Send money to Lebanon from France: the channels and their real cost

To send money to Lebanon from France, the total cost recorded on 23 October 2026 on public calculators ranges from about 2% to 13.5% of the amount for €100, and from about 1% to 12% for €1,000, fees, exchange rate and payout fees included. The money arrives in US dollars, as cash from an agent or in a mobile wallet. A transfer from a French bank to an account in Lebanon carries a fixed online fee of €9 to €20 according to published price lists, before the exchange margin and intermediary bank charges.

This guide compares services without recommending any of them. For three amounts, on the same day, it shows what you pay and what your relative receives, then explains how to check that a service is allowed to operate in France and in Lebanon.

The total cost, recorded on 23 October 2026

• Remitly: standard price (deduced from the structure of the quote and the price list), rate of 1.1104 to 1.1108 US dollars per euro depending on the time of the quote. Fee of €1.49 for a mobile wallet; for cash pickup, 2% of the amount sent plus €1.49, according to Remitly’s price list. New customers pay no fee on their first transfer; this offer is not counted in the table. In Lebanon, Remitly lists Whish Money and Purpl as partners.
• Sendwave: fee of €1.99 whatever the amount, rate of 1.09824. Debit card payment only; according to Sendwave, the money can only be collected as cash from a Whish Money agent, not paid into a bank account.
• Taptap Send: rate of 1.099 in the public rate file on its website, with no fee. From the European Union, the company says it applies “a small percentage on the exchange rate, with no additional fees”. The app shows the final price before you send.
• Western Union: fee of €1.99 for €100 and €3.99 for €500 and €1,000. The rate depends on how you pay: 1.0090 US dollars per euro by bank card (or Apple Pay, Google Pay), 1.0741 to 1.0841 by transfer from your account, with a delay of one to two days shown in the calculator data (against immediate payout by card). For Lebanon, the calculator offers cash pickup only. In Lebanon, Western Union transfers are collected in dollars at OMT, which deducts a 2% cash-handling fee: that is the second amount in each cell.

How the data was collected

• Same day, same hour: all quotes were taken on 23 October 2026 between 3:11 and 3:30 p.m., Paris time, on the operators’ public calculators, without an account or login.
• Same amounts: €100, €500 and €1,000 sent from France, received in US dollars. None of the calculators consulted offers Lebanese pounds: Western Union refuses that currency for Lebanon, and Wise says it does not support it yet.
• Total cost: we compare the dollars received with what you would have got at the reference rate, with no fee. Example: you pay €101.99 and your relative receives USD 100.90; at the reference rate, €101.99 is worth USD 114.28; the total cost is therefore 11.7%.
• Reference rate: the euro reference rate published by the European Central Bank on 22 October 2026, €1 = USD 1.1205 (the rate for 23 October had not yet been published at the time of the quotes). The ECB publishes these rates every working day at around 4 p.m. Central European Time, for information purposes only.
• Not recorded: MoneyGram, Ria and WorldRemit, whose calculators could not be read without a browser (access refused or anti-bot check); Wise, which sends dollars to a bank account in Lebanon by international transfer, with fees that depend on intermediary banks; banks, which do not publish their daily exchange rate. Prices change without notice: run the quote again on the day you send.

Our method applies to this data. Did you pay a different price for a transfer to Lebanon? Submit it: the next updates will take it into account.

The channels available in France

• Transfer apps and websites (Remitly, Sendwave, Taptap Send, WorldRemit, Western Union online, among others): you pay by card or from your bank account; your relative collects dollars from an agent in Lebanon or receives them in a mobile wallet.
• Western Union at an agent: you fill in a form and pay cash at the counter, according to Western Union. According to the same page, you cannot send more than €1,000 per transaction until Western Union has verified your identity, then €5,000 after verification.
• Bank transfer: from your French bank to an account in Lebanon, in dollars. See the next section. Wise also offers dollar transfers to a bank account in Lebanon (Wise page); its cost was not recorded.

Whish and OMT in France. Neither Lebanese network publishes any branch in France: the Whish FAQ mentions branches outside Lebanon only in Canada, and no company in their name appears in the French REGAFI register. From France, Whish is reached through the apps that pay out through it (Remitly, Sendwave, Taptap Send). OMT is Western Union’s agent in Lebanon: a Western Union transfer sent from France is collected at OMT. Be wary of any intermediary in France calling itself a “Whish agent” or an “OMT agent”: ask which institution it acts for, then check that name in the register.

Transfers from a French bank: the published fees

A transfer to Lebanon is a “non-SEPA” transfer. Here are the fees published by three large banks for an order placed online (shared charges: you pay your bank’s fees, the rest is deducted along the way):

• BNP Paribas: €15 for an online transfer in euros or in a currency other than that of the beneficiary’s country, which is the case for dollars to Lebanon (€3 to a BNP Paribas subsidiary), €20 in branch, where you can also pay €20.50 more to cover the beneficiary bank’s charges. The bank warns that an additional charge is deducted from any dollar transfer above USD 100 to a country other than the United States (fees of its US correspondent bank), and that its exchange rate includes its commercial margin (prices as of 1 January 2026).
• La Banque Postale: 0.10% of the amount, at least €9.90 online (€15.50 at a post office), plus a €10 currency conversion fee, so €19.90 for €100, €500 or €1,000. Option: up to €18 to cover correspondent charges. These amounts are unchanged in its price list from 1 January 2027.
• SG (Société Générale): €9 up to €500, €13 above, from the online banking area or the app; €23 more with the “Our” option, where you also pay the foreign banks’ charges (prices as of 1 October 2026). The bank gives an example of its exchange margin: to buy USD 1,000 on 6 October 2025, the rate of 1.1678 became 1.1515 after margin.

