Xoom Exchange Rate & Fee Calculator
Estimate how much your recipient gets and your total cost based on Xoom's rates and fees.
Transfer Summary
Understanding Xoom Exchange Rates and Fees
Xoom, a PayPal service, is a popular choice for sending money internationally. However, understanding exactly how much your recipient will get—and how much it will truly cost you—requires looking past the initial "send amount." The total cost of a Xoom transfer is composed of two main factors: the transaction fee and the exchange rate markup.
1. The Exchange Rate Markup
When you send money internationally, services like Xoom rarely use the "mid-market rate" (the rate you typically see on Google or financial news sites). Instead, they apply a markup to this rate to generate profit. This is known as the retail exchange rate.
For example, if the mid-market rate for USD to Mexican Peso (MXN) is 1 USD = 19.00 MXN, Xoom might offer a rate of 1 USD = 18.50 MXN. This difference means your recipient gets fewer pesos for every dollar you send compared to the raw market rate. Our calculator allows you to input the exact rate Xoom is currently quoting to see the real-time impact on your transfer.
2. Transaction Fees
In addition to the exchange rate margin, Xoom charges a transaction fee. This fee varies significantly depending on several factors:
- Payment Method: Funding the transfer with a bank account is usually cheaper than using a credit or debit card.
- Payout Method: Sending money for cash pickup might have different fees than sending to a bank deposit or mobile wallet.
- Destination Country: Fees differ depending on where you are sending money.
- Transfer Amount: Sometimes fees are flat, sometimes they are a percentage of the send amount.
The "True Effective Exchange Rate"
Because you pay both a fee and a rate markup, the most accurate measure of your transfer cost is the "True Effective Exchange Rate." This metric calculates how much foreign currency your recipient actually receives for every single unit of source currency you spend in total (Send Amount + Fee).
For instance, if you send $1,000 USD and the fee is $4.99, your total cost is $1,004.99. If the recipient gets 18,500 MXN, your true effective rate is 18,500 / 1004.99 = 18.408 MXN per 1 USD spent. This calculator automatically computes this figure to help you compare the true value of the transfer against other services.