Cheapest Way to Send Money Malaysia to Singapore 2026: Wise vs Banks vs Remittance Apps
RM 78.45. That is what Maybank's exchange rate took on a RM 5,000 transfer to Singapore on the morning of 21 August 2026, while Maybank was refunding the RM 10.80 fee and calling the transfer free. Both numbers are real. Only the small one is advertised.
Wise above about RM 1,260, Instarem below it, and no bank at any amount. On RM 5,000, Wise landed S$1,560.02 in Singapore against S$1,554.30 through Instarem and S$1,545.31 through Maybank with the fee fully waived. On RM 1,000 the order flips and Instarem wins. The banks lose on every amount we priced, and they lose on the exchange rate rather than the fee, which is why a waived fee does not rescue them.
The Fee Is The Part Everyone Quotes
Malaysia to Singapore is the one corridor where the banks' printed fees are genuinely low, and most roundups get this wrong in the bank's favour by accident. They apply the generic RM 30 telegraphic transfer charge to Singapore. Both major banks publish a separate, cheaper Singapore tier.
Maybank splits it three ways. Through Maybank2u or the MAE app the service fee is RM 10 to any country in any currency. Walk into a branch and the cable charge becomes RM 30 to everywhere on earth except Singapore in SGD, which is RM 10 from a Peninsular Malaysia branch and RM 15 from an East Malaysia branch. That East Malaysia line is on Maybank's own fee table and we have not seen it reproduced anywhere else.
CIMB does the same thing in its telegraphic transfer table. Singapore Dollar is RM 10 at a branch; every other currency is RM 30. Its SpeedSend product is a flat RM 10. Both banks state that an 8% SST applies on top, which is what turns RM 10 into RM 10.80.
Then there is one charge that only exists because the destination is Singapore. Maybank Overseas Transfer costs nothing extra if the money lands at Maybank Singapore Limited or Malayan Banking Berhad Singapore Branch. To any other Singapore bank (DBS, OCBC, UOB, where most people actually bank), Maybank states an agent bank fee of S$2.20. It is small, it is disclosed, and it is deducted in the destination currency, so it is easy to miss on the receipt.
What Each Route Actually Landed In Singapore
Every cell below is computed on one method, and the method is under the table. The only column that matters to the person receiving the money is the last one.
| Route | Fee incl. SST | Rate used | All-in cost | % of send | Recipient gets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sending RM 1,000 → SGD | |||||
| Instarem, first transfer | waived | 0.3140 | RM 1.38 | 0.14% | S$314.00 |
| Instarem, standard 1% fee | 10.00 | 0.3139 | RM 11.68 | 1.17% | S$310.76 |
| Wise | 13.16 | mid-market | RM 13.40 | 1.34% | S$310.22 |
| Maybank Overseas Transfer | 10.80 | 3.2310 | RM 33.32 | 3.33% | S$303.96 |
| Sending RM 5,000 → SGD | |||||
| Wise | 37.43 | mid-market | RM 38.66 | 0.77% | S$1,560.02 |
| Instarem, standard 1% fee | 50.00 | 0.3140 | RM 56.85 | 1.14% | S$1,554.30 |
| Maybank MOT, fee waived | 0.00 | 3.2310 | RM 85.44 | 1.71% | S$1,545.31 |
| Maybank MOT, normal fee | 10.80 | 3.2310 | RM 96.07 | 1.92% | S$1,541.97 |
How every figure was produced. Reference rate: 1 MYR = 0.314435 SGD, Wise's published mid-market feed at 06:00:13 MYT on 21 August 2026. Wise and Instarem totals are live quotes for those exact amounts, pulled at 06:01 and 06:03 the same morning, funded by online banking. Maybank's fee schedule and its Selling TT/OD board rate of 3.2310 (page stamped 20 Aug 2026, 5:31 PM) come from Maybank's own pages.
All-in cost = amount sent − (SGD received ÷ mid-market rate). One formula for every row, so fee-free routes and fee-heavy routes are measured the same way. Maybank's rows include the S$2.20 agent bank fee, because the comparison only makes sense for a transfer to a non-Maybank Singapore bank. Maybank's spread alone: 1 − (1 ÷ 3.2310) ÷ 0.314435 = 1.569%, which is RM 78.45 on RM 5,000 against a fee of RM 10.80.
Wise's pricing fits a straight line. RM 13.16 on RM 1,000 and RM 37.43 on RM 5,000 resolve to RM 7.09 fixed plus 0.607%, reproducing both quotes to the sen, which is how we checked we had read them correctly. Instarem's all-in is a flat 1% fee plus about 0.17% on the rate. Setting the two equal puts the crossover at RM 1,259.
