By reading this article, we can say one thing about you: you have heard about Venmo and how it has changed the way we transfer money, right? The bad news is that Venmo is not available anywhere in Europe. To open a Venmo account, you must meet certain eligibility criteria.
The main criteria are that users must be over 18 years old and physically located in the United States to complete transactions on the app. So even as a US citizen, Venmo is not a viable option if you want to send money to family abroad or complete other international transactions.
One thing did change in March 2026: PayPal, which owns Venmo, opened outbound international sending, so a US Venmo user can now send money to PayPal users across 90 markets, with the recipient found by phone number and no Venmo account needed on their side. The introductory fee waiver on those transfers expired in August 2026.
That does not change the answer for you. Venmo accounts remain US-only: you still need to be physically in the United States with a US mobile number to open one. What it does mean is that an American friend or relative can now pay you from Venmo into your PayPal account.
Want to know the most suitable Venmo alternatives in Europe? We have got you covered.
What is Venmo, and why has it become so famous in the US?
For our American friends, Venmo has become one of the most popular peer-to-peer payment apps. It allows users to send and receive money quickly, easily, and efficiently, at little to no cost for either the sender or receiver (like Cash App, one of its main US competitors). Venmo is owned by PayPal and offers a range of services for both consumers and businesses.
Let us take a quick look at Venmo’s core services, and then we can identify the closest European equivalents for each.
- Free peer-to-peer transfers: there are no signup fees, and it costs nothing to send or receive money using your Venmo balance, a linked bank account, or a linked debit card. However, Venmo charges a 3% fee for sending money using a linked credit card. More info here;
- Bank transfers: you can move money between your Venmo account and your bank account. Standard transfers take 1 to 3 business days and are free. Instant transfers carry a 1.75% fee (minimum $0.25, maximum $25);
- Direct deposit: Venmo allows direct deposits into your Venmo account, giving you access to funds up to 48 hours earlier than some traditional banks;
- Venmo Debit Card and Credit Card: Venmo offers a Mastercard debit card, issued by The Bancorp Bank, that lets you spend your Venmo balance wherever Mastercard is accepted, plus a Venmo Visa Credit Card issued by Synchrony Bank with category-based cashback rewards. Note the two run on different networks.
Is Venmo available in Europe? What are its expansion plans?
Venmo accounts can only be opened in the US, and while a US user can now send money abroad to PayPal users, you cannot open or hold a Venmo account from Europe. The same applies for those of us based in Europe (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and elsewhere). Venmo is not an option in Europe, and PayPal has made no announcement about launching Venmo accounts outside the US. So it is worth looking at strong European alternatives instead.
Fortunately, several innovative European companies now offer what Venmo has built in the US, and in many cases with additional cross-border capabilities, including low-cost international transfers that traditional banks struggle to match.
Below, we cover six alternatives that can be used to send money for free (or nearly free) across borders. Through their mobile and web platforms, these providers can easily beat traditional bank rates when transferring money worldwide:
- Monese: a digital money account that operates across Europe and the UK, owned by Pockit since 2024.
- Wise: formerly TransferWise, Wise is a simple and efficient way to transfer money abroad in 40+ currencies at low cost. It offers a debit Mastercard and supported around 19 million people and businesses in its 2026 financial year. Wise moved its primary listing to the Nasdaq in May 2026 (ticker: WSE), keeping a secondary listing in London (WISE);
- Revolut: a banking app offering transparency and flexibility versus traditional banks. Users can spend money abroad with the Revolut Visa Card using real exchange rates;
- WorldRemit: an online money transfer service that allows people worldwide to send money to friends and family abroad;
- Remitly: an online international money transfer company known for being fast, secure, and cost-effective, available via both web and mobile app;
- XE: not only a currency converter but also an online money transfer business, part of Euronet Worldwide.
Best Venmo alternatives in Europe
Monese
Monese is a British provider of digital money accounts and transfer services, with a modern mobile app, a debit card and low fees compared to traditional banks. It serves 31 countries across the European Economic Area and the UK, and offers a free account for anyone wanting the basic service.
Worth knowing before you sign up: Monese ran into serious financial difficulty and was acquired by the UK fintech Pockit in October 2024 for around £15 million, after HSBC wrote off its investment. The service continues to operate and take new customers, but it is a smaller operation than the other names on this list.
Monese now offers four plans:
- Free: no monthly fee, with accounts in GBP, EUR and RON;
- Standard: £1.95 per month, with lower card and transfer fees;
- Premium: £5.95 per month, adding a monthly fee-free ATM allowance;
- Elite: £14.95 per month, with the lowest fees and the largest allowances.
To give a practical example of how these fees differ: international transfers cost 2.5% on the Free plan and from 0.5% on Premium and Elite, with an extra 1% at weekends on the cheaper plans. Card spending abroad costs 2% on Free and 0.5% on every paid plan. That is why we describe the fees as “up to” in the at-a-glance summary.
