Money transfers

How to transfer money in Malaysia and abroad

Money transfers

Money transfers in Malaysia are very convenient, but international transfers tend to be very expensive. As for national transactions, you can pay most of your bills online and by telephone or use the wide network of banking service points to perform your banking transactions.

National money transfers, from one Malaysian account to another, are handled in the same way as in other countries, too. Usually commission fees of up to 2% apply to such a transaction.

When in comes to international transactions, they are usually a bit more expensive. Additional costs such as transfer charge and receiving fees apply.

In order to perform an international bank transfer you have to provide the name of the receiving bank, the account number and the account holder, the SWIFT code and the IBAN number of the receiving bank. Such a transaction usually takes 5-7 workdays.

A considerably faster, yet much more expensive, service is provided by Moneygram  (via Maybank) and Western Union  (for instance via CIMB Bank). Check the web sites for locations of the respective agents and take personal identification with you when making the transaction.

For sending more than RM 10.000 overseas in one transaction, approval from Malaysia's central bank is required.

Currency specialists

If you are doing international transfers very frequently you should consider consulting a currency specialist. They can usually transfer your money free of charge and offer you a better exchange rate on each transfer.

Further reading

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