Send money to Poland
See today's live rates — and exactly what your recipient receives, after every fee.
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Today's best rates to Poland
As of 5 August 2026, sending £1,000 to Poland, your recipient gets the most with Currencies Direct: 5,011.80 PLN, the best of 6 providers compared.
| Provider | Rate | Fee | Recipient gets | Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.0118 0.01% better | £0 | 5,011.80 PLN | 1–3 days | Send | |
5.0118 0.01% better | £0 | 5,011.80 PLN | 1–3 days | Send | |
5.0032 0.16% worse | £0 | 5,003.19 PLN | Within 2 days | Send | |
5.0144 0.06% better | £4.71 | 4,990.78 PLN | Within 2 days | Send | |
4.9751 0.72% worse | £0 | 4,975.10 PLN | 1–2 days | Send | |
4.8778 2.66% worse | £0 | 4,877.82 PLN | Up to 4 days | Send |
Poland is one of the biggest money-transfer corridors out of the UK, and it's driven by people, not property. The Polish community is among the very largest non-British populations in Britain — hundreds of thousands who arrived after Poland joined the EU in 2004 — and much of what's sent home supports parents in Kraków or Wrocław, pays a mortgage, or helps family with a bill. Alongside that sit freelancers and small firms paying Polish clients and suppliers. The catch is that Poland doesn't use the euro — it uses the złoty — so every transfer involves a currency conversion, and that's exactly where a UK high-street bank quietly takes its cut: markups vary enormously between providers, so on regular transfers the person you're sending to can receive far less than they should. Get the provider right and more of every pound reaches home.
How to send money to Poland from the UK
There are three practical ways to move money from the UK to a Polish bank account. Nearly all of them get the money there — the difference is how many złoty arrive after the pounds are converted.
Bank transfer
The most familiar option — and usually the most expensive. UK banks typically charge a flat fee of £10–£25 and then mark up the exchange rate on top. On a £1,000 transfer the fee stings; on larger sums the rate markup quietly becomes the biggest cost of all.
Money-transfer provider
Specialists — Wise, Revolut, Moneycorp, XE — exist to beat bank rates. Wise uses the mid-market rate with a small upfront fee (around £4.58 to send £1,000); others build a margin into the rate. For anyone sending regularly, this is where the monthly saving adds up — but markups vary widely, so it's worth comparing.
App or standing order
Apps like Wise, Revolut and Paysend are ideal for repeat transfers home — save the recipient and repeat a payment in seconds, often with same-day delivery to a Polish account. If you send the same amount every month, a recurring transfer removes the temptation to reach for whatever's quickest and priciest.
What you need to send money to Poland
Polish bank details and IBANs
Poland is part of the EU's payment area, so every Polish account uses an IBAN — 28 characters, starting "PL", the longest IBAN in the EU, so it pays to check it carefully. You'll need the recipient's full name and their IBAN; the bank's BIC/SWIFT code is generally needed too. One point that trips people up: Poland is in the SEPA zone, but SEPA itself only moves euros — because Polish accounts hold złoty, your provider converts your pounds to złoty and pays in locally, rather than sending euros. Check the IBAN character-by-character; a single wrong digit is a common cause of a bounced or delayed transfer.
ID checks and verification
UK providers are legally required to verify who you are before processing a payment (Know Your Customer, under the Money Laundering Regulations). For a first transfer or a modest amount, expect to provide your name, address and date of birth, plus a photo ID and proof of address. Larger transfers — commonly above roughly £5,000–£10,000 — trigger enhanced due diligence and a source-of-funds check (see Tax, below).
How long does it take to send money to Poland?
Because Poland uses the złoty, your provider converts your pounds and pays złoty into the Polish account. How fast that happens depends far more on the provider than on the destination.
Delays, when they happen, are usually down to one of: missing the provider's daily cut-off, first-time identity verification, weekends or bank holidays in the UK or Poland, or an incorrect IBAN or recipient name.
Fees and exchange rates for UK to Poland
A flat fee is easy to compare — the exchange-rate markup usually isn't, which is why it matters more, especially if you send every month. Here's where the cost hides.
The exchange-rate markup
The real cost of most transfers. The markup on GBP→złoty varies enormously — from close to zero at the best specialists to several percent at the worst — so two providers advertising "no fees" can leave your family with very different amounts. Always compare the złoty that actually arrive, not the headline fee.
Flat transfer fees
Banks often add a flat £10–£25 per transfer on top of the rate. Many specialists charge a small percentage instead (Wise around £4.58 on £1,000), and some apps advertise fee-free transfers — but check the rate, since that's where a "free" transfer can still cost you.