With a Monese account, users can receive their salaries, make deposits, withdraw cash from ATMs, and make card payments. Monese allows you to open accounts in three currencies: EUR, GBP, and RON. Client funds are safeguarded under the EU Electronic Money Directive 2009/110/EC and the UK Electronic Money Regulations 2011.
Wise
Wise, formerly known as TransferWise, is a peer-to-peer money transfer service built to save users from the hidden fees charged by traditional banks, with a strong focus on international transfers. It was founded in 2011 by two Estonians, Taavet Hinrikus (Skype’s first employee) and Kristo Käärmann, who felt they were being overcharged when moving money across borders.
Wise has seen remarkable growth since then. It supported around 19 million people and businesses in the financial year to March 2026, of whom 11.9 million were active customers in the quarter to June 2026, meaning they made at least one cross-border transaction. On 11 May 2026 the company, now Wise Group plc, moved its primary listing to the Nasdaq under the ticker WSE, keeping a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange under WISE.
Wise allows you to transfer money internationally at low cost (the example below shows roughly €5.14 to convert €1,000 into US dollars) and gives you access to a multi-currency account in 40+ currencies where you can hold, convert, receive, send and spend money via a debit Mastercard. ATM withdrawals are free up to €/£250 per month, after which a 2.69% fee applies to the amount above the allowance. Note that Wise changed this structure: there is no longer a cap on the number of free withdrawals, but the fee above the allowance is higher than it used to be.
The software is highly intuitive on both mobile and desktop, so you will get comfortable with the main features quickly. Wise offers different types of remittance depending on your needs, balancing speed, transaction type and location.
In terms of safety, Wise Payments Limited is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an Electronic Money Institution. In the EU the entity is Wise Europe SA, authorised by the National Bank of Belgium as a payment institution and passported across the EEA, with further authorisations in the US, Australia, Singapore and elsewhere.
The distinction matters for your money. Wise states plainly that its payment services are not covered by the Belgian deposit guarantee scheme. Client funds are safeguarded instead, held as a mix of cash at major banks and low-risk liquid assets, kept separate from Wise’s own money. That is a different and weaker protection than the €100,000 deposit guarantee you get from a bank, and it is the single most important thing to understand about every e-money provider on this list.
Revolut
Revolut is a multi-function fintech with the ambition of replacing your traditional bank account. Founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut now serves over 80 million retail customers globally and has grown into Europe’s largest neobank, with a stated target of 100 million by mid-2027.
Revolut lets you send money worldwide quickly and securely at the real (interbank) exchange rate, which can save users significantly compared with traditional banks (see the image below). You can also easily split bills with friends and family or request payments. There is a catch, though: on the free tier, you have €1,000 of free monthly currency exchange, with a 1% fair usage fee thereafter, and a separate mark-up applies at weekends. For higher allowances, paid plans start at €3.99 per month.
On the Standard (free) plan, free ATM withdrawals run to 5 withdrawals or €200 per rolling month, whichever comes first, after which a 2% fee applies with a €1 minimum. The paid tiers are Plus, Premium, Metal and Ultra, priced in Portugal at €3.99, €9.99, €17.99 and €55 per month, and they offer higher ATM limits, priority 24/7 customer support, overseas medical and travel insurance, cashback and other perks depending on the tier. Prices differ by country, so check the plan page for yours.
On the regulatory side, Revolut has held a full European banking licence since 2018 via Revolut Bank UAB (Bank of Lithuania), meaning EU deposits are protected under the Lithuanian Deposit Insurance Scheme up to €100,000. If you are reading this from Portugal or anywhere else in the EU, that is the scheme that covers you.
In the UK the picture changed recently. Revolut was granted restricted PRA banking authorisation in July 2024, then exited mobilisation and launched as a full UK bank on 11 March 2026, regulated by the PRA and the FCA. Eligible UK deposits are now protected by the FSCS up to £120,000, the higher limit that took effect on 1 December 2025.
One nuance still worth knowing: the migration is staged rather than instant. New UK customers get FSCS-protected bank accounts automatically, while some existing accounts remain e-money accounts for now and stay safeguarded rather than deposit-guaranteed, with Revolut notifying each customer when their account moves across.
WorldRemit
Founded in 2010, WorldRemit is a low-cost alternative to traditional ways of sending money abroad, and is part of the Zepz group, which also owns Sendwave. You can send from over 50 countries in more than 70 currencies to 130+ countries and territories.
WorldRemit is built around remittance, and recipients typically receive money the following day. Its rates are competitive for non-EUR transfers, though the cost often sits in a less favourable exchange rate rather than in the upfront fee, so compare the rate you are quoted against the mid-market rate. Fee-free promotions do appear from time to time, but they are corridor-specific and can be withdrawn at any time, so do not assume any route is free without checking.
