Capitec International Transfers: Everything You Should Know About Capitec Forex in 2024

Based out of Stellenbosch, Capitec Bank is one of South Africa's most prominent banks, with a solid reputation around its digital presence and tech-savvy online banking options.

But despite offering a great digital banking experience, Capitec doesn't allow you to send international payments. In effect, if you'd like to send money from your Capitec account to a foreign currency bank account overseas, you'll need to use a third-party service to get the job done.

While they're limited, there are still options available to South Africans that offer considerably more attractive exchange rates than those you'd find at traditional banks such as FNB or Standard Bank. We'll delve into these options later in this article, but let's start by exploring why Capitec doesn't offer foreign exchange services and understand how South African banks generally handle international money transfers.

Can Capitec Make International Payments?

A duly licensed bank, Capitec is authorised by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to offer retail banking services to individuals and certain businesses. However, Capitec is not licensed as a fully-fledged bank in quite the same way that Absa or FNB are, for example, and as a result, some types of services are not supported.

One type of financial service that the SARB currently restricts Capitec from offering is forex. While Capitec is presently trying to attain the necessary licensing, Capitec forex services are currently very limited, with outward international payments and the buying and selling of foreign banknotes being restricted.

As a customer, you're left with the option of sending money abroad through another SA bank or a specialist money transfer service. Take a look at our in-depth explainer to learn more about how banks and specialist forex services differ in pricing, speed, transparency, and security.

Receiving Money From Overseas in South Africa With Capitec

While outward international transfers aren't available, receiving money from overseas in South Africa is still possible with Capitec. These transfers are routed through Nedbank and converted into South African rands at the bank's prevailing exchange rates if the sender doesn't convert the currency with their bank in the first place. (See our review of Nedbank's exchange rates and international money transfers here.)

How To Receive Money From Overseas Capitec

To receive a payment from overseas, you'll need to ensure that the sender specifies your banking details correctly to their bank. This will include your full name, bank account number, and Capitec's SWIFT/BIC code, CABLZAJJ. Due to SARB regulations, you must declare the payment over the phone before you're planning to receive R50,000 or more from abroad. If you'd like to receive money from overseas with Capitec, look at the bank's processes and guidelines here.

Making International Payments From Your Capitec Account

Although Capitec's lack of international payment facilities might seem like bad news if you want to send money abroad, in reality, you'll still be able to make international money transfers ⁠— usually at even better exchange rates than you would with an ordinary SA bank!

On the other hand, however, as a Capitec customer, your list of options won't be long since many low-cost international forex specialists face difficulties setting up shop in South Africa as a result of the country's regulatory environment, as well as the fact that money transfer apps also require users to make bank transfers to client trust accounts overseas (something which, as we've seen, Capitec doesn't facilitate in the first place). Accordingly, your only options are to find a third-party money transfer provider that lets you pay them with one of the following methods:

• Card: You use a credit, debit, or prepaid card to pay for your international transfer, just like you would when paying for anything else online. This method typically comes with extra fees.
• EFT: You send a standard bank-to-bank transfer from your Capitec account to the South African-based client trust account of a money transfer operator (it won't work if their client trust account is located internationally.)
• Cash: You deposit cash, in rands, at an agent location, which gets digitally logged, exchanged for foreign currency, and sent to your desired country. This method also typically comes with extra fees.

We've laid out a few options for sending money internationally through your Capitec account below:

Option 1: WorldRemit

One of the few international currency exchange services available to Capitec account holders, WorldRemit is a popular UK-based money transfer app that offers low-cost transfers from South Africa to an impressive number of foreign countries and currencies, mainly in Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, North and South America (but sadly not Europe).

• Cost /transfer: R7.50 + 2-3%
• Payment method(s): Credit/debit card, EFT
• Time: 1 - 2 business days
• Best for: Small transfers to countries in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Africa (see the complete list of available countries below).

Option 2: Mama Money

Mama Money is a South African-based fintech that lets you send money to countries across the globe transparently and reliably. What makes Mama Money stand out for Capitec customers is that it supports EFT with Ozow, meaning you can make speedy payments from your Capitec account to Mama Money's SA-based client trust account, from which your converted funds will be sent along to your desired country.

• Cost /transfer: R48-R89 + 2-3%
• Payment method(s): Credit/debit card, cash, EFT via Ozow
• Time: 5 hours - 2 business days
• Best for: Transfers to Europe. Also for transfers paid for by cash deposit.

If you're interested in sending money to a specific country, we've laid out all of the countries (by region) to which Mama Money and WorldRemit currently support international payments:

Option 3: FX Brokers

For large transfers abroad (i.e. more than R75,000), specialised forex brokers, which negotiate a favourable exchange rate on your behalf, are the best way to go. According to Monito's comparison data, Halo Financial and Currencies Direct are the cheapest forex brokers for large transfers from South Africa.

• Cost: Varies, but usually <2%
• Best for: Large transfers of R75,000 or more.

Option 4: Capitec FX Trade Account

Reserved for customers who want to make investments in foreign currencies or handle very large transaction volumes, Capitec's FX Trade Account is a premium account solution that allows you to trade, hold, and transfer foreign currency volumes, including using your FX Trade Account to instruct wire transfers to other peoples' bank accounts overseas.

• Cost: Not disclosed
• Best for: Investments, FX trading, holidays, or large monetary gifts

Option 5: Another Bank

The final alternative to making a Capitec international payment is to transfer money abroad via another South African bank. FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, and Nedbank are the only four SA banks currently supporting international wire transfers. You can open up an account yourself or transfer via the bank account of somebody else you trust to transfer from your Capitec account, via the local bank account, to a bank account overseas.

• Cost: Varies, but usually >5%
• Best for: Those who don't mind higher fees to stick with the bank.