Emirates NBD DirectRemit: routes, limits, fees and timing

DirectRemit routes, limits and fees

Emirates NBD’s DirectRemit page (no date shown) is headed “Fast and reliable money transfers, now to more than 40 countries” and publishes this route table. Limits are in the destination currency.

• * Emirates NBD’s footnote on the AED 26.25 fee reads “Free for a limited period”. The page gives no end date, so check whether the app shows a fee before you confirm.
• ** Australia: “Transfers initiated before 1:00 PM (Monday - Friday) will be credited the same day; otherwise, the next business day.”
• Priority Banking and Private Banking customers are exempt from DirectRemit fees, according to the same page.
• Europe covers the 35 countries on Emirates NBD’s list. Check that your recipient’s country is on it.
• Egypt: DirectRemit pays only into Emirates NBD Egypt bank accounts. For a recipient who banks elsewhere in Egypt, use the regular international transfer.

Read the route limit together with your own daily limit. Emirates NBD’s help page says the DirectRemit daily limit “depends on your Banking Package and transaction limit”.

Before your first DirectRemit: eligibility and the beneficiary

Emirates NBD’s help page sets three conditions:

• Personal use only: “DirectRemit is meant for personal transactions only.”
• A minimum of AED 100: “you need to transfer a minimum of AED 100.”
• The recipient must already be a beneficiary: “Before you use DirectRemit, your recipient must be listed as a beneficiary.”

How long does it take to add a beneficiary? Emirates NBD does not publish a time for this. Its help page only says the recipient must be listed as a beneficiary before you use DirectRemit, so add them before the day you need to send and check that they appear among your saved beneficiaries before you start.

The bank can also ask for more information. Emirates NBD says that in that case “your request will need to be processed using Emirates NBD’s regular international transfer service”, which has its own timing (see below).

How long a DirectRemit transfer takes

Emirates NBD’s help page says DirectRemit “would take near real time transfer”. That is the bank’s description of a normal transfer, not a guarantee. Three published conditions change it:

• Australia has a cut-off: transfers started before 1:00 PM, Monday to Friday, are credited the same day; later ones are credited the next business day.
• Philippines: the help page says “Philippines real time credit is only PHP 50,000.”
• More information needed: the transfer moves to the regular international transfer service, which the bank says takes 2 to 3 working days.

Wrong beneficiary details can delay or return any bank transfer, so copy the account number or IBAN from your recipient rather than retyping it. Where a route counts business or working days, remember that the UAE weekend is Saturday and Sunday.

What DirectRemit costs, and why Emirates NBD’s pages differ

On the route table, the transfer fee is zero for India, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Egypt. Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia show AED 26.25 inclusive of tax, footnoted “Free for a limited period” with no end date. Priority Banking and Private Banking customers are exempt from DirectRemit fees.

Emirates NBD’s own pages do not say the same thing:

• Fee: the help page says “DirectRemits are free of charge”, while the route table shows AED 26.25 on four routes (marked free for a limited period). The bank’s March 2024 schedule-of-charges poster also lists DirectRemit transfers as free.
• Philippines limit: the route table shows PHP 50,000. The help page lists PHP 500,000 and adds that real-time credit is only PHP 50,000.
• Country count: the DirectRemit page says more than 40 countries; the help page says more than 35.

Because of this, treat the fee, limit and amount shown in the Emirates NBD app before you confirm as final.

A zero transfer fee is also not the whole cost. The exchange rate Emirates NBD applies decides how much arrives, so compare the amount your recipient gets, not only the fee. To see what other UAE options deliver for the same amount, use our pages for AED to INR, AED to PKR, AED to PHP, AED to LKR and AED to EGP.

When DirectRemit isn’t available: the regular international transfer

For countries or banks that DirectRemit does not cover, Emirates NBD says you can use its regular international transfer. Its help page for that service says:

• “International transfers are free via Online Banking and Mobile Banking.”
• “If you visit a branch to make the transfer, charges will be based on your banking package.”
• Transfers take “2 to 3 working days”.

Emirates NBD’s March 2024 schedule-of-charges poster listed branch foreign-currency remittances at AED 78.75 or AED 73.50 depending on the package, with one package getting one free remittance a month and AED 73.50 after that. We could not find a current personal schedule of charges, so ask the branch for its fee before you give instructions there.

Checklist before you confirm

1. Add the recipient as a beneficiary first; DirectRemit can’t be used until they are listed.
2. Check the route: the recipient’s country is in the table (or on the 35-country Europe list), and for Egypt the account is with Emirates NBD Egypt.
3. Check the amount: at least AED 100, within the route limit and within your daily limit.
4. Check the fee line: zero, AED 26.25, or waived if you are a Priority Banking or Private Banking customer.
5. Check the exchange rate and the amount the recipient will get, then confirm and keep the reference.
6. If the app moves you to a regular international transfer, allow 2 to 3 working days.

Receiving money into an Emirates NBD account from abroad? The sender will need the bank’s SWIFT/BIC, listed on our Emirates NBD SWIFT code page. Moving money between UAE banks instead? See how to transfer money between banks in the UAE.