How to Send Money to El Salvador in 2026: Fees, Apps & the New 1% Tax

Why Remittances Matter So Much for El Salvador

If you send money home every month, you’re part of the single biggest flow of dollars into the Salvadoran economy. According to the Banco Central de Reserva (BCR), families in El Salvador received a record $9.99 billion in 2025. Remittances equal roughly 24% of GDP, Bloomberg Línea reported, and BCR data show about 99 of every 100 remittance dollars go to household consumption — groceries, school, medicine, utilities.

Growth has slowed in 2026. From January through August, remittances totaled $6,788.3 million, up just 3.8% after an 18.4% jump the year before, when fear of US immigration enforcement pushed many Salvadorans to send savings home early. The United States supplied $6,261 million (92.2%). The national average transfer was $362.20, higher in Chalatenango ($477.80), Cabañas ($456.80) and Morazán ($424.80). December is always the peak: $961.12 million arrived in December 2025, the biggest month in the series.

Those numbers explain why every fintech wants your transfer — and why a dollar or two per send adds up. Twelve transfers a year at $8 each is almost $100 that never reaches your family.

The One Thing That Makes El Salvador Different: Dollars In, Dollars Out

For most countries, remittance companies make much of their money on the exchange rate — the gap between the market rate and the rate they give you. El Salvador has used the US dollar since 2001, so a transfer from the US is USD to USD. Remitly’s own El Salvador pricing page shows the rate as 1 USD = 1.00 USD.

That makes the comparison simple: add up the transfer fee, any funding fee, and any fee your relative pays to collect. Ignore marketing about “great exchange rates” — they don’t apply here.

The New 1% US Remittance Tax (and How to Avoid It)

The One Big Beautiful Bill created a federal remittance transfer tax. According to the IRS, beginning January 1, 2026, a 1% tax applies to remittances sent from the United States when the sender pays the provider with cash, a money order, a cashier’s check or a similar physical instrument. The sender owes it, and providers collect it. Treasury and the IRS published proposed regulations in April 2026 to define exactly which instruments count.

What this means in practice:

• Paying $362 in cash at an agent? Expect about $3.62 in tax on top of the transfer fee.
• Paying from your bank account or with a debit card in an app is not a cash or physical-instrument payment.
• If you’ve always paid cash at the corner store, switching to an app linked to your bank account is now the easiest 1% you’ll ever save.

Remittance Methods Compared (October 2026)

Below is what each option publishes about its pricing for US → El Salvador transfers. Where a company doesn’t publish a fixed fee table, we say so instead of guessing — check the final quote in the app before you confirm.

What those fees look like in real dollars

Using Remitly’s published structure for a bank deposit (the only provider here with a full public fee table) against Sivar’s flat fee:

Notice the quirk: with Remitly’s tiers, sending $500 costs less in fees than sending $499, because the percentage drops from 1.22% to 0.7% at $500. If you send around that amount, round up — or combine two months into one transfer.

The Options, One by One

Remitly

Remitly is the most transparent on price for this corridor: 1.22% of the amount plus $3.99 for bank deposit or mobile wallet under $500, 0.7% plus $3.99 at $500 or more, and a dollar more ($4.99) for cash pickup. New customers get the first transfer with no fee. You can pay by bank account, debit card or credit card — but card issuers may treat credit-card payments as cash advances, with their own fees.

Xoom (a PayPal service)

Xoom delivers to bank accounts at Banco Agrícola, BAC, Banco Cuscatlán and others, straight to a relative’s Visa or Mastercard debit card, or for cash pickup at BAC, Davivienda, Banco Agrícola, Remesas Familiares Cusca and more, and says deposits typically arrive in minutes. It shows the exact fee before you hit send and currently advertises $0 transfer fees on eligible USD transactions. Check whether your transfer qualifies on the quote screen.

Western Union

Western Union still has the biggest physical footprint: payout partners include Airpak, Banco Agrícola, Banco Fedecrédito and Banco Davivienda, plus Credomatic, Federación de Cajas de Crédito and Banco Cuscatlán. You can send up to $5,000 to Banco Agrícola accounts. Fees vary by amount, channel and location, so use its online estimator before you go to an agent.

Sivar: the $2 flat-fee newcomer

Launched nationally at the end of September 2026, Sivar is built by US tech company Modveon under a five-year contract with AAB, a Salvadoran public institution. Coinbase provides the payments infrastructure, and balances settle in the USDC stablecoin on the Base network — but you and your family see dollars. Launch coverage reports a flat $2 fee per transfer between the US and El Salvador, a $25 minimum, free wallet-to-wallet transfers inside El Salvador, and possible extra fees for card top-ups or cash withdrawals. Users in El Salvador verify their identity with their DUI.

