystem (gaming, forex, crypto top-ups)
- Holding a balance you actually use, not one you leave sitting
Look elsewhere if
- You want the cheapest way to send to a bank account abroad
- Your family collects cash, or relies on a mobile wallet
- You need to fix a rate for a large future payment
How Much Does Skrill Cost to Send Money?
Skrill's exchange rate and margin
Skrill makes its money on the rate, not the headline fee. On a transfer it applies a markup of up to 3.99%, and up to 4.99% on some routes, on top of its own reference rate.
So the "zero fee" you see on a bank-funded transfer is not the real price. The cost is buried in the rate, and you only catch it when you compare what actually lands in the recipient's account.
Skrill transfer fees
What you pay upfront depends on how you fund the transfer. Bank funding is free; cards cost more. None of that includes the FX markup, which hits whenever your money changes currency.
| How you fund it | Typical upfront fee |
|---|---|
| UK bank transfer | £0 |
| Debit card / Klarna / Sofort | up to 1% |
| Credit card | up to 2.99% |
| Same-currency / domestic transfer | up to 2%-4.99% |
Sending £1,000 to India with Skrill
These figures use illustrative mid-market baselines, not a live quote, to show how Skrill's confirmed 3.99% markup eats into what arrives. Check the live figure in the app before you send.
| Rate | Fee | Recipient gets | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skrill (GBP→INR, bank) | ~120.49 (after ~3.99% markup) | £0 upfront | ~₹120,490 |
| Skrill (GBP→EUR, bank) | ~1.1137 (after ~3.99% markup) | £0 upfront | ~€1,113.70 |
On both routes the "fee" is £0, yet roughly £40 of your £1,000 vanishes into the rate. That gap, between Skrill's rate and the real mid-market rate, is the number that actually matters to you.
Costs to watch
- An inactivity fee of around €5 a month once your account goes dormant
- A flat ~£4.70 to withdraw GBP to your UK bank; 7.5% to withdraw to a Visa debit card
- A 3.99% fee just to convert one currency to another inside the wallet
- Prepaid card costs: ~€10 to issue, ~€10 a year, 1.75% at ATMs, 3.99% card FX
Where Can You Send Money With Skrill?
Countries and currencies supported
We confirmed Skrill sends in more than 40 currencies to roughly 120 to 145 countries, covering major pairs like EUR and USD and emerging-market currencies such as INR, PHP and ZAR.
Payout methods
- Bank deposit, the main option across most destinations
- Wallet-to-wallet, instant and free, where your recipient also has Skrill
- SEPA bank transfers across Europe, which clear quickly
- No cash pickup, and in India bank deposit only; some Philippines wallet payouts have been withdrawn
Transfer speed and limits
| Skrill-to-Skrill wallet | Instant, 24/7 |
| Bank deposit | 1-5 business days |
| Minimum / Maximum | Low minimum; your limits rise with your verification tier |
Who Is Skrill Best For?
Sending money to family overseas
Be honest about the fit: this is not Skrill's strength. There is no cash pickup, so a relative who collects money in person simply cannot receive it this way.
If your family is banked and happy to wait a day or two, it works. But the markup bites hardest on regular small sends, and a year of monthly £200 transfers can lose you close to £100 to the rate alone.
Business and supplier payments
Limited, and not what it is built for. Skrill runs merchant accounts for e-commerce and gaming, but it is not a treasury tool.
There are no batch payments, no accounting integrations, and a 3.99% conversion fee on multi-currency balances. If you pay overseas suppliers, look at a specialist instead.
Large one-off transfers
The wrong tool for the job. Skrill runs on the spot rate, with no way to lock it in.
Picture a £50,000 payment for a property abroad. A 3.99% margin is almost £2,000, and there is no forward contract, no rate lock and no dealer to call. A broker exists for exactly this moment.
When another provider fits better
- You want the lowest cost to a bank account abroad
- Your recipient needs cash in hand
- You need to fix today's rate for a large future payment
Skrill Pros and Cons
✓Pros
- Instant, free transfers between Skrill wallets, any time of day
- Deep integration with gaming, forex and crypto platforms
- A competent, well-rated app for everyday wallet use
- FCA-authorised, with customer funds held in segregated accounts
- Reach across 40-plus currencies and 120-plus countries
✕Cons
- An FX markup of up to 3.99%-4.99% makes bank transfers expensive
- Frequent account freezes, with slow, hard-to-reach support
- No cash pickup, and patchy mobile-wallet payout
- Wallet fees catch people: inactivity, withdrawals, in-wallet conversion
- No forward contracts, rate locks or dealer for large sums
Is Skrill Safe?
How Skrill protects your money
We checked Skrill against the FCA Register. Its UK entity, Skrill Limited, is authorised as an electronic money institution under FRN 900001, and it must hold your money in segregated accounts apart from its own.