Two honest weaknesses. Instarem's RM 1,000 quote came back with the fee waived and the API flagging it as a first transfer, while the RM 5,000 quote was charged the full 1% — so we have shown both the promotional and the standard row rather than picking the flattering one. And Maybank's board rate is an indicative rate published the previous evening; Maybank itself says to confirm at a branch.
CIMB is deliberately absent from this table. Its RM 10 fee is public and competitive. Its exchange rate is not published anywhere, and the rate is where roughly 97% of the cost lives, so an estimate would be a guess wearing a decimal point.
Want to check your own amount before committing? Wise shows the exchange rate and the full fee before you create an account, so you can price your exact figure against the table above in about two minutes and walk away if your bank wins.
Price your MYR to SGD transfer, no signup neededWhy A Waived Fee Still Costs You RM 78
Maybank is running a real promotion and it is worth taking if you are already using Maybank. Between 25 June and 31 December 2026 it refunds the RM 10.80 service fee on Maybank Overseas Transfer to Singapore, on a minimum of RM 5,000 for individuals and RM 10,000 for sole proprietors. Terms and caps apply on Maybank's campaign page.
Here is the problem with reading that as free. On the same RM 5,000, Maybank's Selling TT rate of 3.2310 against a mid-market rate of 0.314435 costs RM 78.45. The refunded fee is worth RM 10.80. The bank is returning about one seventh of what it takes, and the part it returns is the part printed on your receipt.
This is not a Maybank problem, it is a bank problem, and it is the same pattern we found when we computed the full cost of a Malaysian bank telegraphic transfer across three banks and three amounts: spreads of 1.6% to 2.1%, against fees of RM 10. The fee is flat, so it shrinks as a percentage while the spread does not. The bigger your transfer, the more the advertised number misleads.
Fastest And Cheapest Are Not The Same Route
If you commute across the Causeway or you are paying rent that clears on a date, speed is not a tiebreaker — it is the requirement. The two answers genuinely differ on this corridor, and the cutoffs are not on any comparison page we found.
Maybank Overseas Transfer is real-time to Maybank Singapore Limited and Malayan Banking Berhad Singapore Branch. To any other Singapore bank, Maybank states that a transfer made after 4pm goes the next Singapore working day. Send at 4:05pm on a Friday to a DBS account and you are looking at Monday.
CIMB carries a different clock. Its cross-border transfers to Singapore run 24/7 including weekends and public holidays, but its live FX rates are only quoted between 8:30am and 6pm on Kuala Lumpur business days. Transfers to your own CIMB Singapore FastSaver account carry no fee at all; SpeedSend to any other Singapore bank is the flat RM 10.
Wise and Instarem both quoted arrival in seconds for MYR to SGD, at any hour, with no working-day qualifier. On this corridor the cheapest routes are also the fastest, which is not true of every corridor and is worth knowing before you pay a bank for urgency it may not deliver after 4pm.
Check today's MYR to SGD rate in 2 minutesSmall Amounts Have A Different Answer
Under roughly RM 1,260, Wise stops being the cheapest option, and we are saying that on a page that earns a commission from Wise. Wise's RM 7.09 fixed component dominates on small transfers: it is 0.71% of RM 1,000 before the variable fee is added. Instarem's flat 1% with a thin 0.17% rate margin came out at RM 11.68 all-in against Wise's RM 13.40 on RM 1,000.
The gap is RM 1.72, so do not restructure your life around it. It matters if you send small amounts weekly rather than large amounts occasionally. A commuter sending RM 800 home every week is making 52 of these decisions a year, and the annual difference is around RM 90. We compared the two platforms in more detail in our Wise vs Instarem breakdown.
For genuinely small everyday amounts there is a fourth route. The PayNow-DuitNow linkage connects the two countries' real-time payment rails, and the Malaysian participants are Maybank, CIMB and TNG Digital. It is designed for everyday sums, not salary transfers: Maybank applies a RM 3,000 daily sub-limit to DuitNow Overseas Transfer, against a RM 49,999 combined daily limit for its other overseas products. If you are splitting a dinner bill across the Causeway rather than moving rent money, it is the least friction available.
Our Verdict
Our pick: Wise for anything above about RM 1,260 — and it pays us a commission, which is exactly why we priced its competitors ourselves and published the amount where it loses. On RM 5,000 it landed S$1,560.02, which was S$5.72 more than Instarem and S$14.71 more than a Maybank transfer with the fee entirely waived.
