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Co-signing what people are saying about Wise and Revolut, but here's a hack that not many people use: lots of local banks have agreements with banks in the destination country, so if you send the money to a specific branch instead of doing a "generic" international transfer, sometimes you can avoid those intermediary fees that absolutely kill you 💀 It's worth calling your bank and asking if they have direct correspondent banks where you want to send the money. Plus, if it's a large amount, negotiate directly with them - some have special rates if you're moving over a certain threshold.
Traditional bank apps usually charge pretty high fees, like 15-25 euros or more depending on the destination. If you're looking for something cheaper, there are alternatives like Wise or Revolut that charge way less commission and the exchange rate is a lot fairer than what banks offer you. Honestly, whenever I need to send money abroad I always use these because you save a ton, especially if it's a large amount.
Have you tried transfers through cryptocurrency platforms or direct SWIFT? What works best really depends a lot on the destination country, but in my experience the options mentioned above (Wise, Revolut) are genuinely the most competitive for most routes, especially if you're sending medium amounts. What I will say is that before you send anything, compare the actual exchange rate they're offering you versus the official rate for the day - that's where a lot of apps eat into your commission with hidden fees.
I recently sent money to a colleague in Portugal and I was shocked at how much a "normal" transfer costs through my bank - almost 30 euros for an amount that wasn't even that large. I ended up using Wise because the exchange rate is transparent and the flat fee is much more predictable, though obviously it depends on where you're sending the euros to. What people don't always consider is that some online banks like N26 or Revolut have monthly limits with no commission if you use their card, so if you don't need it to be a bank transfer as such, sometimes it's more efficient to load money into the app and have the other person withdraw it directly.
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