Exchange houses versus apps
A branch visit to an exchange house is still often competitive, particularly for cash transfers and for customers who negotiate. Digital services win on convenience and on transparency, and they are what this page can price automatically — a counter rate cannot be checked every 15 minutes from here.
If you use an exchange house, take the number from this page with you. The useful comparison is not the rate they quote but the rupees your family ends up with after their fee, which is the figure in the table above.
How long a transfer from the UAE takes
This is one of the fastest corridors into Pakistan. Wallet payouts to JazzCash and Easypaisa commonly land in minutes, and bank deposits to the major Pakistani banks usually clear the same working day.
Timing is affected by the Pakistani banking week rather than the UAE one. A transfer sent late on a Friday UAE time may not settle into a Pakistani bank account until Monday, even though the money left your account immediately.
Limits and identification
Remittance providers in the UAE are supervised by the Central Bank of the UAE, and you will need your Emirates ID to send. Providers apply their own limits, and labour-accommodation customers sending small monthly amounts will rarely encounter them, while anyone sending a large one-off sum should expect source-of-funds questions.
Keep the transaction reference for anything substantial. It is the fastest way to trace a transfer that has not arrived, and it is far more useful to a support agent than the date and amount.
Common questions
Why does the AED to PKR rate barely move some weeks?
The dirham is pegged to the US dollar, so the pair only really moves when the rupee moves against the dollar. A flat week in the ticker above is genuinely flat, not a broken feed — the chart draws a straight line rather than magnifying rounding noise into a fake trend.
Can I send straight to JazzCash or Easypaisa?
Yes, if the provider supports mobile wallet payout. Choose “JazzCash or Easypaisa” under “Recipient gets it in” and the table only shows services that pay out to wallets, with the wallet-specific rate and delivery time, which are often different from the bank ones. Your recipient needs the wallet registered against their CNIC. Wallets have monthly receiving limits that depend on the account level, so a large transfer may need a bank account instead. // NEEDS VERIFICATION: current per-level wallet limits before quoting a figure.
What is the State Bank remittance incentive?
The State Bank of Pakistan reimburses banks and money transfer operators for remittances sent through approved channels, which is why so many licensed services show a zero fee on transfers to Pakistan rather than the two or three percent you would expect. The subsidy goes to the provider, not to you, so it shows up as a lower headline cost rather than a payment. It also means the option with the lowest headline cost is not automatically the one that delivers the most rupees — the exchange rate still does most of the work.
Should I open a Roshan Digital Account?
A Roshan Digital Account is a Pakistani bank account that non-resident Pakistanis can open remotely, without visiting Pakistan, using a NICOP, POC or a non-resident CNIC. The State Bank introduced the scheme in 2020. It is worth having if you send regularly or want to hold money in Pakistan rather than convert it immediately, because it also gives access to rupee and dollar certificates. It is not a faster way to send a one-off transfer.
Guidance on this page was last reviewed on 2 Sept 2026. Rates above are live; the written guidance is not, and rules change. Nothing here is financial advice.