Use Instarem below that crossover, and especially for a first transfer, where a waived fee took the all-in cost on RM 1,000 down to RM 1.38. That is the cheapest single number anywhere in this article, and a promotional one you should confirm still applies before relying on it.
Use a bank when the bank is the point. If both accounts are Maybank, or both are CIMB, the agent fee disappears, the transfer is real-time, and CIMB charges nothing at all between your own accounts. If you need a bank-issued trail for a rental, visa or property file, that is a real reason too. Just do not choose a bank because the fee looked small. On this corridor the fee is the smallest honest number on the page.
And if you are sending somewhere other than Singapore, the ranking does not carry over; corridor economics differ enough that we keep a separate Malaysia international transfer comparison for that.
Price it yourself before you send anything. Wise publishes the rate and the total fee upfront without an account, so checking your own amount against this table takes about two minutes. If your bank wins on your figures, send it through your bank.
See your real MYR to SGD rate, no account neededFrequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest way to send money from Malaysia to Singapore?
It depends on the amount, and the crossover is around RM 1,260. Below that, Instarem was cheaper in our 21 August 2026 pricing: RM 11.68 all-in on RM 1,000 against Wise's RM 13.40. Above it, Wise wins and the gap widens, because Wise charges roughly RM 7.09 plus 0.607% while Instarem charges a flat 1% fee plus about 0.17% on the rate. On RM 5,000 that is RM 38.66 through Wise against RM 56.85 through Instarem. Both beat every bank route we priced.
How much does Maybank charge to transfer money to Singapore?
RM 10 as a service fee through Maybank2u or the MAE app, which becomes RM 10.80 once the 8% SST is added. At a branch, Maybank publishes a Singapore-specific cable charge instead: RM 10 from a Peninsular Malaysia branch and RM 15 from an East Malaysia branch, against RM 30 to every other country. There is also an agent bank fee of S$2.20 when the money goes to a Singapore bank other than Maybank Singapore Limited or Malayan Banking Berhad Singapore Branch.
Is Maybank's fee waiver on transfers to Singapore actually worth taking?
It is worth RM 10.80, and it is not the number that decides this. Maybank is refunding that fee on transfers of RM 5,000 or more via Maybank Overseas Transfer between 25 June and 31 December 2026. On that same RM 5,000, the gap between Maybank's Selling TT rate of 3.2310 and the mid-market rate cost RM 78.45. The waived fee is worth about one seventh of what the exchange rate takes, so a fully waived Maybank transfer still landed S$14.71 less in Singapore than Wise did the same morning.
How long does a transfer from Malaysia to Singapore take?
Wise and Instarem both quoted arrival in seconds for MYR to SGD on 21 August 2026. Maybank Overseas Transfer is real-time to Maybank Singapore Limited and Malayan Banking Berhad Singapore Branch. To any other Singapore bank there is a cutoff most comparisons miss: Maybank states that a transfer sent after 4pm arrives the next Singapore working day. CIMB's live FX rates are only quoted between 8:30am and 6pm on Kuala Lumpur business days.
Why does CIMB not appear in the cost table?
Because CIMB does not publish the exchange rate it applies. CIMB's fee is easy to find and genuinely competitive at RM 10 plus 8% SST, and its Singapore Dollar telegraphic transfer tier is RM 10 against RM 30 for all other currencies at a branch. But its SpeedSend and cross-border pages describe the rate only as live and competitive. Roughly 97% of the cost of a bank transfer sits in the rate, so quoting CIMB's fee as its cost would be the exact mistake this article exists to correct.
Can I use DuitNow to send money to Singapore?
Yes, through the PayNow-DuitNow linkage, and the Malaysian participants are Maybank, CIMB and TNG Digital. It is built for small everyday amounts rather than salary or property money: Maybank applies a RM 3,000 daily sub-limit to DuitNow Overseas Transfer, separate from and much lower than the RM 49,999 combined daily limit that covers its other overseas transfer products.
Do these numbers change tomorrow?
The fees rarely move. The rates move constantly. Every figure here prices a single 15-minute window on the morning of 21 August 2026, against a mid-market rate of 1 MYR = 0.314435 SGD. Treat the percentages and the RM 1,260 crossover as the durable findings, and the ringgit amounts as a snapshot. Re-price your own amount before you send.
Last updated: 21 August 2026. Wise and Instarem priced live for MYR to SGD on the morning of 21 August 2026. Maybank and CIMB fees verified from each bank's own published schedules; Maybank's Selling TT/OD board rate of 3.2310 was stamped 20 August 2026, 5:31 PM. Exchange rates change daily, so re-price your own amount before sending.