Saudi Arabia is the single largest source of remittances to Pakistan — an estimated $7 billion a year — and it is also one of the cheapest, with average costs around 2.5%. For the roughly 2.5 million Pakistanis working in the Kingdom, the money going home each month is the backbone of household budgets across Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

This page covers how the Saudi–Pakistan lane works, what the real providers charge, and where a faster settlement rail changes the timing.

What people use today

The Saudi–Pakistan corridor is unusually well served, which is why fees are low:

• enjaz (Bank Albilad’s remittance arm) is the workhorse of the corridor, built specifically for the expatriate worker sending a fixed amount home.
• Al Rajhi Bank and its Tahweel remittance service move large volumes into Pakistani bank accounts.
• STC Pay, the mobile wallet, has pushed the digital share up and squeezed fees further.
• Recipients in Pakistan increasingly receive into a RAAST-linked bank account, which credits instantly once the domestic leg begins.

At around 2.5% average cost, this lane already sits near the UN’s 3% Sustainable Development Goal target for remittance pricing — far better than the global average of 6.36%.

Where the cost and delay still hide

Two things still catch senders out. First, the exchange-rate spread: the SAR-to-PKR rate a provider offers can quietly cost more than the visible fee, especially during periods of rupee volatility. Second, timing across two calendars — a transfer initiated late in the Saudi week can stall over the weekend and any public holiday before it clears the Pakistani banking system.

Worked example. Send SAR 1,000 through a typical exchange house at a 2.5% fee. About SAR 975 of value converts to rupees — but if the offered rate is half a percent worse than the interbank rate, the family effectively loses another SAR 5. On a monthly transfer, that adds up to real money over a year.

The stablecoin-settled alternative

A stablecoin is a digital token pegged to one US dollar. Rather than routing value through a chain of correspondent banks, a licensed provider settles the cross-border leg in dollar-denominated tokens and then pays out into the local system — a Pakistani bank account or RAAST.

Movement is a settlement and yield layer built for emerging-market corridors like this one. Dollar-denominated settlement on its network clears in under a second (roughly 278ms block time), so the international hop stops being the part that waits for the weekend to end. The recipient still gets rupees in the same account they always use; only the plumbing behind the border changes. For an exchange house or fintech running the lane, idle dollar float can also earn yield through separate opt-in vault products — a structure for operators, not an interest promise to the worker sending money.

How we source this

Corridor volume and cost are labeled estimates from the World Bank bilateral matrix and KNOMAD, reviewed and dated on this page. Movement runs on licensed money-transmission rails (US/CA/EU) and settles for partners including Circle. We name real providers and do not rank-for-pay. This is research, not personalised financial advice. — Imran Sheikh

Related: UAE → Pakistan · UK → Pakistan · What is RAAST? · Send money to Pakistan and Bangladesh (hub)

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest way to send money from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan? Digital services like STC Pay and enjaz advertise some of the lowest costs on the lane, around 2.5% including spread on typical amounts. Compare the rupee total that lands, since exchange-rate margins vary between providers.

How long does a Saudi-to-Pakistan transfer take? Digital transfers into a RAAST-linked bank account can arrive the same day, sometimes within minutes on the domestic leg. Traditional bank wires can take 1–2 business days and pause over weekends and public holidays.

Can I send directly to a RAAST account from Saudi Arabia? Not across borders directly — RAAST is Pakistan’s domestic instant-payment system. A licensed provider handles the cross-border leg, then credits the recipient’s RAAST-linked account, which clears instantly.

Why is the Gulf cheaper than the US for sending to Pakistan? Volume and competition. The Saudi and UAE lanes carry so much worker remittance that many providers compete for it, pushing fees toward the 2.5% range — lower than the US corridor.

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By Imran Sheikh. Last reviewed July 2026. Figures are World Bank/KNOMAD estimates.