Sending money from the United States to Egypt: the payments stack
Sending USD 200 from the United States to Egypt cost 5.36% of the amount on average in Q3 2025, across 16 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 11 weekdays when banks in the United States are closed but Egypt keeps paying out, so the payout balance has to be funded before them.
| Average cost to send | 5.36% of USD 200 (Q3 2025, World Bank RPW) source |
| Money transfer operators | 5.36% across 16 services |
| Collect in United States | FedNow Service, FedNow network limit, RTP network, Fedwire Funds Service, FedACH and Same Day ACH, Same Day ACH limit |
| Pay out in Egypt | IPN / InstaPay, CBE RTGS, EG-ACH |
What it costs to send USD 200
The World Bank surveyed 16 services sending from the United States to Egypt from 20 August 2025 to 20 August 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 5.36% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 5.36%. source
Bank and operator averages are worked out from the survey's provider types.
The send side: the United States
- With few exceptions, each money services business must register with the US Treasury through FinCEN by filing FinCEN Form 107 within 180 days of being established, and must renew the registration every two years; a business that is an MSB only because it acts as agent of another MSB does not register. source
- Money transmission is also licensed state by state. As of September 2026, 31 states have enacted the CSBS Money Transmission Modernization Act in full or in part, and money transmitters licensed in at least one adopting state account for 99% of reported money transmission activity. source
- The Money Transmission Modernization Act sets a minimum tangible net worth of the greater of US$100,000 or 3% of total assets for the first US$100 million, 2% of assets from US$100 million to US$1 billion and 0.5% of assets above US$1 billion, and encourages states to run licensing, surety bonds and reporting through NMLS. source
Licences, sponsor banks, collections, ramps and KYC providers: sending from the United States.
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 11 dates when the United States is closed and Egypt is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them. On the 18 dates when Egypt is closed, instant rails may still pay out.
| Date | United States | Egypt | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 11 Nov 2026 | Veterans Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Thu 26 Nov 2026 | Thanksgiving Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Christmas Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | New Year's Day | Bank holiday (end of banks' financial year) | Both closed |
| Thu 7 Jan 2027 | Open | Coptic Christmas | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 18 Jan 2027 | Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| 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 15 Feb 2027 | Washington's Birthday (Presidents Day) | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Tue 9 Mar 2027 | Open | Eid al-Fitr (day 1) | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 10 Mar 2027 | Open | Eid al-Fitr (day 2) | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Thu 11 Mar 2027 | Open | Eid al-Fitr (day 3) | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| 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 | Open | Eid al-Adha (day 2) | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Tue 18 May 2027 | Open | Eid al-Adha (day 3) | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Wed 19 May 2027 | Open | Eid al-Adha (day 4) | Egypt banks closed: only always-on rails pay out |
| Mon 31 May 2027 | Memorial Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, 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 |
| Mon 5 Jul 2027 | Independence Day (observed) | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| 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 |
| Mon 6 Sep 2027 | Labor Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, 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 |
| Mon 11 Oct 2027 | Columbus Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Thu 11 Nov 2027 | Veterans Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
| Thu 25 Nov 2027 | Thanksgiving Day | Open | Prefund Egypt the day before: no funding from the United States, payouts continue |
Full calendars: United States and Egypt. Size the buffer with the corridor runway calculator.
Funding the corridor
- Fedwire does not run on Saturdays, Sundays or Federal Reserve holidays; the Monday business day opens at 9:00 p.m. ET on Sunday and every business day closes at 7:00 p.m. ET, with customer transfers cut off at 6:45 p.m. ET. source
- Federal Reserve holidays in the rest of 2026 are Veterans Day (11 November), Thanksgiving (26 November) and Christmas (Friday 25 December); in 2027, Juneteenth (19 June) and Christmas (25 December) fall on Saturdays, so the Reserve Banks open on the Friday before. 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 United States, 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 the United States to Egypt?
The World Bank's survey put the average total cost of sending USD 200 at 5.36% in Q3 2025, across 16 services. Money transfer operators averaged 5.36%.
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 11 weekdays when the United States is closed and Egypt is open, the first on Wed 11 Nov 2026. The payout balance has to cover those days before they start.
Related corridors
Sources
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide dataset · World Bank
- Holiday Schedules (Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 to 2030, plus FedACH holiday processing) · Federal Reserve Financial Services
- Fedwire Funds Service and National Settlement Service Operating Hours · Federal Reserve Financial Services
- 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.