Send money to Sri Lanka from the UK

On this route, the receiving side matters as much as the sending side. A UK bank transfer can send pounds. If it does, the Sri Lankan bank converts them at its own rate on the day they arrive. If the recipient holds a Personal Foreign Currency Account, the money stays in pounds until she decides. There is also an old story, the "Rs 10 per US dollar" bonus, that you should not count on today.

So before you tap send, there are three questions to answer in this order: which account the money is arriving in, which channel gets it there, and which app opens that channel at the lowest cost on the day.

The "Rs 10 per dollar" story, plainly

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) ran an incentive scheme that paid a base Rs 2 per US dollar for money that workers abroad sent home and converted into rupees through a licensed bank. For December 2021 it added an extra Rs 8 per dollar. That is where the "Rs 10 per dollar" number comes from. On 24 December 2021 the extra Rs 8 was extended to 31 January 2022. CBSL's Monetary Policy Review of 20 January 2022 extended it again, to 30 April 2022.

On 19 March 2022, the government dropped a proposed new incentive scheme. The reason given at the time was that the rupee had already been let go and was moving on its own, so a new bonus was no longer needed to bring money from abroad in through the banks. As of 4 November 2026, CBSL has published nothing that brings the extra rupees per dollar back. If a WhatsApp forward or an older relative tells you a bank will add Rs 10 on top of what the app quotes, this is why they think that. Do not count on it.

What CBSL runs now is not a bonus. It is a routing app called Lanka Remit, launched in February 2022, that connects money transfer operators abroad to the main Sri Lankan banks (Bank of Ceylon, People's Bank, Sampath, HNB, NSB, Commercial, Nations Trust, NDB, Cargills) and to Dialog and Mobitel wallets. It helps the money move between systems. CBSL lists no rate bonus for it, so send at whatever the app quotes and check the statement afterwards.

The four places the money can arrive

A rupee bank account at Bank of Ceylon, Commercial Bank, People's Bank, HNB, or Sampath is the right channel for a household running month to month. All six apps below support it. The money arrives in rupees, and the app shows the time before you pay.

A Personal Foreign Currency Account (PFCA) at the same banks is worth knowing. NRFC and RFC accounts, the older names, have been consolidated under this. The account holds the money in pounds (or dollars, or another currency) until the account holder chooses to convert. If the recipient can wait a few days for a stronger rupee rate, or wants to keep some of the balance in a hard currency, this is the account to send to.

Wise and Instarem pay out in rupees, so for this account, ask your UK bank whether it can send pounds and what it charges. On 5 November 2026, Remitly also listed a US dollar bank deposit. That is dollars, not pounds, so ask the bank in Sri Lanka first whether the account takes it.

Commercial Bank pays interest on a PFCA balance, so a saved balance earns while it waits. People's Bank credits money sent in from abroad to a PFCA free of charge on the receiving side.

A cash pickup at a counter is the right channel for a relative who does not have an account or does not want to use one. Western Union and MoneyGram both offer it, and Xoom names Cargills Bank among its pickup places. The money is paid in rupees, at whatever rate the pickup network is paying, and the app shows the time before you pay. On 4 November 2026, Western Union's online prices gave a lower rate and a higher fee for cash than for a bank deposit. The recipient collects the money from a person at a counter rather than through an app.

A Dialog eZ Cash wallet is the fourth channel. On 4 November 2026, Xoom said it sends straight into an eZ Cash wallet, normally in minutes. Remitly listed Ez Cash among its providers on this route. MoneyGram listed mobile-wallet delivery without naming eZ Cash. So check the wallet in the send flow before you pay. It is the right channel when the recipient is buying groceries and phone top-ups inside the wallet.

There are limits worth knowing before you pick this channel. An independent 2024 study found users report too few cash-out points, and some social feeling still attached to the app. If the recipient wants the money out of the wallet as cash, she pays a fee. The eZ Cash price list, in force since 5 December 2024 and read on 4 November 2026, shows Rs 25 to Rs 250 at a retailer and Rs 30 to Rs 80 at a Commercial Bank ATM, depending on the amount. Ask her before you send whether she will spend it inside the wallet or move it out.

What actually arrives on £300

The real exchange rate between the pound and the Sri Lankan rupee was between 442.88 and 448.83 LKR per pound in the week to 4 November 2026, according to Wise's own rate history. On the morning of 4 November it was 448.83. On the day you send, look up this rate and compare every provider's quote against it. Anything close to it is a fair quote. Anything meaningfully below it is where the money is being taken quietly in a worse rate.

The amounts below come from the Wise price comparison on the morning of 4 November 2026, for £300 to a Sri Lankan bank account. Each amount has the fee taken out of the £300. Remitly, Xoom and Western Union add their fee on top of the amount you type, so their screens can show more rupees for a higher total. The services and speeds come from each app's own page on the same day.

