Send rand to a South African bank account from Ireland
Your euro balance in Ireland is converted once, into rand, and paid into a South African account at FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank or Capitec. You need two details from your recipient rather than one: the account number and the branch code. From a funded balance the money typically reaches the account within minutes.
EUR
ZAR
-
Trusted by 3M+ people around the world
GOOGLE PLAY •22K REVIEWS
APP STORE • 12K REVIEWS
A corridor that runs in both directions
Ireland and South Africa trade people more than most pairs of countries this far apart. South African nurses, doctors, radiographers and IT contractors have been arriving here for years, filling roles in Dublin hospitals, in Cork and Galway, and across the multinational offices. Their parents, their siblings and often a property are still in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban or Pretoria.
The traffic goes the other way too. Irish engineers, agri-food people and mining professionals have settled in Gauteng and the Western Cape, and Irish companies pay South African contractors and agencies from Dublin. Both sets of people end up doing the same thing: converting euro into rand on a regular basis and wanting the figure to be right.
The rand is a more volatile currency than most on Grey's European routes, which changes the emphasis on this page. It is not really a question of whether the money arrives, because it arrives as a normal credit at any South African bank. It is a question of how many rand arrive, and whether that number is settled before you commit or after.
Grey converts once, shows the rand figure and the fee together before you confirm, and fixes the rate at that point. Your recipient in South Africa sees a domestic looking deposit and needs no Grey account of their own.
Sending euro to South Africa, step by step
Open the account
It is free, takes roughly five minutes and needs one valid identity document. Do it before you ask anyone in South Africa for banking details.
Fund in euro
Move euro onto the balance from AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, An Post Money, a credit union or Revolut.
Convert and pay out
Enter the South African account number and branch code, check the rand figure and the fee, and confirm. Payment lands as a normal bank credit.
What it costs to move euro into rand
On a currency that moves as much as the rand, the rate is usually the larger of the two. A provider showing no fee at all still has to buy the rand somewhere, and the difference shows up in the number your family in Durban or Bloemfontein actually sees on their statement.
The honest way to compare anyone on this corridor, Grey included, is to take the same euro amount and write down the rand each service says will arrive. That single figure captures the fee and the rate at once, and it is the only number the person at the South African end ever experiences.
The rand amount is settled before you commit
The euro to rand rate is shown before confirmation and fixed at that moment. Whatever the rand does during the hour after you press send, the deposit at FNB or Capitec matches what you were quoted.
This matters more here than on a euro to euro route. If you are covering school fees for a term, a medical aid contribution or a bond instalment, the amount has to be exact in rand, not approximately right. Fixing the rate at confirmation is what lets you promise a figure to someone in South Africa and then keep it.
Grey compared with an international transfer from an Irish bank
This is not a SEPA payment, so your Irish bank cannot treat it as one. A euro to rand transfer from AIB or Bank of Ireland goes out as an international payment, priced as an international payment, and converted at a rate you generally see once the transaction is under way rather than while you are deciding. Grey turns that order around. The rand figure and the fee are on screen before you confirm, the rate is fixed at that moment, and the transfer is trackable to settlement at the South African bank. You also keep the euro on a balance between payments, which suits anyone sending to South Africa monthly rather than once, and GreyTag moves money free and instantly if the person on the other side is on Grey too.
What the person in South Africa sees
Rand in their own account, showing like any domestic electronic transfer. No collection, no code, and no need to sign up to anything.
The major banks and the rest
FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank and Capitec are all covered. Enter the account number together with the branch code in the Grey app.
How quickly
From a funded balance the rand typically reaches the South African account within minutes rather than on a next day cycle.
Both of you on Grey
If your brother in Cape Town or your contractor in Pretoria also uses Grey, GreyTag moves the money free and instantly instead.
Keeping the euro side ready
People sending to South Africa regularly tend to watch the rate, so the useful habit is having euro in place and being able to act on a day you like.
Fund ahead of the date
School fees and bond payments in South Africa fall due on fixed days. Have the euro on Grey before then, not on the morning itself.
Convert when you choose
Holding euro rather than sending immediately lets you pick your moment on a currency that can move noticeably within a single week.
Top up from another Grey user
Siblings splitting the cost of a parent's care in South Africa can send their share to you by GreyTag before you make the one payment.
Save the account number and branch code the first time a transfer succeeds, and the next month is a matter of checking the rand figure and confirming.
Why money moves from Ireland to South Africa
Parents who stayed
The most common reason of all. A nurse or engineer in Ireland covering monthly costs, medical aid or care for parents in Durban, Pretoria or the Eastern Cape.
School and university fees
South African fees are billed by term and by year in rand. The amount has to be exact, which is why the rate being fixed at confirmation matters.
A property left behind
Bond instalments, levies on a sectional title flat, rates and municipal accounts on a house being held or let out while you work in Ireland.
Paying South African work
Irish businesses paying developers, designers and agencies in Johannesburg or Cape Town, where invoices are usually raised in rand.
The reasons cluster tightly on this corridor, and most of them repeat on a monthly or termly rhythm.
Why use Grey between Ireland and South Africa
Two details and one decision. Get the account number and branch code, then settle which figure is fixed: the euro leaving Ireland or the rand arriving.
Those are different jobs. If you promise your mother in Port Elizabeth a set number of rand every month, the euro you part with will vary, and you will want to convert on a day you are happy with. If you budget in euro instead, the rand will vary and the household at the other end needs to know that. Grey shows you both numbers before you confirm, so you can choose deliberately rather than find out afterwards.
FAQs
Do I need a branch code as well as an account number to pay a South African bank?
Yes. A South African payout needs both, so ask your recipient for the branch code at the same time as the account number.
Which South African banks can Grey pay into from Ireland?
FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank and Capitec among others. The rand lands as an ordinary credit in the account you name.
Is my euro converted to rand before it reaches South Africa?
Yes, once, inside Grey. The rand figure and the fee appear together before you confirm, and the rate is fixed at that moment.
How long does a transfer from Ireland to South Africa take?
From a funded euro balance the rand typically reaches the South African account within minutes rather than on a next day settlement cycle.
Can I fix the number of rand my family receives each month?
Yes. Decide whether the euro leaving Ireland or the rand arriving is the fixed figure, then confirm at a rate you are happy with.
Does my recipient in Johannesburg or Cape Town need a Grey account?
No. The rand arrives in their existing South African bank account and looks like any domestic electronic transfer on the statement.
Can I pay South African school fees from Ireland?
Yes. Fees are billed in rand by term, so fixing the rate at confirmation lets you send the exact amount the school invoiced.
Why does the rand amount change between one month and the next?
The rand moves more than most currencies Grey handles from Ireland, so the same euro buys a different amount from week to week.
How do I get euro onto Grey before converting to rand?
By SEPA transfer from AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, An Post Money, your credit union or Revolut into your euro balance.
Can an Irish business pay a South African contractor through Grey?
Yes. Enter the contractor's account number and branch code, confirm the rand figure against their invoice, and send from the euro balance.
Is a second fee taken when the rand lands in South Africa?
No. The conversion happens once inside Grey, and what you saw before confirming is what is credited to the receiving account.
Get digital banking
at your fingertips
