The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine led to global economic sanctions on the former country. Even the SWIFT network was banned Russia. Thus, bank-to-bank money transfer through international banks is not an option anymore. Popular money transfer service providers like MoneyGram, Western Union, Wise, etc. have also stopped international money transfers to Russia. However, after thorough research, we have found how to transfer money to Russia legally through a few channels.
Suggested read: The Best Way to Transfer Money from Australia to USA
How to transfer money to Russia?
Profee
Profee allows sending money from Europe to Russia. To transfer money to Russia, it is required to create a fresh account with Profee. Assuming the country of origin is serviced by Profee, the users can start a money transfer.
Users from the following countries can send money to Russia through Profee:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- UK
The recipient must have a Visa, MIR, or Mastercard card from a few specific banks to get the money. Thus, it is important to check the list of approved banks before initiating the money transfer. Understandably, the money transfer would not go through if the receiver does not hold a card from approved banks.
In that case, the recipient needs to get a valid Mastercard, Visa, or MIR card. Profee is not charging any transfer fee for card-to-card transfers at the moment. It takes a maximum of three minutes for the transfer to happen.
List of approved banks by Profee:
- Raiffeisen Bank
- Qiwi Bank
- Credit Europe Bank
- Russian Standard Bank
- Citibank
- Ak Bars Bank
- Pochta Bank
- UniCredit Bank
- Home Credit Bank
- Renaissance Credit
- Ozon Bank
The list of approved banks can change. So, it is suggested to check the updated list at the time of making the money transfers.
Epay
Epay is helping people with international money transfers for 9 years and continuing. Users can not only save money by using this platform but can send and receive money fast and easily. There are over 6000 local remittance agents across the world currently.
The currencies supported by Epay to send money include AUD, GPB, EUR, JPY, HKD, and SGD. Thus, people can send money using these currencies to Russia. The receivers shall get the money in RUB. Apart from the fact that Epay is one of the few ways to send money to Russia, the transfer fees and exchange rates of this service provider are very competitive as well.
Emergency transfer of funds
It is not possible to send money from India, Canada, Australia, the USA, and other countries to Russia through regular money transfer channels. However, foreign nationals in financial distress can seek help from their respective embassies in Russia to get emergency money transfers. This would be decided on a case-to-case basis.
For instance, American citizens in Russia can get money wired through the US Department of State.
Cryptocurrency
Some people have been using cryptocurrencies to send money to people in Russia due to the lack of any other options for them. However, it is a constantly changing and volatile industry. Thus, it is advised to always check with the crypto wallet and the cryptocurrency company before doing transactions with people in Russia.
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These are some of the legit ways for fund transfers to Russia in the current state of matter. You do not have to worry about sending funds to family or friends anymore now that you know how to transfer money to Russia. Share this article with others to educate them on this topic.