Wise: sends at the real rate and shows its fee on the screen. The fee was £3.35, and 133,145 rupees arrived. The app shows the time before you pay. Wise only supports bank deposit on this route. It does not do cash pickup, it does not send into eZ Cash.
Instarem: bank deposit only. At its normal price there is no fee, and 133,908 rupees arrived. A first transfer of £1 to £1,500 gets a better rate.
Remitly: supports bank deposit, cash pickup and mobile wallet. Its everyday rate is a little below the real rate, and its everyday fee starts at £1.49. At that price, 133,600 rupees arrived. A new customer gets a better rate on the first send, and no fee unless they pay by credit card.
Xoom (owned by PayPal): bank deposit into Sampath, Commercial, HNB, People's and Bank of Ceylon; eZ Cash and mCash wallets; cash pickup. The fee was £2.99 and 130,437 rupees arrived, so it costs more than the three apps above. Xoom says the money typically arrives in minutes.
Western Union: cash pickup and bank deposit. Online, its price depends on how you pay. At its card price for a bank deposit, the fee was £0.99 and 130,498 rupees arrived, so at that price it costs more than the first three apps.
MoneyGram: cash pickup, bank deposit, mobile wallet. It is not in that comparison. Our MoneyGram review has the prices we checked in October 2026, when a bank deposit delivered more than Wise and cash pickup cost more.

The exact fee and rate on the day you send will move a little. Your choice still follows the account. If the money goes to a bank account, use Wise, Remitly or Instarem. If it goes to an eZ Cash wallet, use Xoom or Remitly, and check the wallet in the send flow. If your relative has no account, use a Western Union or MoneyGram counter, and compare what the family gets on each for the same total paid.

What a UK bank costs

A UK bank can charge a fee, keep a charge inside its exchange rate, or both. This is what three banks listed on 4 November 2026:

HSBC: a £5 fee, which some accounts do not pay. Its exchange rate includes a conversion charge.
Barclays: no fee in its app or online. If it converts the money, the charge is up to 2.75%.
Nationwide: a £15 fee, which some accounts do not pay. If it converts the money, its rate includes 2.2%.

Before you send, ask how many rupees will arrive. Then compare that number with the apps above.

The receiving-bank rate that the app does not show you

An app quotes a rate at the moment you tap send. That is the rate it converts at. If pounds reach a rupee account at Bank of Ceylon or Commercial Bank unconverted, that rate does not apply. The bank converts them into rupees at its own rate for that day, and credits the rupee number to the account.

There are two ways to keep that gap small.

The first is to use an app that pushes the conversion on the sending side, so the receiving bank does not get the choice. Wise, Instarem and Remitly all do this: the pounds are converted into rupees in the sending flow and the rupee amount arrives in the account. The number on your screen is close to the number on her statement.

The second is to send to a PFCA. The money arrives in pounds, waits in pounds, and the account holder converts it herself on a day she picks. If the rupee is weak the day the money arrives and she does not need to spend it that day, she can wait. If she needs the money that morning, she pays whatever the bank is paying that morning, same as anyone. The PFCA does not pay a better rate, it just lets the account holder choose when to convert.

The gap matters most on a direct bank-to-bank transfer through the SWIFT system. A UK bank can send pounds this way. If it does, the Sri Lankan bank converts them at whatever rate it chooses that day, and there can be a fee on the receiving side. For a rupee account, this is another reason to send through Wise, Remitly or Instarem instead of a UK bank. When the app converts on the sending side, you are not left with the receiving bank's rate for the day.

One line about rules changing

You can send pounds into a Sri Lankan account as normal; this rule does not touch the send you are about to make. It matters only if a parent or sibling later wants to move some of a PFCA balance on to a family member in another country. In that case, ask the bank first, because Sri Lanka limits money leaving these accounts.

The limits on outward transfers from Personal Foreign Currency Accounts have run since 20 June 2025 (Gazette 2441/14), extended in December 2025 (Gazette 2467/67), and renewed again on 18 June 2026 (Gazette 2493/38), per the DFE gazette register. The restriction is on capital transactions through PFCAs; current-transaction payments are not affected. The limits apply to money leaving Sri Lanka, not to the pound-to-rupee direction.

Where the money should go, if you are picking

For UK-to-Sri Lanka family sends of a few hundred pounds a month arriving in a rupee bank account, open Wise, Remitly or Instarem, whichever you already have. If you have none of them, compare all three on the day for the same total paid, first-send offers included. All three convert the pounds to rupees before they leave, so the number on your screen is close to the number your family sees on the statement.

For the family member with an eZ Cash wallet and no interest in a bank card, open Xoom or Remitly. Xoom names eZ Cash on its page. Remitly lists it too, so check the wallet in its send flow. Do not go through Wise for this case: it does not do the eZ Cash channel.

For the older relative at a counter, without an account, Western Union or MoneyGram is the right channel. On 4 November 2026, sending online, cash through Western Union cost more than a bank deposit through Western Union. That is the price of collecting cash, not a mistake in the app choice.

For a family that wants to keep some of the balance in pounds and convert on the account holder's timing, ask which of Bank of Ceylon, Commercial, People's, HNB or Sampath the recipient already banks with, and open a Personal Foreign Currency Account there. Ask your UK bank to send pounds to the PFCA number, and let her decide the conversion day herself.

