Sending money from Tanzania to Kenya

The World Bank surveyed 7 providers on this corridor. On TSh 324,500 the cheapest costs 8.22% of what you send and the dearest 89.67%. Enter your own amount below — the ranking changes with it.

Cheapest surveyed

MoneyGram

TSh 26,668.75 to send TSh 324,500 (8.22%)

The dearest would cost you

TSh 264,311.50

more, for the same transfer

Every provider, ranked at TSh 324,500

The fee and the exchange-rate margin are shown separately on purpose. A transfer advertised as "no fee" can still be the expensive one, because the margin is where the cost hides.

Provider	Type	Fee	FX margin	Total cost	% of transfer
MoneyGram Less than one hour	Money Transfer Operator	TSh 14,500.00	TSh 12,168.75	TSh 26,668.75	8.22%
Western Union Less than one hour	Money Transfer Operator	TSh 6,340.00	TSh 23,364.00	TSh 29,704.00	9.15%
M-Pesa Less than one hour	Mobile Operator	TSh 3,338.00	TSh 31,995.70	TSh 35,333.70	10.89%
KCB Bank Same day	Bank	TSh 144,650.00	TSh 52,082.25	TSh 196,732.25	60.63%
Stanbic Bank Same day	Bank	TSh 209,482.50	TSh 67,041.70	TSh 276,524.20	85.22%
National Bank of Commerce Ltd (NBC) Same day	Bank	TSh 223,843.25	TSh 55,424.60	TSh 279,267.85	86.06%
Exim Bank Same day	Bank	TSh 237,600.00	TSh 53,380.25	TSh 290,980.25	89.67%

Banks, transfer operators and mobile money

Who you send with matters more than anything else about the transfer. Median cost by provider type, on TSh 324,500:

Bank — 85.64% (4 providers surveyed)
Mobile Operator — 10.89% (1 provider surveyed)
Money Transfer Operator — 8.68% (2 providers surveyed)

That ordering is for TSh 324,500 and does not necessarily hold at your amount. Where a provider charges a flat fee, it is punishing on a small transfer and forgettable on a large one — which is enough to reverse the order entirely. The ranked table above is the one computed at your amount; this one is not.

How to read these numbers

The cost of a transfer is the fee plus the margin the provider takes on the exchange rate. The margin is invisible at the counter: you are quoted a rate, not the difference between that rate and the interbank one, so a "free" transfer can quietly cost more than one with a fee attached. Both are separated in the table above.

Percentages fall as the amount rises wherever a provider charges a flat fee, which is why the same provider can be the cheapest at one amount and not at another. That is exactly what the calculator is for — the ranking above is computed at your amount, not at a fixed one.

Source: The World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, available at https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org — survey period 2025 Q1, field-collected to 11 March 2025. Licensed CC BY 4.0. These are surveyed benchmark costs from a dated quarterly study, not live quotes, and providers change pricing between surveys — check the current cost with the provider before you send. The World Bank does not endorse this use of its data. This is general information, not financial advice.