Card & weekend markups
Watch for ~3% foreign-transaction fees on standard UK debit/credit cards, and weekend exchange markups on some apps. Judge an offer by the złoty that arrive, not the headline fee.
Is it safe to send money to Poland?
Any UK company handling money transfers must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and must keep customer money in accounts fully segregated from its own ("safeguarding"). Payment firms aren't covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so that safeguarding is your main protection — and some smaller firms are only registered as Small Payment Institutions, which aren't required to safeguard the same way. A 30-second check on the FCA Register before you send an unfamiliar firm anything is time well spent.
Invoice / "new bank details" fraud
Rule: if someone you pay — a landlord in Poland, a supplier, a business — emails to say their bank details have changed, confirm it by phone on a number you already had, never one from the email. This is the most common way people are tricked into paying a fraudster.
Romance & family-emergency scams
Rule: be wary of anyone met online who builds trust and then needs money urgently, or an unexpected "family emergency" message. Verify who you're really sending to before you pay.
"Better rate" cold-call / clone firm
Rule: a firm that calls out of the blue with an unbeatable rate may be a clone of a real one. Check it on the FCA Register and call back on the number listed there, not the one you were given.
Check the firm is regulated
Rule: FCA-authorised firms must keep your money separate from their own, so it's protected if the firm fails. Look the firm up on register.fca.org.uk before you commit.
Report fraud: Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at actionfraud.police.uk (in Scotland, Police Scotland on 101).
Tax on money sent to Poland
Sending your own money
Sending your own, already-taxed money from the UK to Poland is not a UK taxable event — there's no tax simply for transferring it, and no requirement to report a personal transfer to HMRC. Providers do run their own anti-money-laundering checks and must report suspicious activity, and larger transfers commonly prompt a source-of-funds request. Keep the paperwork that shows where the money came from — a payslip, a savings statement, a property-sale letter.
Watch-out: gifts and untaxed income
If the money is a gift — helping a relative buy a home, say — it can affect UK Inheritance Tax on your estate if you die within seven years of making it. And if what you're sending is untaxed income (for example, payment for freelance work), that income is still subject to UK income tax as normal. What the recipient does with the money in Poland is taxed under Polish rules, separately from the transfer.
How do most people send money to Poland?
For the typical transfer home — supporting family, covering a bill, sending regular help — the cheapest route is a specialist money-transfer app or currency company that converts your pounds to złoty and pays straight into a Polish account, not a UK high-street bank that adds a flat fee and a rate markup. Because GBP→złoty markups vary so widely, comparing providers matters more here than on many corridors. If you send the same amount each month, set up a saved recipient or a recurring transfer — and always confirm the receiving account by phone before you send.
Frequently asked questions about sending money to Poland
A specialist money-transfer provider or app — Wise, Revolut, Moneycorp, Paysend — that converts pounds to złoty at or near the mid-market rate, rather than a UK high-street bank charging a flat fee plus a rate markup. Because GBP→złoty markups vary a lot between providers, compare the actual złoty that arrive for your exact amount in the table above.
No. Poland is in the EU but uses the Polish złoty (PLN). That means every UK-to-Poland transfer involves converting your pounds to złoty, and the exchange rate — not just the fee — is where most of the cost sits. Poland is in the SEPA zone, but SEPA only moves euros, so your provider pays złoty into the account locally rather than sending euros.
Yes. Every Polish account uses an IBAN — 28 characters, starting "PL", the longest in the EU — plus, usually, the bank's BIC/SWIFT code. Check it carefully against details your recipient sent in writing; a single wrong digit can bounce or delay the transfer.
With a specialist provider or app, often the same day and sometimes within minutes; card-funded transfers can be near-instant. A traditional bank wire (SWIFT) usually takes 1–3 business days. First transfers can take a little longer while your identity is verified.
Not for sending your own, already-taxed money — that's not a taxable event in the UK, and there's nothing to report to HMRC. Gifting money can have UK Inheritance Tax implications if you die within seven years. If you're sending untaxed income, that income is still taxable in the UK as normal.
Yes — and it's usually the smart move. Apps and specialist providers let you save a recipient and repeat or schedule a transfer in seconds, at a tight rate each time. That avoids the trap of reaching for a quick bank transfer that quietly costs more on both the fee and the rate, which mounts up fast over a year of monthly support.
Our sources & how we keep this current
Last updated: July 2026. The live rates above refresh automatically, and we review the rest of this guide every month — updating it whenever the rules on payments, tax or regulation change.