The mistake to avoid on the UK-to-Sri Lanka route is a channel one: sending to a rupee bank account when the family was going to spend the money inside eZ Cash, or the other way round. The money still arrives. Then the recipient can pay a second small fee to move it to where it was actually going. Ask before you send. Then open the app that fits the answer.

Corrections

2026-11-05: An earlier version of this page gave Remitly as an app that pays out in rupees, as the reason to ask a UK bank about a PFCA. Remitly also lists a US dollar bank deposit, so the page now says that, and says to ask the bank whether the account takes it. No figure changed.
2026-11-05: An earlier version of this page did not say that each amount has the fee taken out of the £300, that Western Union's prices are online prices, or that Remitly's no fee on a first send does not cover a credit card. The page now says all three, and says to compare for the same total paid. No figure changed.
2026-11-05: An earlier version of this page said the recipient pays a second small fee to move money between a bank account and eZ Cash. Since 4 November 2026 the page has said the recipient can pay one, and we did not list that change here at the time.
2026-11-05: An earlier version of this page said a bank-to-bank transfer through SWIFT comes with a fee on the receiving side. Since 4 November 2026 the page has said there can be a fee, and we did not list that change here at the time.
2026-11-04: An earlier version of this page said Remitly's fee was often zero and that it took debit-card deposits, that Instarem charged around 0.4% after a first transfer with a minimum close to £300, that Xoom had the widest coverage, and that MoneyGram was priced like Western Union. On 4 November 2026 Remitly and Instarem delivered more than Wise, Remitly's everyday fee started at £1.49, Instarem's normal price had no fee and its first-transfer offer started at £1, and our October prices had MoneyGram's bank deposit ahead of Wise, so the page now recommends Wise, Remitly and Instarem and gives what each app lists.
2026-11-04: An earlier version of this page said a rupee account takes the Sri Lankan bank's rate on arrival, and that a UK bank always sends pounds. The apps convert before the money leaves, and a UK bank can send pounds but does not always, so the page now says the Sri Lankan bank sets the rate only when pounds arrive unconverted.
2026-11-04: An earlier version of this page said money reaches a bank account the same or next day through the apps, the next day through Xoom, and in two to three working days through a UK bank, and that cash is available in minutes. Not every app states those times for every send, so the page now says the app shows the time before you pay.
2026-11-04: An earlier version of this page said a UK bank charges around £5 online and more at a counter, costs £8 to £10 in total, delivers about 127,000 rupees on £300, keeps most of its cost in the rate, and shows only the fee. HSBC, Barclays and Nationwide list different charges and we could not re-check the total, so the page now gives what those three banks listed on 4 November 2026.
2026-11-04: An earlier version of this page said the extra Rs 8 per dollar ran through 2020 and 2021 and ended on 31 January 2022, and that the Rs 10 bonus stopped being live in March 2022. CBSL added the Rs 8 for December 2021 and extended it to 31 January and then to 30 April 2022, and its notice of 19 March 2022 dropped a proposed new scheme, so the dates are corrected.
2026-11-04: An earlier version of this page said Dialog does not publish the fee to take money out of an eZ Cash wallet, and that only Xoom reached the wallet. eZ Cash publishes its charges and Remitly also lists the wallet, so the page now gives the charges and names both apps.
2026-11-04: An earlier version of this page said a rupee account is where most family sends end up, named the mistake most first-time senders make, and said Western Union was often the cheapest for cash pickup. We have no count or current source for these, so they are gone.
2026-11-04: An earlier version of this page said Commercial Bank pays extra interest on a PFCA, that Lanka Remit connects UK-side operators and adds nothing to the rate, that Western Union and MoneyGram pay out at Cargills counters, and that Xoom deposits into Cargills. These now say only what each source says: Commercial Bank pays interest, CBSL names operators abroad and lists no rate bonus, and Xoom names Cargills Bank for cash pickup.
2026-07-13: An earlier version of this page named Ria as a provider that pushes money into an eZ Cash wallet on sends from the UK to Sri Lanka. Ria's UK-Sri Lanka service supports only cash pickup and bank deposit. The eZ Cash line has been corrected to name only the providers that publish that channel.
2026-07-13: The paragraph on Sri Lanka's outward-transfer restriction has been rewritten against the CBSL Gazette primary source. The original six-month window (Gazette 2441/14) was extended in December 2025 (Gazette 2467/67) and ran through 20 June 2026, and the USD 20,000 cap applies to capital transactions through PFCAs, not to current-transaction payments.

If you also send money to India, the same shape of question applies on the receiving side: the India guide covers the NRE, NRO and resident-account decision that shapes what the money is actually available to do. For the receive-side friction of a channel choice on another route, the China guide walks through the Alipay, WeChat and bank-card decision the same way. For Africa, the Nigeria guide and the Ghana guide cover receive-side rules that decide whether the money actually reaches the person.

How to send money to Sri Lanka from the UK, and pick the right account on the other side