STC Pay is one of Saudi Arabia's most widely used payment wallets (now operating under STC Bank's licence), and one of the easiest ways to send money home straight from the app — no branch or exchange-house visit. Here's how an STC Pay international transfer works: the countries it reaches, how to activate it, roughly what it costs, and when it genuinely beats a bank or exchange house.
What STC Pay is, and how to send abroad
STC Pay is a Saudi digital wallet that sends internationally to 100+ countries from the app. Before your first international transfer you'll need to activate and verify your identity — using your Iqama and the Nafath app, a quick one-time step.
- In the STC Pay app, open International transfer / Send money abroad.
- Pick the recipient's country and payout method: a wallet (JazzCash, Easypaisa, bKash, GCash), a bank account, or cash pickup where available.
- Enter the recipient's details — the wallet's registered mobile number, or account/IBAN for a bank — and the amount.
- Review the rate and fee the app shows before confirming, then send. Keep the reference until the recipient confirms.
Countries and wallets it reaches
STC Pay's strength is the big corridors out of Saudi Arabia, where money often lands within minutes into a wallet — no bank account needed at the other end:
- Pakistan — to JazzCash and Easypaisa wallets, or a bank account over the Raast instant rail.
- India — to a bank account via IMPS, and to a UPI ID where offered.
- Bangladesh — to bKash, or a bank account.
- Philippines — to GCash, a bank account, or cash pickup.
Beyond these, STC Pay covers many other countries by bank transfer. Confirm your country and payout method are supported in the app before sending.
Fees, limits and speed
STC Pay charges an international-transfer fee that varies by country, amount and payout method, and there's a monthly limit on international transfers. Because both change, check them in the app before sending — we don't publish a figure here that would go stale.
Speed is a real strength: transfers to wallets (JazzCash, Easypaisa, bKash, GCash) are usually instant or within minutes, around the clock — so Saudi Arabia's Friday–Saturday weekend doesn't stall them the way it can a traditional bank wire.
But the fee is only half the story. The other half — usually the larger — hides in the exchange rate:
An app can show a "low fee" on a weaker rate, and the recipient gets less. Always judge the amount that actually arrives, not the fee alone.
STC Pay vs banks and exchange houses
On the corridors it supports with wallets, STC Pay is often far cheaper and faster than a bank wire, and more convenient than a branch visit. But it isn't always the winner:
- STC Pay tends to win for a routine transfer to a wallet in Pakistan, Bangladesh or the Philippines, when you want instant delivery from your phone.
- Exchange houses and banks (Al Rajhi / Enjaz, and the Saudi banks) sometimes beat it on the rate, or when you need more than the monthly limit, or a destination STC Pay doesn't serve.
The honest rule: compare the fee and the exchange rate together inside each app or provider before you send — the cheapest changes by day and destination. For a quick start, our indicative Saudi comparison ranks the options on the live mid-market rate. For a specific route, see our guide to sending from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan.