How to Receive Money From Abroad: Cash Pickup, Mobile Wallet, or Bank Deposit
If you're the one receiving an international transfer rather than sending it, the payout method matters as much as the exchange rate. Cash pickup, mobile wallet, and bank deposit are not interchangeable options on every service - which ones are even available depends entirely on which provider the sender picks. Of the seven providers compared on this site, only two build cash pickup and mobile wallet payout into their core product: Remitly and WorldRemit. The rest deposit to a bank account only.
The three ways money can actually reach you
A bank deposit lands directly in a recipient's bank account, typically within one business day and sometimes the same day, with no extra trip required. Cash pickup means the recipient collects physical cash from a partner location - a bank branch, a retail counter, or a money-transfer agent - after showing ID and a reference number; no bank account is needed. Mobile wallet payout sends the funds into a mobile money account, the kind linked to a phone number through a telecom or fintech provider, which the recipient can then spend from or cash out locally. None of these is universally offered: the sender's choice of provider decides which of the three you can actually use, so it is worth confirming the payout method before the money is sent, not after.
Remitly and WorldRemit: the two built for cash and wallet payouts
Remitly and WorldRemit are both purpose-built for remittances rather than general-purpose money transfer, and it shows in their payout networks. Remitly offers cash pickup and mobile wallet payout in most of its corridors, plus an express tier that can deliver in minutes on popular routes - though express carries a higher markup than its slower economy option, so speed and cost trade off against each other within the same provider. Remitly's app is well rated for first-time senders, but its currency coverage is narrower than the multi-currency players and it has no business accounts. WorldRemit's edge is breadth: it runs one of the widest mobile-money and cash pickup networks among the providers compared here, and it shows its fixed fee clearly before the sender confirms. Its trade-offs mirror Remitly's - a narrower set of send currencies, no business accounts, and an FX markup that runs higher than multi-currency specialists like Wise.
Bank deposit only: the other five providers
Wise, Revolut, Payoneer, OFX, and XE don't offer cash pickup or mobile wallet payout - the money goes into a bank account, or in Payoneer's case, into its own multi-currency account that can then be withdrawn. Within that group the economics differ a lot. Wise charges the real mid-market rate plus a small, clearly shown upfront fee, giving it the smallest FX markup of the seven, though card-funded transfers cost more and large first-time transfers can trigger extra verification. OFX waives the fixed fee entirely and leans on phone-based rate guidance, which pays off most on larger transfers but makes its markup less competitive on small ones, and it isn't same-day. XE charges no fixed fee either and has decades of brand recognition in currency data, but its markup trails the cheapest specialists and delivery is typically next-day. Revolut is fastest when both sender and recipient already hold Revolut accounts - those transfers are free and near-instant - but transfers to a non-Revolut bank account carry a markup higher than the dedicated transfer specialists, and the best pricing requires a paid subscription. Payoneer is built less for one-off personal transfers and more for freelance or marketplace payouts, with one of the higher markups in this comparison, a flat withdrawal fee regardless of size, and a bank withdrawal that's slower than the same-day apps.
Why the fixed fee and the markup pull in different directions
The net amount a recipient gets works out to (Send Amount − Fixed Fee) × Exchange Rate × (1 − Markup Percentage). Those two deductions behave differently depending on transfer size. The fixed fee is a flat amount taken off the top, so it eats a bigger share of a small transfer than a large one - which is exactly why OFX's zero fixed fee is most valuable on bigger transfers, where it has more room to make up for, and matters less on small ones. The markup, by contrast, is a percentage shaved off the exchange rate, so it scales with the transfer size - a provider with a higher markup costs more in absolute terms the larger the transfer gets, which is why Wise's comparatively small markup compounds into a bigger advantage on bigger transfers. Cash pickup and mobile wallet payout, where only Remitly and WorldRemit compete, tend to carry higher markups than the bank-only specialists, so choosing those payout methods for convenience usually means accepting a larger cut out of the rate rather than a different fixed fee.
Matching the payout method to your situation
If the recipient has no bank account, or needs cash the same day, the realistic options are Remitly or WorldRemit, picking cash pickup and weighing Remitly's express tier against its economy option if speed matters. If the recipient has a mobile money account instead of a bank account, the same two providers are the ones to ask for, since they are the only ones offering mobile wallet payout among the seven. If the recipient does have a bank account and the amount is large, OFX's lack of a fixed fee or Wise's smaller markup will generally keep more of the money intact than a cash-pickup specialist. If the recipient is being paid for freelance or marketplace work rather than receiving a one-off personal transfer, Payoneer's multi-currency account is the better fit despite its higher markup, because it's built around that use case. And if both people already use Revolut, sending between accounts is free and close to instant, with no fixed fee to worry about. In every case, the sender needs to know the recipient's preferred payout method before choosing a provider - it can't be added after the fact.
FAQ
Which providers in this comparison let me pick up cash in person?
Remitly and WorldRemit, in most of their receive corridors. The other five providers compared here - Wise, Revolut, Payoneer, OFX, and XE - pay out to a bank account only (or, for Payoneer, its own multi-currency account), with no cash pickup option.
Can I receive money into a mobile wallet instead of a bank account?
Yes, but only through Remitly or WorldRemit. WorldRemit runs one of the widest mobile-money payout networks among the providers compared here, and Remitly offers mobile wallet payout in most of its corridors as well. None of the other five providers support mobile wallet payout.
Does choosing cash pickup or mobile wallet cost more than a bank deposit?
It often does, though not through the fixed fee - both Remitly and WorldRemit show their fixed fee clearly before the sender confirms. The difference shows up in the FX markup: both tend to run a higher markup than dedicated bank-deposit specialists like Wise or OFX, so the convenience of cash or wallet payout usually comes with a larger cut taken out of the exchange rate.
I don't have a bank account - what should I tell the person sending me money?
Tell them before they pick a transfer service, since the payout method depends entirely on which provider they choose. Ask them to use Remitly or WorldRemit and select cash pickup or mobile wallet payout at checkout - the other providers in this comparison (Wise, Revolut, Payoneer, OFX, XE) only deposit into a bank account.