Send money to Romania
See today's live rates — and exactly what your recipient receives, after every fee.
GBPCompare in seconds
Live mid-market comparisons · results refreshed continuously
Today's best rates to Romania
As of 25 July 2026, sending £1,000 to Romania, your recipient gets the most with Currencies Direct: 6,100.00 RON, the best of 5 providers compared.
| Provider | Rate | Fee | Recipient gets | Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6.1000 0.26% worse | £0 | 6,100.00 RON | 1–3 days | Send | |
6.1000 0.26% worse | £0 | 6,100.00 RON | 1–3 days | Send | |
6.1204 0.07% better | £4.75 | 6,091.29 RON | Within 2 days | Send | |
6.0807 0.57% worse | £0 | 6,080.66 RON | Within 2 days | Send | |
5.8530 4.30% worse | £0 | 5,853.02 RON | Up to 4 days | Send |
Most money moving from the UK to Romania travels for one reason: family. Romanians are now one of the largest non-British communities in Britain, and much of what's sent home supports parents in Bucharest, Cluj or the villages — rent, a mortgage, a bill, a helping hand. Alongside that sit freelancers and small firms paying Romanian clients. Whatever the reason, how many lei arrive depends far more on which provider you use than most people expect: a UK high-street bank typically keeps 2–5% of the transfer in a marked-up rate, so on a £1,000 transfer that's £20–£50 gone before anyone counts the lei — repeated every month, it adds up. Romania is in the EU but doesn't use the euro — it uses the leu — so every transfer converts your pounds, and getting that conversion right is where the money is won or lost.
How to send money to Romania from the UK
There are three practical ways to move money from the UK to a Romanian bank account. Nearly all get the money there — the difference is how many lei arrive after the pounds are converted.
Bank transfer
The most familiar option — and consistently the most expensive. UK banks mark up the exchange rate by roughly 2–5%, often on top of a flat fee of up to £25. And "fee-free euro payment" deals don't help: because Romania uses lei, the payment goes by SWIFT, not as a euro transfer.
Money-transfer provider
Specialists — Wise, Revolut, Currencies Direct, Remitly — exist to beat bank rates, using the mid-market rate with a small, clear fee (some, like MoneyTO, waive the fee on your first transfers). For anyone sending regularly, this is where the monthly saving adds up.
App or standing order
Apps like Wise and Revolut are ideal for repeat transfers home — save the recipient and repeat a payment in seconds, and Romania's banks support fast SEPA Instant-style crediting, so money can land in seconds. 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 Romania
Romanian bank details and IBANs
Romania is part of the EU's payment area, so every Romanian account uses an IBAN — 24 characters, starting "RO". You'll need the recipient's full name exactly as their bank holds it, plus that IBAN; some providers also ask for the bank's BIC/SWIFT code. One point worth knowing: Romania is in the SEPA zone, but SEPA only moves euros — because Romanian accounts hold lei, your provider converts your pounds to lei and pays in locally rather than sending euros. Check the IBAN character-by-character — a single wrong digit is a common cause of a delayed or rejected 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 trigger extra scrutiny and a source-of-funds check.
How long does it take to send money to Romania?
Because Romania uses the leu, your provider converts your pounds and pays lei into the Romanian account. How fast that happens depends far more on the provider than on the destination.
Delays are usually caused by one of: missing the provider's daily cut-off, first-time identity verification, weekends or bank holidays in the UK or Romania, or an incorrect IBAN or recipient name.
Fees and exchange rates for UK to Romania
A flat fee is easy to compare — the exchange-rate margin usually isn't, which is why it matters more, especially if you send every month. Here's where the cost hides.
The exchange-rate margin
The real cost of most transfers. Banks: 2–5% above the mid-market rate, even when they advertise "no fee". Specialists: often a fraction of a percent. On a £1,000 monthly transfer, a 3.5% margin is around £420 over a year — money that could have reached your family instead.
Correspondent-bank fees
Old-style SWIFT wires can pass through intermediary banks, each deducting a cut en route, so the recipient gets less than expected. Providers that pay lei locally avoid this entirely.
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 lei that arrive, not the headline fee.
Is it safe to send money to Romania?
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"); on the Romanian side, banks are supervised by the BNR. Some smaller firms are only registered as Small Payment Institutions, which aren't required to safeguard the same way — so 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 Romania, 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 & "urgent need" scams
Rule: be wary of anyone met online who, over time, builds trust and then needs money urgently. Never send to someone you haven't met in person, however convincing the story.
"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 Romania
Sending your own money
Sending your own, already-taxed money from the UK to Romania 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 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 large sums
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, though up to £3,000 of gifts each tax year is exempt. What the recipient does with the money in Romania is taxed under Romanian rules, separately from the transfer.
How do most people send money to Romania?
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 lei and pays straight into a Romanian account, not a UK high-street bank whose "fee-free euro payment" doesn't apply here and whose rate markup runs 2–5%. If you send the same amount each month, set up a saved recipient or a recurring transfer so you never default to a pricier option, and always confirm the receiving account by phone before you send.
Frequently asked questions about sending money to Romania
A specialist money-transfer provider or app — Wise, Revolut, Currencies Direct, Remitly — that converts pounds to lei at or near the mid-market rate, rather than a UK high-street bank marking up the rate by 2–5%. Compare the actual lei that arrive for your exact amount in the table above.
No. Romania is in the EU but uses the Romanian leu (RON). Every UK-to-Romania transfer converts your pounds to lei, and the exchange rate — not just the fee — is where most of the cost sits. Romania is in the SEPA zone, but SEPA only moves euros, so your provider pays lei into the account locally.
Yes. Every Romanian account uses an IBAN — 24 characters, starting "RO" — plus, sometimes, 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 seconds, as Romania's banks support fast crediting. A standard bank transfer takes 1–2 business days, and a full SWIFT wire 3–5. First transfers can take a little longer while your identity is verified.
Not for sending your own 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, though £3,000 of gifts a year is exempt. What your recipient does with the money is taxed under Romanian rules.
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 a quick bank transfer that quietly costs 2–5% more, 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.