That is safeguarding, not FSCS protection, so there is no £120,000 guarantee on your balance. And Skrill's crypto features sit outside FCA protection entirely, which you should weigh before holding coins there.
Account security and fraud protection
The day-to-day security is solid: two-factor authentication, biometric login and encryption.
The catch is the flip side. Skrill's roots in high-risk sectors gave it a hair-trigger compliance system, so a new device, a name mismatch or a sudden large deposit can freeze your account fast. Getting it unfrozen is the part people dread.
Using Skrill: Sign-Up, App and Support
Signing up and verification. You open the account in the app and verify with photo ID and proof of address. Higher limits need more documents, and verification can stall, so do not leave it to the last minute before a deadline.
App and website. Skrill is app-first, and the app rates reasonably well, with instant wallet transfers, crypto and the prepaid card in one place. The interface is the strong part of the experience.
Customer support. This is the weak point. You hit an automated chatbot first, and when an account is frozen, reaching a human to explain your case can take weeks while your money sits locked.
Skrill Customer Reviews and Reputation
We read the recent reviews, not just the headline number, and the picture splits sharply between people inside the ecosystem and people trying to get money back out of it.
| Source | Score | Reviews | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot | Polarised, ~2.5-4.2/5 (around 20-25% one-star) | ~25,414 | 2026 |
| Apple App Store | ~4.6/5 | ~23,000 | 2026 |
| Google Play | ~4.4/5 | High install base | 2026 |
What people praise: instant Skrill-to-Skrill transfers, and fast, reliable deposits to gaming and trading platforms.
What goes wrong: sudden account freezes, drawn-out verification, and anger at fees the "zero fee" message hid.
How Does Skrill Compare?
For a straightforward transfer to a bank account, Wise is the sharper choice. On £1,000 it tends to cost you around £4 to £6 against Skrill's roughly £40, because Wise uses the real rate with one clear fee. You can see the gap for yourself in our money transfer comparison. Among the other app and wallet services our Paysend, Profee, PayPal and Xoom reviews are worth a look.
For cash pickup or a mobile-wallet payout to family abroad, a remittance specialist reaches places Skrill does not.
Skrill's edge is the wallet itself: instant, free transfers to other Skrill users and tight links to gaming and crypto. We compared these routes ourselves, and we refresh the live figures daily, so use our live comparison of today's rates and fees for the route you care about.
Final Verdict: Is Skrill Worth It?
Skrill earns its place if you live inside its ecosystem, where instant wallet transfers and platform top-ups are genuinely useful.
As a way to send money abroad to a bank account, it is hard to recommend. The up-to-3.99% markup, the wallet fees and the freeze complaints stack up, and on £1,000 you lose around £40 in a rate dressed up as "zero fee". We rate it 3.6 out of 5.
If your goal is simply to get the most into a recipient's account, a transparent provider will almost always beat it.
Skrill FAQs
Not in practice. The bank-funded transfer fee is £0, but Skrill adds an exchange-rate markup of up to 3.99%. On £1,000 that is roughly £40, so the "zero fee" claim hides where the real cost sits.
Skrill Limited is FCA-authorised as an electronic money institution (FRN 900001) and keeps your funds in segregated accounts. That is safeguarding, not FSCS protection, so there is no £120,000 guarantee, and its crypto features are not covered at all.
Skrill's roots in gambling and forex left it with very sensitive fraud checks. A new login location, a name mismatch or a sudden large deposit can trip a freeze, and getting your funds back often means a slow verification process.
No. Skrill pays into bank accounts and instantly between Skrill wallets, but it has no cash-pickup network. If your recipient needs cash in hand, use a remittance specialist instead.
Not in practice. The bank-funded transfer fee is £0, but Skrill adds an exchange-rate markup of up to 3.99%. On £1,000 that is roughly £40, so the "zero fee" claim hides where the real cost sits.
Skrill Limited is FCA-authorised as an electronic money institution (FRN 900001) and keeps your funds in segregated accounts. That is safeguarding, not FSCS protection, so there is no £120,000 guarantee, and its crypto features are not covered at all.
Skrill's roots in gambling and forex left it with very sensitive fraud checks. A new login location, a name mismatch or a sudden large deposit can trip a freeze, and getting your funds back often means a slow verification process.
No. Skrill pays into bank accounts and instantly between Skrill wallets, but it has no cash-pickup network. If your recipient needs cash in hand, use a remittance specialist instead.
Verified 25 June 2026. Provider data cross-checked against the FCA Register, skrill.com and Trustpilot via the Skrill deep-research source set. Live transfer figures are illustrative and refreshed by the Currency Expert comparison engine.
Currency Expert compares money transfer providers and may earn a commission when you use our links. It does not change how we rank providers or what we say below. Rates and fees move daily, so the figures here are dated; confirm the live amount with Skrill before you send.