It’s the cheapest headline price on this list. The trade-offs: it’s brand new, your relatives need to be comfortable with an app, and the cost of turning the balance into cash depends on how they withdraw. Our Sivar explainer covers how it works.

Bitcoin: El Salvador’s experiment, honestly assessed

You can send bitcoin over the Lightning Network to a relative’s wallet in seconds for a tiny network fee. But the numbers show families haven’t embraced it for remittances. According to BCR figures reported by Bloomberg Línea, remittances through crypto wallets fell 32.5% in 2025, from $85.5 million to $57.67 million. They rebounded in early 2026 — $11.6 million in January–February, up 146.4% — but that was still only 0.8% of all remittances.

A few realities to know before you choose bitcoin:

• Accepting bitcoin is now voluntary. After the 2025 reform of the Bitcoin Law tied to El Salvador’s IMF program, businesses don’t have to take it. Most families will convert to dollars.
• Chivo changed hands. According to the IMF’s October 2026 review, the government transferred majority ownership and operational control of the Chivo wallet to Chivo LP, controlled by The Fintex Group / Linguard Labs, on May 20, 2026. The new operator can introduce new products and charge user fees. See our Chivo help page if your family still uses it.
• Strike’s “Send Globally” doesn’t list El Salvador as a cash-out country (checked October 2026), so a Strike-to-wallet transfer still leaves conversion to the recipient.
• Price swings matter if your relative holds bitcoin instead of converting right away.

If your family already lives in the bitcoin economy — for example around Bitcoin Beach in El Zonte — it can work well. For grandma in Chalatenango, a bank deposit or the cash window is still the norm.

How Families Actually Collect the Money

Before you pick a service, ask your family how they want to receive it. In January–February 2026, BCR data show 58.4% of remittances were paid out at a window (cash pickup) and 37.1% were deposited into accounts. Cash pickup is still king — but it means a trip to an agency, often a line in December, and carrying cash home.

Seven Ways to Send Smarter

1. Don’t pay cash at the counter if you can avoid it. The 1% tax only bites on cash, money orders and cashier’s checks.
2. Send larger amounts less often. Flat fees punish small, frequent transfers. One $600 send costs less than three $200 sends with almost any provider.
3. Watch tier breakpoints. At Remitly, $500 is cheaper to send than $499.
4. Avoid credit cards unless you know your issuer won’t charge a cash-advance fee.
5. Send before mid-December. December is the busiest month of the year; early transfers dodge pickup lines.
6. Double-check names. Deposits can be rejected when the name doesn’t match the account holder exactly.
7. Beware of scams. No legitimate agency asks you to send money to “release” a package, a prize or a detained relative. Call your family directly first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a limit on how much I can send?

Each provider sets its own limits, which usually rise as you verify your identity. Western Union, for example, allows up to $5,000 to Banco Agrícola accounts. Large transfers may require extra documentation in the US.

Is it cheaper to bring cash when I visit?

It’s free, but think about safety and the rules: travelers must declare more than $15,000 in cash when entering or leaving El Salvador, and the US requires a report when you carry more than $10,000 out of the country. Read our guide to visiting family in El Salvador for customs details.

Is Sivar run by the government?

Accounts differ. Modveon describes Sivar as operated under a five-year contract with AAB, a Salvadoran public institution, while El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office has said the government doesn’t plan to launch or operate crypto or stablecoin wallets itself. Either way, treat it like any fintech app: start small and confirm cash-out costs.

¿Cuál es la forma más barata de enviar dinero a El Salvador?

Como El Salvador usa el dólar, no hay tipo de cambio: lo que importa es la comisión. Paga con cuenta bancaria o tarjeta de débito para evitar el impuesto del 1% sobre remesas pagadas en efectivo, giro postal o cheque de caja (vigente desde el 1 de enero de 2026). Remitly publica 1.22% + $3.99 por depósito bancario menor a $500 y 0.7% + $3.99 desde $500; la nueva app Sivar anuncia una tarifa fija de $2. ¿Dudas? Pregúntale al asistente de ia.sv.

Bottom Line

Sending money to El Salvador is simpler than to almost anywhere else in Latin America, because there’s no currency to convert. Pay from your bank account, send in bigger chunks, choose the delivery method your family can actually use, and you’ll keep more of every dollar where it belongs — at home. For everything else about staying connected, visit our hub for Salvadorans in the USA.