Students always looking for the cheapest way to send money from Pakistan to Germany. Because students have to pay for many things during the admission application and visa process for Germany like uni-assist application fees, course fees, and accommodation charges, etc. This payment requires a transfer of money in the euro currency from Pakistan to Germany. Normally this transfer of payment is not rocket science and requires just a credit card to pay.
But unfortunately, the banking system of Pakistan is not very advanced. It is almost impractical for a normal person to get a credit card in Pakistan. Students even cannot think about it. Instead, banks in Western countries offer a wide variety of credit cards to their customers, especially to students. So, they can easily do normal foreign transactions.
UBL Wiz internet card
Recently UBL Pakistan provided a prepaid master card to Pakistani customers. It’s called the UBL Wiz internet card and can be used for online transfers and payments but its limit is only 200,000 PKR (around 1500 euros). It can be easily used to transfer the uni-assist application fee, semester fees, and accommodation charges but not to transfer blocked account funds.
That’s why students always search for the cheapest ways to transfer heavy amounts e.g blocked account funds and course fees, etc. These transfers are not possible with the UBL Wiz card.
FCY Euro Account
An account in a foreign currency is called a Foreign Currency Account (FCY). This Foreign Currency Account is one of the cheapest ways to send money from Pakistan to Germany. Many Pakistani banks are offering Foreign Currency Accounts in different international currencies like the dollar and euro, etc. A student can also search for a relative or friend who has this account and request him to transfer the money to a blocked account.
A transfer with the FCY euro account cost around 20 to 30 euros for the transaction of 11,208 euros from Pakistan to Germany. Charges for money transfers with an FCY account can vary from one bank to another.
>>>Best possible ways to send money from Germany to Pakistan
Telegraphic Transfer (TT) with the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP):
The second cheapest way to send money from Pakistan to Germany is the Telegraphic Transfer (TT) with NBP (National Bank of Pakistan) or HBL (Habib Bank Limited). Just find the nearest NBP Exchange Center or HBL bank and get in touch with one of their Manager’s Remittances. It’s a hassle-free way and one of the cheapest ways to transfer the amount to a blocked account.
Example of the TT cost with NBP:
For example, you want to transfer 10425 euros to your blocked account.
NBP’s current exchange rate is 198.59 rupees per euro.
Their service charges are 3500 rupees (the bank will take this) on this amount and expected transfer charges (will or will not deduct during the transaction) will be around 75 euros.
They calculate the total amount as follows:
10425 + 75 = €10500
10500 * 198.59 = PKR 2,085,195
2,085,195 + 3500 = PKR 2,088,695
Example of the TT cost with HBL:
Exchange rate = 191.25
Swift copy fees = 500 PKR
TT charges = 2917 PKR
International Transaction fee = 30 euros
WHT (withholding tax) = 0.6% (If you are not a filer/NTN holder)
The Sum of all the charges will be roughly 20000 PKR for nonfilers.
If you are a filer then the charges would be 8000 PKR only.
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Western Union:
Western Union (WU) is the third cheapest way to send money from Pakistan to Germany. You can ask any authorized Western Union agent about the money transfer cost. These charges depend on the amount and current exchange rate. Normally transfer of 11,208 euros with Western Union approximately costs 35 to 40 thousand rupees. Western Union supports a transaction of 3000 dollars per person per day and Fintiba demand all the money in one single transaction.
MoneyGram:
MoneyGram is the fourth option to transfer money to Germany but it is not recommended because it is more expensive than Western Union. You can use it only if you are unable to use the above two options. Visit the nearest MoneyGram agent to know about the charges.
UBL blocked account
Tip: If you want to keep your money in Pakistan during a visa application and also want to pay all the charges like a uni-assist fee. Then arrange up to 11,208 euros plus 200-300 euros extra and open a blocked account in UBL bank. You have to open an FCY Euro Account in UBL bank to block the funds. Open this FCY account in UBL, and deposit 11,208 euros plus 200-300 euro extra. Block 11,208 euros and use the additional money for normal international transactions. You can pay uni-assist fees with this additional money. You don’t need to be a Tax Filer to open a blocked account in UBL. You can enjoy all the benefits with this one account.
FAQs
A Foreign Currency Account (FCY) is the cheapest way to transfer money from Pakistan to Germany.
Yes.
The requester of an FCY account must be a filer and must have a National Tax Number (NTN).
Yes, because it’s a requirement of banks by law.
Filer means a taxpayer that owns an NTN number.