Lloyds & Halifax Send Money Abroad: Fees & Limits (2026)

Lloyds and Halifax customers now send money abroad the same way: in the Lloyds app or online banking, with a £9.50 fee for most payments (euro payments have no fee) and a 3.55% exchange-rate margin on amounts up to £10,000. That margin is the biggest cost: about £35 on £1,000. For most converted transfers, Wise is much cheaper.

Quick answer: Lloyds and Halifax international payments

Source: Lloyds Bank help pages (checked November 2026).

Halifax customers: what’s changed

Lloyds Banking Group is retiring the Halifax brand. According to Which? (October 2026):

• Halifax’s app and online banking were due to close on 31 October 2026. Customers need to use the Lloyds app and Lloyds online banking instead, with their existing login details.
• Sort codes and account numbers stay the same. Cards and PINs keep working until they’re replaced with Lloyds-branded cards.
• Halifax branches are due to become Lloyds branches during 2027.

Halifax’s international payments help page now redirects to Lloyds, so the Lloyds fees, margins and limits below apply to former Halifax customers too. Lloyds also confirms that if you moved from Halifax, your BIC or IBAN will still include the “HLFX” prefix, and that’s expected. Keep giving the same details to anyone sending you money.

Bank of Scotland, the group’s other big brand, stays as it is.

What Lloyds charges

Sending fee

The £9.50 doesn’t apply to payments in pounds from a Basic Account, accounts held with Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets, or non-sterling payments from a Mayfair Private Banking account.

The exchange-rate margin

Lloyds’ standard exchange rate includes a margin over the wholesale rate. From its margin calculator (checked November 2026):

Lloyds’ own example: with a wholesale GBP/EUR rate of 1.1900, the Lloyds rate would be 1.1478, so €1,000 costs £871.23 rather than about £840.

Correspondent bank fees and who pays

Online and app payments always use the shared option. You pay the £9.50 and the recipient pays any other fees, including deductions by agent banks and the receiving bank.

For payments outside the UK or EEA made in branch or by phone, you can choose to have the full amount reach the recipient’s bank by paying the £9.50 plus a Correspondent Bank Fee:

• Zone 1 (USA, Canada and non-EEA Europe): £12
• Zone 2 (rest of the world): £20

Receiving money

Euros received from the UK, EEA or by SEPA: no fee. Other incoming payments: £2 up to and including £100, £7 over £100. Foreign currency is converted into pounds at the standard exchange rate (checked November 2026).

How to send money abroad with Lloyds (and ex-Halifax)

In the Lloyds app

1. Log in, select your account, then the three-dot menu.
2. Choose Send money abroad, then the account to send from.
3. Select Pay someone new or Pay someone again.
4. Choose the recipient’s country and enter their full details.
5. Enter the amount and review the details and exchange rate.
6. Confirm. You may be asked for your password, and new payees get extra security checks.

In online banking

1. Log in and select More actions on your account.
2. Choose Payments and transfers, then Send money outside the UK.
3. Follow steps 3–6 above.

The online payment calculator shows the standard rate before you pay. If you pick or add a recipient first, you can go ahead at the rate shown.

What details you need

To the EEA and UK: the recipient’s full name and address, IBAN and SWIFT/BIC.

To the rest of the world: all of the above, plus the name and address of the recipient’s bank, a clearing code and the reason for payment.

Some countries, including Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait (for dinar payments), need a purpose-of-payment code in the reference field. Lloyds lists the codes on its help page.

Limits, cut-offs and timing

• Limits: £100,000 a day in the app or online; £10,000 by Telephone Banking; no maximum in branch. Minimum payment £1.01.
• Cut-off: requests before 3pm on a working day are processed that day. Euro payments in branch or by phone may have a 2pm cut-off.
• Arrival:
  • Euros to the UK, EEA, Monaco, Switzerland or San Marino: next working day
  • Other EEA currencies, sterling or Swiss francs to the EEA: up to 4 working days
  • North America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, Far East: up to 4 working days
  • Anywhere else: up to 5 working days

If a foreign-currency payment is returned, Lloyds refunds it at its standard rate, so you can get back less than you sent.

Worked example: £1,000 abroad, Lloyds vs Wise vs Revolut

Assumptions (illustrative): mid-market rate €1.20 per £1 (live rate about €1.199 on 5 November 2026). Lloyds margin 3.55% from its published table. Wise fees from live quotes on 5 November 2026.

£1,000 to a euro account

£1,000 to US dollars or rupees

Here the £9.50 fee applies too. Lloyds: £9.50 + ~£35.50 margin ≈ £45. Wise: £4.60 to USD or £5.14 to INR (live quotes, 5 November 2026). That’s a difference of around £40 on a single £1,000 transfer.

Revolut’s Standard plan includes £1,000 a month of currency exchange, then a 1% fair-usage fee on the excess. A fee may apply to non-SEPA international transfers and is shown in the app (checked November 2026).

Check your own amount in our transfer cost calculator.

Our pick: Lloyds’ 3.55% margin is among the highest of the big UK banks. For anything that needs converting, Wise will almost always deliver more.

When Lloyds is the better choice

• Sending pounds to a sterling account abroad, especially from a Basic Account (no £9.50 fee).
• Very large transfers in branch, where there’s no maximum and the margin falls to 1.5% above £250,000. Still get a specialist quote for comparison.
• You need someone to talk to, by phone or in branch.

When to use Wise or Revolut instead

• Almost any converted payment, from £50 to £50,000.
• Regular money home, such as to Pakistan, India or Nigeria.
• Revolut if you send up to £1,000 a month or pay SEPA euro accounts often.

See Wise vs Revolut, or all options in the best way to send money abroad.

Bottom line: Lloyds (and now ex-Halifax) customers pay £9.50 plus a 3.55% margin on most transfers. Wise typically saves £30–£40 per £1,000.