Should you leave your money in Deel or transfer it? Costs and options in Colombia

If you receive your salary in dollars through Deel, you've probably wondered what's better: leaving the money on the platform, withdrawing it directly to your Colombian bank or transferring it to another dollar account.

The answer depends on how you need to use your money.

If you just want to receive your salary and withdraw it occasionally, keeping it in Deel may be enough. But if you need to convert dollars to pesos, pay by card in different currencies or transfer money to other people, it may make sense to move your balance to a platform that lets you do all of that without paying for a new Deel withdrawal every time.

In this guide we'll compare the options, the costs and the cases where it makes sense to leave your money in Deel or transfer it.

What happens if you leave your money in Deel?

Deel is a platform international companies use to pay workers and contractors. Depending on your account and your country, you can keep an available balance, withdraw it using different methods or use other enabled products.

Keeping your money in Deel can be practical if you don't need to use it yet or if you're happy with its withdrawal methods.

However, there are three things you should check before deciding:

• The cost of each withdrawal. It can change depending on the method you choose.
• The exchange rate. If you withdraw directly to Colombian pesos, what matters is how much you'll receive after the conversion.
• What you can do with the money. Withdrawing it to your own account is not the same as transferring it to third parties or using it for expenses in different currencies.

The question isn't simply how much it costs to get your money out of Deel. It's how much it costs you to use your salary throughout the month.

When does it make sense to leave your money in Deel?

Keeping your balance in Deel may make sense if:

• You don't need to convert it to pesos right away.
• You make few withdrawals and the fees for your method are low.
• You use Deel's available features and don't need to transfer money to other people.
• You don't have an alternative that offers you better terms for managing that balance.

You don't need to move your money to another platform just for the sake of it. Every extra transfer can have costs too.

When does it make sense to transfer your money out of Deel?

Transferring your balance can make more sense when you need to use it in several ways.

For example, if you receive USD 2,000 a month, but during the month you need to pay expenses in Colombia, invest, save, shop or send money to family or friends, relying on individual withdrawals from Deel can be impractical.

In that case, one option is to make a single withdrawal to a dollar account that lets you manage your balance without worrying about conversions.

Morse is an ideal option to add as a withdrawal method in Deel. It lets you keep your balance in dollars, convert it to pesos when needed, save, invest and spend it, without paying extra fees.

But first, let's look at how much it costs.

How much does it cost to transfer money from Deel to Morse?

With the ACH method I use, Deel charges USD 5 per withdrawal. Morse charges 0.1% to receive payments in USD.

With those fees, this is what transferring USD 1,000 would look like:

Item	Amount
Balance in Deel	USD 1,000
Deel ACH withdrawal fee	USD 5
Amount received by Morse before its fee	USD 995
Morse receiving fee (0.1%)	USD 0.995
Available balance in Morse	USD 994.01
Estimated total cost	USD 5.99

Example based on the fees stated for this method. It doesn't include possible additional charges and assumes the Morse fee is calculated on the amount received.

That means that, for an estimated cost of USD 5.99, you can move USD 1,000 from Deel to Morse and keep the remaining balance in dollars.

Is it worth it?

It depends on what you do next with that USD 994.01.

If you're going to leave the money sitting there and don't need any extra features, maybe not.

But if you want to convert part of it to pesos, save, invest, transfer to third parties or use an international card, the benefit lies in what you can do after the withdrawal.

Deel vs. Morse: what can you do with your money?

Need	Deel	Morse
Hold a USD balance	Yes	Yes
Withdraw directly to your own account	Yes, depending on method	Yes
Withdraw COP via Bre-B	Not available with the compared method	Yes
Transfer to third-party accounts	Not with the compared withdrawals	Yes
Send money to Colombia, Mexico, the US and Europe	Not with the compared withdrawals	Yes, depending on destination
Transfer between Morse users	Not applicable	Free and instant
Card with no international transaction fee	Card with international transaction charges	No international fees
Hold USD with yield options	Not confirmed	Yes
Access to investments	Not confirmed	Yes

Features depend on the country, account type and current terms. External transfer times may vary.

What if you need to convert dollars to Colombian pesos?

Here's another important difference.

If you withdraw your money from Deel directly to a bank account in COP, you should check the conversion rate the provider applies.

That rate may differ from the TRM certified by Colombia's Financial Superintendence (Tasa Representativa del Mercado, Colombia's official reference exchange rate).

That's why, before confirming a withdrawal, you should compare the final amount in pesos.

With Morse you can keep your balance in dollars and convert only the amount you need.

Morse also lets you transfer from dollars to pesos to your own Colombian account via a Bre-B key, according to the terms of the service.

You can check how withdrawals via Bre-B work on Morse.

This can be useful if you don't want to convert your whole salary on the same day you get paid.

If you want to dig deeper into rates and fees, check out our guide on how to receive payments in US dollars in Colombia.

What if you need to pay by card or transfer money to other people?

If you use your salary for international expenses, you should also compare the card terms.

The Deel card may apply an international transaction fee depending on the product and the type of purchase. The Morse card doesn't charge an extra international transaction fee, according to its terms.

And if you need to send money to other people, Morse lets you transfer to third parties in Colombia, Mexico, the United States and supported European destinations.

It also offers free, instant transfers between Morse users.

These features may matter more to you than a small difference in the initial withdrawal fee.

So what's better: leaving your money in Deel or transferring it?

The decision can be summed up like this:

If your situation is...	Consider...
You receive your salary and don't need to move it yet	Keeping it in Deel
You only make an occasional withdrawal to your bank	Comparing the direct withdrawal with other options
You need Colombian pesos regularly	Comparing the final rate and fees for each option
You want to keep part of your balance in dollars	An account that lets you hold USD
You need to transfer money to third parties	A platform with transfers to other people
You shop in other currencies	A card with no extra international transaction fee

For someone who receives their salary through Deel, lives in Colombia and needs to use the money in several ways throughout the month, Morse is an option I recommend looking into.

Instead of making multiple withdrawals from Deel, you can make a single ACH transfer, keep the balance in USD and use Morse's features to manage it as if it were in a local account.

But the right comparison is always the total cost: how much you pay to move the money, how much you receive after converting it and which fees apply to the transactions you actually need.

Conclusion

It doesn't always make sense to withdraw your money from Deel right away. That doesn't mean you should leave it there either.

The best decision depends on how you use your salary.

If Deel covers all your needs at a reasonable cost, keeping your balance there may be enough.

But if you need to hold dollars, convert to pesos when you decide, pay in different currencies and transfer to other people, moving your salary to a platform like Morse can give you more flexibility.

The question worth asking yourself isn't just "how much does it cost me to withdraw from Deel?", but "how much does it cost me to manage my money after I receive it?"