5 Best Ways to Send Money to Mexico

If you are a visa holder and want to send money to Mexico but are not sure of the various available options, we feel you! The whole experience could be difficult and frustrating, to say the least. But not anymore. In this article, we will explore the best ways you can send money to Mexico.

Can a Visa Holder Send Money to Mexico?

If you’re a Mexican who immigrated to America, there might be instances where you need to send payments back to your home country. A Mexican visa holder can certainly do that with ease. Let’s explore your various options and how to obtain a loan for sending money to Mexico.

 3 Big Reasons Mexican Visa Holders Send Money Back Home

Mexicans can leave their home country and settle abroad, but they cannot leave all of their responsibilities behind. For various possible reasons, some Mexicans need to send money back home on a regular basis. While the reasons vary from person to person, here are the most popular ones:

Supporting Family

Some Mexicans have been known to live in large families. The concept of nuclear families is still new, and multi-generation people living under one roof is common. So they need to look after the whole family. Most Mexican visa holders who work in the U.S. come either alone or with their spouse. So they might have left other family members back home that they need to support financially. That’s the main reason Mexican visa holders send money to their home country quarterly, if not monthly.

Medical Expenses

Sometimes, it may be necessary to pay for someone else’s medical expenses if health insurance doesn’t completely cover the cost. This is especially true in the case of older citizens. They’re more vulnerable to life-threatening diseases like cancer, stroke, diabetes, and others. And as you might know, the treatment of these diseases comes at a hefty price tag. For example, a son or daughter may need to send money back home to pay for their father’s chemotherapy or heart surgeries.

Paying Bills

Another common reason Mexicans send back money to their home country is to pay their own bills. Before landing in the United States, they might have taken out a loan or mortgaged a house for their parents. So paying those bills on a monthly basis is mandatory. In other cases, the amount is deducted automatically from their respective account.

5 Best Ways to Send Money to Mexico

Sending or receiving money from overseas was not an easy job not too long ago. Not only were there transaction fees, but the speed at which the transactions were being carried out was pathetic. But technology has changed most, if not all, of those issues. Now you can send money to your dear ones in Mexico and get it processed within a couple of days. Here are some of the options for how you can do that:

OFX

If you’re making bank deposits, then OFX should be your first choice. This is cheap and fast. There are no upfront transfer fees to deal with, but there is an exchange charge for converting American dollars to Mexican pesos.

To provide you with the best service possible, OFX allows you to set up an alert during which the rate is at its minimum and is thus more favorable to you. But as a bare minimum, both you and the recipient in Mexico should have a bank account. Also, the minimum amount you can transfer is $1,000. So it’s a good fit for making monthly recurring payments.

Remitly

With incredibly low transfer rates and a network of cash pick-up centers located across Mexico, Remitly is definitely a good option. If your relatives in Mexico do not have a bank account, they can benefit from the services of Remitly. You can lower down the transfer fees even more if you opt for three to five business days.

If that’s not possible and transfer needs to be done urgently, then it’ll cost you a little more. On every transaction, there’s a flat $3.99 fee attached. If you’re paying by credit card, be prepared to pay 3% more for the convenience. There are some 15,000 Remitly stores located in Mexico. But you can also send funds directly to someone’s bank account.

MoneyGram

A cross-border money transfer service that needs no introduction, MoneyGram is known for its fast transaction speed which happens within minutes. But this is the case only when you opt for its cash pickup service. There are over 20,000 MoneyGram stores scattered throughout Mexico where someone can pick up your remittance.

If you’re transferring bank to bank, however, it’ll take a few hours. The speed of the transaction also depends on the specific retail location and working hours. But all of this will come at a $5 flat fee plus the exchange rates. If you’re looking for nothing but faster transactions, then look no further than MoneyGram.

Xoom

Xoom is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PayPal which is an all-in-one service for money transfers, bill payments, and reloading mobile plans. When you send money via Xoom, the recipient in Mexico can receive money in three ways: by bank deposit, by cash pickup, or by cash home delivery. As this is part of PayPal, you can use the same credentials to access Xoom and make use of their services. As far as the fees go, there are straight transaction fees and a varying foreign-exchange rate fee, which is competitive.

Western Union

Western Union is probably one of the oldest money transfer services on the market. It has been providing its services since 1851. The fees are smaller, the transfers are fast and reliable, and you get notified all along the way. For remitting, you can use a credit card, debit card, bank transfer, online transfer, wire transfer, etc. Recipients on the other side of the border can receive the funds directly in their bank account or pick up the funds from one of the Western Union stores.

Getting a Personal Loan to Send Money to Mexico

Sometimes it might be necessary to send a huge amount of money at once. But unfortunately, you don’t have enough funds to do so. In such critical cases, you can make use of personal loans offered by Stilt. Here’s how you can obtain personal loans from Stilt to send money to Mexico.

Submit an Application

First and foremost, you need to submit an online application showing your interest in the loan. You’ll be asked for your personal, professional, and immigration documents. This is often a crucial step and decides the fate of your application.

Receive Offers

After your application has passed screening and your documents have been verified, you’ll receive an offer from Stilt. We use the latest technologies like machine learning to fetch the best offers for you. You’ll be required to sign a promissory note after which the loan will be processed. All of this will take approximately 2-3 business days. Next, we will transfer the amount into the provided account.

Make the Payments

Once the loan has been disbursed, you can schedule auto payments which will be deducted from your account every month. You also have the option of making prepayments.

Conclusion

As you can see, sending money to Mexico has never been easier. With the improvement in technology and business compliance, we can only expect the services to get better. What are your views on this? Let us know in the comments below.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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