Send money to Latvia from Ireland
Latvia is in the eurozone, so a euro balance in Ireland sends euro and a Latvian account receives euro. Grey delivers by SEPA to Swedbank Latvia, SEB Latvia and Citadele Bank, typically within minutes from a funded balance, with the fee visible before you confirm and no conversion waiting at the other end.
EUR
EUR
-
Trusted by 3M+ people around the world
GOOGLE PLAY •22K REVIEWS
APP STORE • 12K REVIEWS
Latvians in Ireland, and the money that goes home
The Latvian community in Ireland dates from 2004 and is now one of the largest in the country. Like the Lithuanians who arrived alongside them, Latvians did not concentrate in Dublin. They went where the work was, which meant food production, meat plants, care work, haulage and construction in Drogheda, Dundalk, Ennis, Longford and a dozen towns of that size.
Two decades on, the payments going east are the payments of settled people. A parent's pension being topped up in Daugavpils or Liepāja, the utilities on a flat in Riga, a daughter at college, and the flights and funerals that no household budgets for in advance.
Latvia joined the euro in 2014, which makes this one of the simplest corridors Grey runs from Ireland. Euro leaves, euro arrives, and nobody's bank takes a turn at converting it.
Sending euro from Ireland to Latvia, step by step
Set up
The account is free and opens in about five minutes with a valid identity document, typically a Latvian passport or ID card for people who moved here after 2004.
Load euro
Transfer euro to your Grey balance from whichever Irish bank pays you, AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, An Post Money or a Credit Union account.
Send to the LV IBAN
Enter the Latvian IBAN and account holder's name, look at the fee, and confirm. The euro travels by SEPA to Swedbank, SEB or Citadele.
The cost of sending euro to Latvia
Plenty of corridors deserve a long explanation of exchange margins. This one does not. The euro figure you enter in Ireland is the euro figure credited in Riga, and the only number to look at is the fee.
The exception is money that starts in another currency. Sterling earned across the border, or dollars sitting in a USD balance provided by Lead Bank, converts into euro once before the transfer leaves, at a rate you see in advance.
When a rate applies and when it does not
Sending euro to Latvia involves no conversion, so there is no rate to fix. The confirmation screen shows the fee and the amount landing, and that is all it has to show.
Where a conversion is involved, because your balance is in sterling or dollars, the rate is displayed beforehand and fixed when you confirm. It happens once, on the Irish side, and the euro reaching Latvia is not touched again.
Grey against a bank transfer from Ireland to Latvia
Being straight about it, a euro payment from an Irish bank to a Latvian IBAN is a plain SEPA transfer and your bank can do it. Grey is the better tool when your money is not already euro, when you send to Latvia and to somewhere outside Europe in the same month, or when you want one record of what every transfer cost. Revolut is common in Ireland and many readers here already have it. Compare on the fee and on whether one app covers the rest of what you send.
What the Latvian account shows
A euro credit on a Latvian IBAN, indistinguishable from a domestic payment. Your recipient needs no Grey account and does nothing on arrival.
Swedbank, SEB and Citadele
The banks Latvian households actually use are supported. Enter the LV IBAN and the euro moves by SEPA, typically arriving within minutes.
Nothing to convert
Because Latvia is in the euro, the receiving bank is not exchanging anything and the amount credited is the amount you sent.
GreyTag between accounts
If your sister in Riga also uses Grey, send by GreyTag instead. It is free, instant, and needs no IBAN at all.
Funding habits that make this easier
Latvian households in Ireland tend to send on a schedule, so the balance is worth treating as a standing arrangement rather than something you fill in a hurry.
Move it on payday
Push the month's euro across when your wages arrive, then send to Latvia whenever the bills at home fall due.
Hold a little extra
An unexpected cost in Daugavpils rarely waits for a bank transfer to clear, so a small buffer on the balance is worth keeping.
Store the IBAN
Save the Latvian account details after the first transfer and every repeat payment becomes a matter of choosing an amount.
Transfers are encrypted and trackable end to end, so if a payment for a family bill in Liepāja has not been mentioned, you can see where it is rather than ring the bank.
What Ireland to Latvia payments are for
Parents and pensions
Adding to a small pension in Daugavpils or Rēzekne. Heating in January, medicines, a repair to the flat. The same amount most months.
A flat kept in Riga
Communal charges, utilities and maintenance on property nobody has given up. Sometimes a mortgage still being paid from an Irish wage.
Study and young people
Rent and fees for a student in Riga or Jelgava while the parents work in Ennis. Frequent, modest amounts rather than one large payment.
Travel, weddings and funerals
Flights, a share of a wedding, a funeral organised at short notice. The Latvian side arranges it and the money has to be there in days, not weeks.
Twenty years of settled families in Irish towns produce a predictable set of obligations at home.
What Grey gives this corridor
The simplest corridor Grey runs out of Ireland, and worth saying so
Open the free account, move euro from your Irish bank onto the balance, and enter the Latvian IBAN. The payment goes by SEPA to Swedbank, SEB or Citadele, typically within minutes, and the fee is the only number you need to weigh up.
FAQs
Will anything be converted when euro reaches a Latvian account?
No. Latvia joined the euro in 2014, so the amount you send from Ireland is the amount credited in Latvia.
Which Latvian banks can Grey send to?
Swedbank Latvia, SEB Latvia and Citadele Bank all receive through SEPA. You need the LV IBAN and the account holder's name.
How quickly does money from Ireland reach Riga?
From a funded euro balance the SEPA credit typically arrives in the Latvian account within minutes of your confirmation.
What does a transfer from Ireland to Latvia cost?
Only the fee, which is shown before you confirm. No exchange rate is applied, because both countries use the euro.
Does my mother in Daugavpils need to register with Grey?
No. She receives an ordinary euro credit in her own bank account and does nothing at all when it arrives.
Can I pay utilities on a flat in Riga from Ireland?
Yes. Enter the LV IBAN the utility or the management company gave you, and the exact euro figure is credited to it.
What if my money is in dollars rather than euro?
USD held in a balance provided by Lead Bank converts into euro once, at a rate shown first, before the Latvian transfer goes.
How do I get euro onto my Grey balance in Ireland?
By SEPA transfer from an Irish bank or Credit Union account. The euro sits on the balance until you send it to Latvia.
Is a GreyTag transfer an option for family in Latvia?
Yes, if they hold a Grey account. GreyTag transfers are free, instant and do not need a Latvian IBAN.
Can I see where a payment to Latvia has got to?
Yes. Transfers are encrypted and trackable from your confirmation in Ireland through to settlement in the Latvian account.
Can I send to a student in Riga every month?
Yes. Save the Latvian IBAN after the first transfer and each later payment takes a few taps and a confirmation.
Get digital banking
at your fingertips