As an example, look at the image below. A transfer of €1,000 to US dollars costs €3.99 plus an exchange rate of $1.1993 (at the time of this review, the EUR/USD mid-market rate was 1.2132), meaning the total cost was approximately €15.40 (€3.99 + €11.41*).
* Calculated as ((€1,000 x 1.2132) minus (€1,000 x 1.1993)) divided by 1.2132.
WorldRemit is considered safe. It is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the National Bank of Belgium (NBB), with additional authorisations across other jurisdictions.
Remitly
With Remitly, you can send money anywhere and at any time in a convenient way. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Seattle, Remitly is a web and mobile money transfer service that lets you send funds from 33 countries, including Portugal, to more than 130 receive countries worldwide. Remitly is publicly listed on NASDAQ (ticker: RELY) following its September 2021 IPO, and served 10.2 million active customers in the second quarter of 2026.
This service is particularly strong if you want to send money to countries outside Europe (Southeast Asia, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Philippines are common corridors). Prices are very competitive on these routes, though intra-European transfers may not be an option in some cases. See the following image (transfer from the UK to France):
Remitly also offers a delivery-time promise: if your transfer is not delivered by the promised time, Remitly will refund the transfer fees.
On the downside, fees can be relatively expensive on some corridors, transfer options may be limited in certain locations, and there are daily and monthly caps on the amount you can send.
Remitly has an excellent reputation among users, with a Trustpilot rating of 4.6 out of 5 across more than 120,000 reviews, checked on 26 September 2026. Remitly Europe Limited is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland as a payment institution (reference C185081) for EU services, and Remitly U.K., Ltd by the UK Financial Conduct Authority as an electronic money institution, with additional authorisations elsewhere.
XE
XE is a money transfer and currency exchange service built on a low-cost business model compared with traditional ways of sending money. With the XE money transfer service, you can transfer funds between almost any two countries in the world.
XE’s fee structure depends on the transfer. Its own pages describe “low to no fees”: larger transfers often carry no fee, smaller ones typically carry a fixed fee, and card-funded payments cost more than bank-funded ones. Fees vary by currency, destination and payment method, and are shown before you confirm. XE does not publish the margin it applies to the exchange rate, so compare the rate you are quoted against the mid-market rate before confirming.
The app can feel clunky at times. Note that the subscription products XE sells are its currency data API for businesses and an ad-free version of the app, rather than any part of the consumer transfer service, which needs no subscription.
XE serves both consumers and businesses, provides live currency data, and is known for solid customer support and strong regulatory coverage. Our research reflects that: 4.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot across more than 86,000 reviews, checked on 26 September 2026.
One figure worth putting in context: XE reports more than 275 million unique visitors a year, but that number belongs to its free currency converter, one of the most visited currency sites in the world, and is not a count of money transfer customers. XE does not publish the latter, so it cannot be compared with the customer numbers quoted for Wise or Revolut above.
XE is part of Euronet Worldwide. Its UK entity is HiFX Europe Limited, authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations, and its EU entity is Xe Europe B.V., regulated by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) as a payment institution.
Bottom line: which should I go for?
Sending and receiving money is much easier and cheaper today than in the past, but it is worth remembering that when sending money abroad, financial regulations can still get in the way. Payments may be held for “verification” by the receiving bank or jurisdiction for 24 to 48 hours. This is not the fault of the remittance service, but a fraud and anti-money-laundering safeguard that sits outside the service provider’s control.
With so many money transfer services available, it is not always easy to know which is best for a specific corridor. What complicates it further is that each service’s fees depend on:
- The amount of money you are sending (under €1,000, over €7,000, etc.);
- The type of transaction (bank account transfer, cash pickup, debit or credit card funding, etc.);
- The currency pair and destination country: some routes are dramatically cheaper on Wise, others on Remitly or WorldRemit;
- The speed of delivery: instant transfers typically cost more than standard options taking one to three business days.
One more thing to weigh that has nothing to do with price. Of the six, only Revolut is a licensed bank, with deposits covered up to €100,000 in the EU. The rest hold your money as safeguarded e-money or under a payment institution licence, which keeps it separate from the company’s own funds but carries no deposit guarantee. For money passing through on its way somewhere else that is rarely a problem. For money sitting still, it is worth knowing.
Wherever you are, there is a strong option for transferring money quickly and cheaply, whether to a friend at the same restaurant table or to family halfway around the world. Many of the services outlined here as Venmo alternatives offer additional benefits that can help with budgeting and personal finance, while saving you fees that a traditional bank would typically charge.
Take your time and choose wisely.
If you need further guidance or have any questions, feel free to reach out to us.
