Sending money from Saudi Arabia to the Philippines: the payments stack
Sending SAR 750 from Saudi Arabia to the Philippines cost 3.82% of the amount on average in Q3 2025, across 10 services in the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide survey. Payouts in Philippines typically run over InstaPay, InstaPay for Business; between now and the end of 2027 there are 9 weekdays when banks in Saudi Arabia are closed but Philippines keeps paying out, so the payout balance has to be funded before them.
| Average cost to send | 3.82% of SAR 750 (Q3 2025, World Bank RPW) source |
| Money transfer operators | 3.04% across 9 services |
| Banks | 10.8% across 1 services |
| Collect in Saudi Arabia | sarie (Instant Payment System), SARIE (Saudi Arabian Riyal Interbank Express, RTGS) |
| Pay out in Philippines | InstaPay, InstaPay for Business, PESONet, PhilPaSSplus (RTGS) |
What it costs to send SAR 750
The World Bank surveyed 10 services sending from Saudi Arabia to the Philippines from 21 August 2025 to 2 September 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 3.82% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 3.04% and banks 10.8%. 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: the Philippines
| Payout partner | What it does in Philippines | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Thunes · our guide | Pays to Philippine bank accounts, to wallets including Coins, GCash, GrabPay and PayMaya, and to cash pickup (Thunes, August 2024). | source |
| Nium · our guide | Pays PHP to bank accounts at all major Philippine banks (InstaPay real time up to PHP 50,000, PESONet same day for instructions by 2 p.m.), to wallets, to cards via Visa Direct and as cash payout. | source |
| dLocal · our guide | Supports payouts in the Philippines by bank transfer and to wallets such as PayMaya, GCash, Coins, GrabPay and PalawanPay. | source |
| Xendit | Pays out PHP over InstaPay (about 15 minutes, PHP 50,000 limit) and PESONet (same day, 2 p.m. Manila cut-off, no limit) for B2B, B2C, C2B and C2C flows. | source |
| Coins.ph | Coins.ph Business offers APIs to collect through QR Ph and WebPay, disburse through InstaPay, and trade or embed crypto on and off ramps, with KYB onboarding. | source |
| TerraPay · our guide | Partnered with Raenest in February 2026 to provide local-currency payouts to freelancers in the Philippines and India. | source |
Licensing, local banks, stablecoin ramps, FX and KYC in Philippines: launching payments in Philippines.
Payout rails in Philippines
| Rail | Operator | What matters for payouts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| InstaPay | Philippine Payments Management Inc. (PPMI) under the BSP | Real-time transfers 24x7; Nium routes payouts of up to PHP 50,000 per transfer over InstaPay and larger ones over PESONet. | source |
| InstaPay for Business | Philippine Payments Management Inc. (PPMI) under the BSP | Launched 29 July 2026: businesses can send real-time transfers of up to PHP 500,000 per transaction, 24/7. Initial participants were PNB, Wise Pilipinas, DCPay Philippines, GoTyme Bank and RCBC, with 12 more signalling intent to join. | source |
| PESONet | Philippine Payments Management Inc. (PPMI), authorised by the BSP | Batch transfers in full value with no network minimum or maximum, in three settlement windows with cut-offs at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Manila time; beneficiaries are credited by 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively, and each bank sets its own earlier cut-offs and channel limits. | source |
| PhilPaSSplus (RTGS) | Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas | Open 9:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. on weekdays and settles the clearing results of InstaPay, PESONet, cheques and ATMs; the BSP has proposed running it 22 hours a day, seven days a week. | source |
Holiday gaps to plan for, to December 2027
Weekdays when one side of the corridor is closed. On the 9 dates when Saudi Arabia is closed and the Philippines is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them. On the 19 dates when Philippines is closed, instant rails may still pay out.
| Date | Saudi Arabia | Philippines | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 2 Nov 2026 | Open | All Souls' Day | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 30 Nov 2026 | Open | Bonifacio Day | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 8 Dec 2026 | Open | Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 24 Dec 2026 | Open | Christmas Eve | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Open | Christmas Day | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 30 Dec 2026 | Open | Rizal Day | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 31 Dec 2026 | Open | Last Day of the Year | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | Open | New Year's Day | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 22 Feb 2027 | Founding Day | Open | Prefund Philippines 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 Philippines the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Tue 9 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr (1 Shawwal) | Eid'l Fitr | Both closed |
| Wed 10 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr (2 Shawwal) | Open | Prefund Philippines the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Thu 11 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr holiday for financial institutions (3 Shawwal) | Open | Prefund Philippines the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Thu 25 Mar 2027 | Open | Maundy Thursday | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 26 Mar 2027 | Open | Good Friday | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 9 Apr 2027 | Open | Araw ng Kagitingan | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 17 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha (11 Dhu al-Hijjah) | Open | Prefund Philippines the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Tue 18 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha (12 Dhu al-Hijjah) | Open | Prefund Philippines the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Wed 19 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha holiday for financial institutions (13 Dhu al-Hijjah) | Open | Prefund Philippines the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Thu 20 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha holiday for financial institutions (14 Dhu al-Hijjah) | Open | Prefund Philippines the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Mon 30 Aug 2027 | Open | National Heroes Day | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 23 Sep 2027 | Saudi National Day | Open | Prefund Philippines the day before: no funding from Saudi Arabia, payouts continue |
| Mon 1 Nov 2027 | Open | All Saints' Day | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 2 Nov 2027 | Open | All Souls' Day | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 30 Nov 2027 | Open | Bonifacio Day | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 8 Dec 2027 | Open | Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 24 Dec 2027 | Open | Christmas Eve | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 30 Dec 2027 | Open | Rizal Day | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Fri 31 Dec 2027 | Open | Last Day of the Year | Philippines banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
Full calendars: Saudi Arabia and Philippines. 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
- Interbank USD/PHP spot trades settle T+1 and only BSP-authorised universal and commercial banks that are BAP members trade in that market, so pesos bought on the last banking day before a weekend or holiday arrive after it. source
- PhilPaSSplus is open only 9:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. on weekdays and settles InstaPay and PESONet clearing results, so interbank settlement of those payments waits for PhilPaSSplus to open. source
- PESONet instructions sent after the 4 p.m. cut-off fall into the next window, which closes at 10 a.m. and credits beneficiaries by 1 p.m.; banks and payout providers set earlier cut-offs (Xendit and Nium use 2 p.m. Manila time). 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 Philippines and any stablecoin in between. It warns before the Philippines balance runs dry, holidays included. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to send money from Saudi Arabia to the Philippines?
The World Bank's survey put the average total cost of sending SAR 750 at 3.82% in Q3 2025, across 10 services. Money transfer operators averaged 3.04%.
Which rails pay out in Philippines?
Local payouts run over InstaPay, InstaPay for Business, PESONet, PhilPaSSplus (RTGS).
When do I need to prefund Philippines payouts ahead of holidays?
Between now and December 2027 there are 9 weekdays when Saudi Arabia is closed and the Philippines 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
- LIST: Holidays, special non-working days for 2027 · Philippine Daily Inquirer
- Palace releases 2026 Philippine holidays · GMA News
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