Paysend review: products, technology and fees (2026)

Paysend is a consumer-facing money transfer service that moves money from a sender's card, bank account or digital wallet to a recipient's card, bank account or mobile wallet in another country. Its core method is card-to-card transfer over the Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay networks, which it combines with a published fixed fee per transfer.

The company also sells business products. Its own site lists an API, embedded payouts and instant settlement accounts, though the pages we opened give little detail on them.

At a glance

How the platform works

The sender enters the amount, the recipient's name and card number, reviews the cost including any exchange rate, and confirms. Paysend explains the flow in three parts: the sender's card is debited, the card networks route the payment to the receiving card, and the money is credited to the bank account behind that card rather than being stored on it. Because the networks handle the movement, a transfer funded by one scheme can reach a card on another, provided the receiving card can accept transfers (Paysend blog on card-to-card transfers).

Paysend names three global networks, Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay, and local ones such as Troy in Turkey, Napas in Vietnam and MIR across parts of the CIS. Security steps it lists are 3D Secure for sender verification, tokenisation of card details and real-time fraud monitoring on both sides of the transfer. Our guides on 3D Secure and how card payments work explain these terms.

Where the recipient is paid to a bank account or mobile wallet instead of a card, the route varies by country. Paysend's help page says payout options differ by destination, and that a few countries use named local partners or require extra steps (for example, a one-time registration for South Korea).

Products

Consumer transfers

Senders can fund a transfer from a debit or credit card, or from a bank account where supported, with Apple Pay and Google Pay in some regions. Recipients do not need a Paysend account. Paysend Link can send to a phone number. The app also includes transfer requests, top-ups and tracking with notifications.

Network-specific payout services

Paysend publicises its card-network integrations. On 7 March 2022 it said US customers could send to eligible Mastercard cards in over 60 countries, using Mastercard Send. On 18 June 2025 it marked two years of its Visa partnership and described transfers to debit cards in more than 100 countries, using Visa Direct. On 10 April 2025 it extended UnionPay payouts, saying transfers could reach UnionPay cards in more than 20 countries (the article lists 23).

Enterprise products

The personal-transfers FAQ (last updated 16 June 2026) lists enterprise products: an API, embedded payouts and instant settlement accounts. Developer documentation, SDKs and a sandbox were not found on the pages we opened.

Developer experience and integrations

Not published in detail on the pages we opened. The company names an API for business customers, but we could not open its reference documentation, so we cannot describe authentication, endpoints, testing or webhooks.

Payment methods, currencies and coverage

Paysend's own pages are not fully consistent: the Visa blog also cites 170 countries elsewhere, and the 2022 release quoted different totals again. Treat every country figure as a snapshot. The supported-countries page lists some destinations as temporarily unavailable or "coming soon" and gives no dates. Send-from markets named on the personal page include the UK, the EU and EEA, the US and Canada. Payout types are cards, bank accounts and digital wallets, and local currency is used where available, otherwise USD or EUR.

Pricing model

Paysend charges a fixed fee per transfer regardless of amount, plus an exchange rate margin when currencies differ. The personal page (FAQ updated 16 June 2026) gives starting fees of about £1 from the UK, €1.50 from the EU, $2 from the US and CAD 3 from Canada. The margin is not quantified, rates and fees are shown in the app before confirmation, and recipients are not charged by Paysend, though third-party fees may apply. UnionPay payouts were illustrated on 10 April 2025 with fees of $1.99, £1 or €1.50. Limits depend on a verification tier (Basic, Advance or Ultimate) and on country.

Delivery times quoted on the personal page: card-to-card typically within 15 minutes, bank account and mobile wallet payouts 1 to 3 business days. Paysend also says routes, recipient banks and compliance checks affect timing.

Recent launches

We did not find a dated newsroom list for the last 12 months.

Regulation in brief

Paysend's 2022 press release said Paysend Plc, incorporated in Scotland, was authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority as an electronic money institution, and that it was a principal member and certified processor with Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay. That release is more than three years old, and we could not open a current regulatory page, so confirm the present position on the FCA register. See also how to check a financial licence and our explainer on e-money institutions.

Who it tends to suit

Paysend is commonly used by individuals sending smaller amounts abroad to a card, who value a fixed fee shown upfront and fast card delivery. Senders who want to compare exchange rate margins across providers may also look at Wise and Revolut, and businesses looking for payouts at scale may also review Payoneer. More context is in our cross-border payments hub.