Sending money from Saudi Arabia to Egypt: the payments stack
Sending SAR 750 from Saudi Arabia to Egypt cost 5.15% of the amount on average in Q3 2025, across 12 services in the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide survey. Payouts in Egypt typically run over IPN / InstaPay, CBE RTGS; between now and the end of 2027 there are 4 weekdays when banks in Saudi Arabia are closed but Egypt keeps paying out, so the payout balance has to be funded before them.
| Average cost to send | 5.15% of SAR 750 (Q3 2025, World Bank RPW) source |
| Money transfer operators | 3.33% across 9 services |
| Banks | 10.6% across 3 services |
| Collect in Saudi Arabia | sarie (Instant Payment System), SARIE (Saudi Arabian Riyal Interbank Express, RTGS) |
| Pay out in Egypt | IPN / InstaPay, CBE RTGS, EG-ACH |
What it costs to send SAR 750
The World Bank surveyed 12 services sending from Saudi Arabia to Egypt from 21 August 2025 to 2 September 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 5.15% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 3.33% and banks 10.6%. source
Bank and operator averages are worked out from the survey's provider types.
The send side: Saudi Arabia
- No person can operate a payment system or provide payment services in the Kingdom without a SAMA licence (Law of Payments and Payment Services, Royal Decree M/26, Article 4). source
- The Implementing Regulations (13 June 2023) apply to anyone providing payment services from an establishment in the Kingdom, holding itself out as providing them there, or inviting, inducing or marketing to persons in the Kingdom. source
- A Micro PI must not provide payment services cross-border to persons outside the Kingdom and must stay under an average monthly payment value of SAR 10 million; a provider above SAR 10 million a month is a Major PI (Article 42). Money remittance, where funds are received without a payment account being created, is listed among the services that do not constitute payment services (Article 7). source
Licences, sponsor banks, collections, ramps and KYC providers: sending from Saudi Arabia.
The payout side: Egypt
| Payout partner | What it does in Egypt | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Thunes · our guide | Its money transfer API pays EGP in Egypt to bank accounts over RTGS and the Instant Payment Network, to mobile wallets and for cash pickup through Fawry Plus, with Banque du Caire branches as the fallback. | source |
| TerraPay · our guide | Its API pays Egyptian bank accounts (bank name, account number and SWIFT/BIC) and InstaPay-based bank transactions using the EG_INSTAPAY provider code with a 14-digit InstaPay account number. | source |
| dLocal · our guide | Payouts V3 pays EGP to bank accounts (BIC and IBAN) and to Vodafone, Etisalat, Orange and bank wallets for B2C, B2B and P2P flows. | source |
| Nium · our guide | Pays EGP to all major Egyptian banks T+1 with a 13:00 GMT cut-off, Sunday to Thursday, and to wallets including Vodafone Cash, Orange Cash and Etisalat Cash same day, Sunday to Thursday; P2P bank payouts are capped at USD 15,000 per end-user. | source |
| Flutterwave · our guide | Supports bank and mobile wallet payouts to recipients in Egypt through its dashboard and APIs, enabled after full KYC review. | source |
Licensing, local banks, stablecoin ramps, FX and KYC in Egypt: launching payments in Egypt.
Payout rails in Egypt
| Rail | Operator | What matters for payouts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| IPN / InstaPay | Egyptian Banks Company (EBC), for the Central Bank of Egypt | Launched on 22 March 2022, the IPN links all banks operating in Egypt for real-time transfers on weekdays and official holidays to accounts, wallets and cards; InstaPay limits are EGP 70,000 per transaction, EGP 120,000 per day and EGP 400,000 per month, per bank registered in the app. | source |
| CBE RTGS | Central Bank of Egypt | Real-time gross settlement owned and operated by the CBE, open 08:30 to 16:30 every working day; all banks are direct participants, and it settles the netting results of the CBE cheque clearing house, the National Switch and EBC's ACH. | source |
| EG-ACH | Egyptian Banks Company (EBC) | Bulk interbank clearing of direct credits and debits; EGP batches are processed for settlement in the CBE RTGS from 09:00, 10:45, 12:45 and 14:45, with an end-of-day batch from 15:45. | source |
Holiday gaps to plan for, to December 2027
Weekdays when one side of the corridor is closed. On the 4 dates when Saudi Arabia is closed and Egypt is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them. On the 13 dates when Egypt is closed, instant rails may still pay out.
