Send money from Ireland to the United States
No country has taken more people from Ireland, and the money has always gone both ways. Grey converts your euro to US dollars once, at a rate fixed before you confirm, and pays them into an ordinary American bank account. Euro and dollars are both balances you can hold.
EUR
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The oldest route Ireland has, still in constant use
Six generations of emigration left Irish families with cousins in Boston, Chicago and Queens, and the traffic did not stop when the letters did. Alongside it sits a newer pattern: J1 students flying out every June, staff moved between a Dublin office and one in New York, Seattle or the Bay Area, and Irish firms paying American suppliers, law firms and contractors in dollars.
Grey handles the currency step in one move. Euro converts to US dollars at a rate you fix at confirmation, and the dollars are paid into the recipient's own bank account in the United States using their account number and routing number. They receive an ordinary dollar credit and need no Grey account.
Both sides of the pair are Grey balances. You can hold euro, hold dollars, or hold both, and US account details are provided by Lead Bank, so an Irish contractor billing an American client can be paid in dollars and send from that balance without converting at all.
Three steps to dollars in an American account
Sign up
The account is free, takes about five minutes to open and needs one valid identity document, all of it done before the first dollars go to an American bank. The person receiving the dollars does not sign up to anything.
Fund
Move euro across by SEPA transfer from AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, An Post Money or a credit union. It sits in your euro balance until you choose to buy dollars.
Send
Add the recipient's US account number and routing number, check the euro to dollar rate and the fee, then confirm. The dollars go out to their American bank.
Reading the cost of a euro to dollar transfer
Compare providers on a figure you can actually check. For a fixed dollar obligation, a tuition instalment or an invoice from a US firm, work backwards: decide the dollars that have to arrive, then look at the euro each route asks you for. That comparison is harder to dress up than a headline fee.
A second thing worth costing on this corridor is timing. Because dollars are a balance rather than a step inside a single payment, you can buy them when you want to and pay them out later. Parents funding a J1 summer often buy the dollars once in the spring rather than four times between June and September.
The rate is fixed at confirmation, not at settlement
Grey shows the euro to dollar rate and the fee before you confirm, and the rate is fixed at that moment. Whatever the pair does afterwards, the dollar figure your recipient receives is the one you agreed to.
That is the difference between sending an amount and sending a promise. When an American landlord, a university bursar or a supplier has quoted a dollar number, you need the dollar number to land, not something close to it.
Grey against a dollar transfer from an Irish bank
An Irish bank sending dollars to the United States prices the conversion inside its own rate, so the euro leaves your account before you know what the recipient will be credited with, and correspondent banking can take a share on the way. Grey separates the fee from the rate, fixes the rate at confirmation, and pays the dollars into the American account as a normal credit.
What the person in the United States receives
A dollar credit in their own American bank account, in their own banking app. Nothing is held for collection and nothing is asked of them.
Account number and routing number
Those two details are what Grey needs. The dollars post to the recipient's account at their own bank in the United States.
No Grey account at their end
A cousin in Boston, a bursar's office or a supplier's finance team receives the money without installing anything or registering.
GreyTag if they are on Grey
Where the person in the United States already uses Grey, a GreyTag transfer is free and instant, in any currency.
Ways the money gets onto your account first
Three routes cover most Irish senders, and they can run at the same time.
From your Irish current account
A SEPA transfer in euro, sent once a month or once a year, depending on how often the American payment falls due.
From American income
Dollars earned from US clients land in your USD account provided by Lead Bank and never need to touch euro.
From what is left over
An unspent dollar balance from the last transfer is the cheapest funding there is, because the conversion already happened.
Recipients are saved after the first transfer, which matters when the same American account is paid every month for years.
What Irish senders pay for in the United States
J1 and college summers
Deposits, rent and a float for students spending a summer in Boston, Chicago, San Diego or Ocean City before the first pay packet arrives.
Relatives who emigrated
Regular support and occasional larger sums for family who went out decades ago, or who went out in 2010 and stayed.
Staff posted to a US office
Someone moved from a Dublin or Cork office to New York or the west coast, paying an American deposit and bills before a local salary starts.
American suppliers and advisers
Irish businesses settling dollar invoices from US software vendors, law firms, agencies and contractors.
Four uses cover most of this corridor, and they belong to quite different people.
Why Irish senders choose Grey for dollars
Dollar payments out of Ireland tend to have a date and a figure attached to them. A term bill, a deposit on an apartment in Queens, an invoice with thirty day terms, the monthly amount that has gone to the same relative for years.
Euro in from your Irish bank, dollars out to an American account number and routing number. The rate is fixed at confirmation and nothing is deducted afterwards.
FAQs
What details do I need to send dollars to a US bank account?
The recipient's account number and routing number. Grey pays US dollars into their own American bank as an ordinary credit.
Does my cousin in the United States need a Grey account?
No. The dollars arrive in their existing American bank account, and they never have to register with Grey or download anything.
Can I hold US dollars on Grey rather than converting each time?
Yes. Dollars and euro are both Grey balance currencies, so you can buy dollars when it suits you and pay them out later.
Can an American client pay me in dollars directly?
Yes. Your Grey account carries US account details provided by Lead Bank, so clients and platforms can pay you in dollars.
Is this a sensible way to fund a J1 summer?
Many parents do exactly that, buying the dollars once and releasing them as rent and living costs fall due over the summer.
Is the euro to dollar rate fixed before I confirm?
Yes. The rate and the fee appear before confirmation and the rate is fixed at that moment, so the dollar figure does not change.
Can my Irish company pay a US supplier invoice through Grey?
Yes. Dollar invoices from American software vendors, law firms and contractors are a common use of this corridor from Ireland.
Is Grey a bank if it provides me with a US dollar account?
No. Grey is an authorised financial services provider working with regulated partners in the EU, and USD accounts are provided by Lead Bank.
How do I get euro onto Grey from my Irish bank?
By SEPA transfer from AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, An Post Money or your credit union, then convert that euro to dollars when you are ready.
What if the person in the United States also uses Grey?
Send to their GreyTag instead of their routing number. Transfers between Grey users are free and instant, in any currency.
Can I spend dollars rather than send them?
Yes. A Grey virtual Mastercard draws on your balances, which suits dollar subscriptions and American online purchases made from Ireland.
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