Send money from Ireland to Tanzania
Tanzania takes money two ways. Grey pays Tanzanian shillings into a mobile wallet on M-Pesa Tanzania, Tigo Pesa or Airtel Money, or into a bank account at CRDB Bank, NMB Bank, Stanbic Tanzania or Standard Chartered Tanzania. Ask the recipient which they use before you send.
EUR
TZS
-
Trusted by 3M+ people around the world
GOOGLE PLAY •22K REVIEWS
APP STORE • 12K REVIEWS
Wallet or bank account, and the choice is theirs
The first decision on this corridor is not which provider to use. It is which of two payout methods suits the person at the other end, because Tanzania supports both and they behave differently. A mobile wallet is what most people use day to day and it sits in a pocket. A bank account suits larger amounts, a business, a landlord, a school bursar or anyone who has to show where money came from.
Grey converts your euro to Tanzanian shillings once, at a rate fixed when you confirm, and pays out either way. For a wallet you need the recipient's registered mobile number on M-Pesa Tanzania, Tigo Pesa or Airtel Money. For a bank you need their account number at CRDB Bank, NMB Bank, Stanbic Tanzania, Standard Chartered Tanzania or another Tanzanian bank. Either way the shillings arrive as an ordinary local credit and no Grey account is needed to receive them.
From Ireland the traffic is a smaller, more specific crowd than the West African corridors: healthcare staff recruited into hospitals and nursing homes, postgraduate students, and the Irish charitable, medical and volunteer links with Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Mwanza that have produced a steady set of personal and project payments over many years.
Three steps to shillings in Tanzania
Sign up
Open a free Grey account in about five minutes with a valid identity document, a passport or an Irish driving licence.
Fund
Move euro to your Grey balance by SEPA transfer from AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, An Post Money or a credit union.
Send
Choose wallet or bank, enter the mobile number or the account number, check the euro to shilling rate and the fee, and confirm.
The cost of getting euro into shillings
Where senders lose money on this route is rarely the headline fee. It is the chain of small steps that follows a payment landing in the wrong place: cash withdrawn from a wallet that should have gone to a bank, money moved from a bank account onto a phone so it can actually be spent, or a trip into town to collect something that could have arrived on the handset already in the house.
Choosing the right payout at the start removes all of that. Ask the question once, save the recipient with the method they actually use, and the transfers afterwards go where the money is needed rather than where it has to be moved from.
The shilling figure is fixed at confirmation
The euro to shilling rate you see before confirming is the rate applied, and Grey fixes it at that moment. What the confirmation screen says is what reaches the wallet or the account.
On a fixed obligation, a term's fees or a monthly household amount, that removes the guesswork at the receiving end, which is the end where the guesswork actually hurts.
Grey against an international transfer from an Irish bank
An Irish bank can only reach a Tanzanian bank account, and it prices the euro to shilling conversion inside its own rate so you never see the two numbers apart. It cannot pay a mobile wallet at all, which rules out the method most Tanzanian households use. Grey offers both payout routes, quotes the rate and the fee separately, and fixes the rate when you confirm.
What arrives in Tanzania
Tanzanian shillings as a standard local credit, in whichever of the two places the recipient nominated. No Grey account is needed at their end.
Mobile wallets
M-Pesa Tanzania, Tigo Pesa and Airtel Money, using the recipient's registered mobile number.
Bank accounts
CRDB Bank, NMB Bank, Stanbic Tanzania, Standard Chartered Tanzania and other Tanzanian banks, using the account number.
Timing and tracking
Transfers from a funded Grey balance typically arrive within minutes by either method, and each one can be followed to settlement.
Keeping euro on the account before you send
Three funding habits cover most Irish senders on this corridor, and they can be mixed as circumstances change.
After payday
One SEPA transfer a month, drawn down as household and school payments fall due in Tanzania.
Before a trip
People travelling out for work or a project often fund the balance in advance so payments can be made locally without an Irish banking app.
From what remains
A euro balance left from last month is already there and needs no new transfer.
Each recipient is saved with the payout method attached, so a wallet recipient and a bank recipient never get mixed up later.
What Irish senders pay for in Tanzania
Household support
A monthly amount to parents or siblings in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza or Dodoma, usually to a wallet because that is what gets spent.
School and university fees
Termly payments to institutions that want a bank credit with a reference, which is where the account number route earns its place.
Medical and emergency costs
Money for treatment or transport, where a wallet arriving on the phone in the room beats anything requiring a branch visit.
Projects and small businesses
Payments to local staff, builders, suppliers and community projects with Irish backing, most of which prefer a bank account and a record.
Four uses account for most of this corridor, and the sensible payout method differs between them.
Five points to weigh before sending shillings
Most problems on this route trace back to money arriving somewhere the recipient then has to move it out of. Wallet or bank is a thirty second question, and answering it once fixes every transfer that follows.
Euro funded from your Irish bank, shillings delivered to M-Pesa Tanzania, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money or a Tanzanian bank account. Rate and fee shown first, the rate fixed at confirmation.
FAQs
Can Grey pay into both wallets and bank accounts in Tanzania?
Yes. Tanzania supports both. Shillings can go to a mobile wallet or to a Tanzanian bank account, whichever the recipient nominates.
Which mobile money services does Grey support in Tanzania?
M-Pesa Tanzania, Tigo Pesa and Airtel Money. You send using the recipient's registered mobile number on the network they hold.
Which Tanzanian banks can receive shillings from Grey?
CRDB Bank, NMB Bank, Stanbic Tanzania, Standard Chartered Tanzania and other Tanzanian banks, using the recipient's account number.
Should I choose a wallet or a bank account?
Wallets suit everyday household spending and reach people far from a branch. Bank accounts suit fees, businesses and anything needing a formal record.
How long do shillings take to arrive in Tanzania?
Transfers from a funded Grey balance typically arrive within minutes by either payout method, and each one is trackable until settlement.
Does the recipient in Tanzania need a Grey account?
No. The shillings arrive as a normal local credit in their wallet or bank account, with nothing to register for or download.
Is the euro to shilling rate fixed before I confirm?
Yes. The rate and fee are shown together before confirmation and the shilling amount is fixed at the moment you accept them.
Can I pay a Tanzanian school or supplier directly?
Yes. Bank payout suits institutions and businesses that want the shillings credited to an account number with a reference attached.
Is Grey a bank if shillings land at CRDB Bank?
No. Grey is an authorised financial services provider working with regulated partners in the EU, paying out through licensed local partners.
How do I get euro onto Grey from Ireland?
By SEPA transfer from AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, An Post Money or your credit union into your Grey euro balance.
Can one recipient be saved with a wallet and another with a bank?
Yes. Each Tanzanian recipient is saved with their own payout method, so the two are not confused on later transfers.
Get digital banking
at your fingertips