On top of these fixed fees come the exchange margin, intermediary bank charges, deducted from the amount sent, and the fees of the receiving Lebanese bank. Watch the currency: SG states in its general terms that it automatically converts dollar transfers to a beneficiary outside the United States into the currency of the destination country, when it can presume that the account is held in that currency; you can refuse any automatic conversion in writing. Before a transfer to a dollar account in Lebanon, tell your bank the account currency and check on the order that the transfer goes out in dollars.

Receiving into an account in Lebanon. The Banque du Liban distinguishes so-called “fresh” accounts, funded with new money and defined by its Basic Circular No. 150 (Decision No. 13217 of 9 April 2020), from foreign currency deposits made before 31 October 2019, which are subject to capped withdrawals. It excludes them, for example, from the withdrawal calculation of Circular No. 158. Before sending, ask your relative to get written confirmation from their bank on three points: the transfer will be credited to a “fresh” account, it can be withdrawn in dollars, and at what fee.

Checking a service before you send

In France, the ACPR publishes the REGAFI register of institutions authorised to provide payment services in France. Search for the exact company name, not the app name. On 23 October 2026, we found:

• Western Union International Bank GmbH, a credit institution authorised in Austria, with a branch in France; according to its website, it is the entity that provides Western Union’s online service in France;
• Remitly Europe Limited, a payment institution supervised by the Central Bank of Ireland;
• Sendwave SA, Taptap Send Belgium S.A., Wise Europe SA, WorldRemit Belgium and MoneyGram International, payment institutions supervised by the National Bank of Belgium;
• Ria France, a payment institution authorised in France.

Companies authorised in another European Union country appear under “libre prestation de services” (freedom to provide services). The register also lists these institutions’ agents (category “Agent PSP”), for example shops that act as sending points.

In Lebanon, the Banque du Liban publishes the list of electronic payment services providers authorised to carry out transfers. It includes OMT, BOB Finance, Whish Money, MTM and Purpl, among others, with the type of transfers each one is allowed to make (internal, external or both).

In Lebanon: currency, collection, documents required

• Currency: all the services recorded pay out in US dollars. If your relative needs pounds, they exchange them locally.
• Collection at OMT (Western Union): in dollars only, with a valid ID and the 10-digit tracking number (MTCN). OMT deducts a 2% cash-handling fee, shown on the receipt; it says that transfers received in its OMT Pay app are free of charge (OMT).
• Collection at Whish: as cash from an agent, or in the Whish wallet. Whish’s price list shows 1% to withdraw dollars over the counter or at a cash machine from a wallet, and a maximum balance of USD 3,000 for an individual account. Taptap Send, for its part, says its recipients pay no payout fee and that receipts through Whish are capped at USD 5,000 a month. For a Sendwave pickup, the recipient shows an ID, their fingerprint and the pickup code, according to Sendwave.
• From USD 1,000 in cash: under Banque du Liban Basic Decision No. 13769 of 14 November 2025 (Circular No. 3), as in force since 30 June 2026, the provider must verify identity and keep a copy of the ID for each cash transaction, and have an identification form (RF1-A) completed. A transfer of €1,000 (about USD 1,100 at the reference rate) generally reaches that threshold. Proof of the source of funds is required only from USD 10,000 a month, or in case of suspicion.

Sources

• European Central Bank, euro foreign exchange reference rates, rate of 22 October 2026, accessed 23 October 2026.
• ACPR, REGAFI register (in French), data processed on 23 October 2026, accessed 23 October 2026.
• Banque du Liban, “List of Electronic Payment Services Providers”, January 2026 document, accessed 23 October 2026.
• Banque du Liban, Basic Circular No. 3 and Basic Decision No. 13769 of 14 November 2025, amended by Intermediate Decision No. 13815 of 4 May 2026, in force since 30 June 2026.
• Banque du Liban, Basic Circular No. 158 (Decision No. 13335), September 2026 version, accessed 23 October 2026.
• Western Union France, “Envoyer de l’argent au Liban” (in French) and its calculator, data as of 23 October 2026.
• Remitly, “Envoyer de l’argent au Liban de France”, its rates and fees page (in French) and its calculator, data as of 23 October 2026.
• Sendwave, “Envoyez de l’argent vers le Liban de la France” (in French) and its calculator, data as of 23 October 2026.
• Taptap Send, “Envoyez de l’argent au Liban” (in French), its public rate file and its licences page, data as of 23 October 2026.
• Wise, “Envoyez de l’argent vers le Liban” and WorldRemit, “Envoyez de l’argent vers le Liban” (in French), accessed 23 October 2026.
• BNP Paribas, prices and terms for personal customers (in French), prices as of 1 January 2026.
• La Banque Postale, prices and terms for personal customers as of 1 January 2026 and as of 1 January 2027 (in French).
• SG, prices and terms for personal banking as of 1 October 2026, and general terms of the account agreement from 2 February 2026 (in French).
• OMT, “Western Union International Money Transfer”, accessed 23 October 2026.
• Whish Money, “Fees & Commissions” and FAQ, accessed 23 October 2026.

Checked on 23.10.2026. Price data as of 23.10.2026: it will be collected again at each update of the series.