| Date | Saudi Arabia | Egypt | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | Open | Bank holiday (end of banks' financial year) | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 7 Jan 2027 | Open | Coptic Christmas | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 25 Jan 2027 | Open | January 25 Revolution and National Police Day | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 28 Jan 2027 | Open | January 25 holiday, possible Thursday substitute | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 22 Feb 2027 | Founding Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Mon 8 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr holiday for financial institutions (29 Ramadan) | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Tue 9 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr (1 Shawwal) | Eid al-Fitr (day 1) | Both closed |
| Wed 10 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr (2 Shawwal) | Eid al-Fitr (day 2) | Both closed |
| Thu 11 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr holiday for financial institutions (3 Shawwal) | Eid al-Fitr (day 3) | Both closed |
| Mon 3 May 2027 | Open | Sham El-Nessim | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 6 May 2027 | Open | Labour Day, possible Thursday substitute | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 17 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha (11 Dhu al-Hijjah) | Eid al-Adha (day 2) | Both closed |
| Tue 18 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha (12 Dhu al-Hijjah) | Eid al-Adha (day 3) | Both closed |
| Wed 19 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha holiday for financial institutions (13 Dhu al-Hijjah) | Eid al-Adha (day 4) | Both closed |
| Thu 20 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha holiday for financial institutions (14 Dhu al-Hijjah) | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Thu 10 Jun 2027 | Open | Islamic New Year, possible Thursday substitute | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 30 Jun 2027 | Open | June 30 Revolution | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 1 Jul 2027 | Open | June 30 holiday, possible Thursday substitute | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 23 Jul 2027 | Open | July 23 Revolution Day | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 19 Aug 2027 | Open | Mawlid, possible Thursday substitute | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 23 Sep 2027 | Saudi National Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Wed 6 Oct 2027 | Open | Armed Forces Day | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 7 Oct 2027 | Open | Armed Forces Day, possible Thursday substitute | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
Full calendars: Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Size the buffer with the corridor runway calculator.
Funding the corridor
- Official working days for ministries, financial institutions, SAMA and the stock exchange are Sunday to Thursday, with Friday and Saturday as the weekly holiday (Royal Order of June 2013). source
- Bank remittance centres work Sunday to Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday is a weekly holiday and Saturday is an optional working day for branches with SAMA's no-objection. source
- CBE RTGS business days run Sunday to Thursday, excluding participants' public holidays, and the CBE can declare a public holiday a business day if necessary. source
- The RTGS daily schedule sets the cut-off for bank-to-bank payments at 16:30, so interbank pound settlement closes each working afternoon. source
- The CBE describes IPN services as instant transfers 24/7 to all banks' customers, and inbound remittances can be credited to accounts in real time through the IPN at licensed banks. source
Running the corridor
Polynopsis shows every balance on both sides of this corridor in one live position: the collection accounts in Saudi Arabia, the payout partners and banks in Egypt and any stablecoin in between. It warns before the Egypt balance runs dry, holidays included. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to send money from Saudi Arabia to Egypt?
The World Bank's survey put the average total cost of sending SAR 750 at 5.15% in Q3 2025, across 12 services. Money transfer operators averaged 3.33%.
Which rails pay out in Egypt?
Local payouts run over IPN / InstaPay, CBE RTGS, EG-ACH.
When do I need to prefund Egypt payouts ahead of holidays?
Between now and December 2027 there are 4 weekdays when Saudi Arabia is closed and Egypt is open, the first on Mon 22 Feb 2027. The payout balance has to cover those days before they start.
Related corridors
Sources
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide dataset · World Bank
- Holidays and Working Hours (financial institutions and RTGS, 1447H to 1450H) · Saudi Central Bank
- SAMA announces official holidays and working hours for banks and RTGS until 2029 · Saudi Gazette
- National Holidays 2026 · Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt
- Ministerial Decree Setting Official Paid Holidays for Workers No. 294 of 2025 · Mondaq
Know where all your money is.
Polynopsis gives cross-border payment teams one live position across every bank, payout partner, exchange and wallet, including money in flight, and warns before a corridor runs dry.
About Polynopsis
Polynopsis is liquidity management software for cross-border payment companies. The name joins poly, many, and synopsis, a seeing together: one live view of money spread across many banks, payout partners, exchanges and stablecoin wallets, including money in flight, with a warning before any corridor runs dry.
Why it is called Polynopsis · About Polynopsis · Glossary · Corridor runway calculator