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Top Five Global Money Transfer Services

With the increasing number of people moving abroad for study and life, global money transfer has become more critical than ever. People are looking for ways other than banks to wire money with minimal cost, on time, and securely.

Many companies offer money transfer services. Some claim to provide optimal exchange rates while secretly making up for it with higher fees. On the other hand, others claim to offer zero rates, but their exchange rates are not optimal. Many companies only support a limited number of countries and currency pairs, making them unsuitable for global remittances. In this article, we’ll introduce the top five companies in the international money transfer services sector.

send money abroad

LycaRemit

lycaremit-international money transfer

LycaRemit is a well-known option that offers global money transfer services. It has reasonable, mid-range rates and charges minimal fees. In addition, it offers a £5 balance bonus for transactions over £300. With LycaRemit, you can transfer money anywhere in the world in two days or less. Transactions via bank transfer take even less.

Unlike InstaReM and other providers, LycaRemit covers a wide range of countries and currency pairs, especially less mainstream, non-European countries like Bangladesh and Ghana. A key differentiator of LycaRemit is it ensures transaction security with RSA 256-bit encryption. With LycaRemit, you also have 24/7 access to customer support (including weekends and holidays).

Wise (Formerly TransferWise)

Wise is a useful all-around option for small/large transfers. It offers relatively low transfer fees, and its exchange rates are slightly below mid-market. It usually takes three to five business days for the funds to reach their destination.

However, it’s somewhat limited and costly in supporting less mainstream countries. For example, it charges £5.75 to transfer money to Nigeria. There are also no tools to monitor spending and budgeting, and there is no guarantee for deposits or standing orders. There are also some compatibility issues with platforms like PayPal.

TransferGo

transfergo

TransferGo offers competitive fees and exchange rates, making it suitable for global transactions. However, the margins are worse than Wise. One advantage of TransferGo is its speed (transferring money in less than an hour), but it charges a significant fee. It’s most suitable for online transactions, while it doesn’t have a solid presence in other areas. It also charges an additional fee for using a credit/debit card.

With TransferGo, you can only get the money through a bank deposit, a significant drawback. You can also transfer funds to a limited number of countries (TransferGo only covers about 22 countries, mainly in Europe) and generally doesn’t cover the US as a source country, another significant downside for global money transfers.

Azimo

azimo

Azimo is also consistently among the best global transfer services. You can transfer money on Android, iOS, or the Azimo website from anywhere in the world at any time. It usually takes about 72 hours for the funds to reach their destination. It is an online service and doesn’t support transfers via phone.

However, Azimo’s rates and margins are non-negotiable and can be as high as £10, making it unsuitable for global transfers. If you use a credit card, it may also charge an additional 2.99% fee for each transfer. You won’t have access to 24/7 support, as Azimo only offers customer support during working hours and business days.

InstaReM

instarem

InstaReM offers money transfer services on a variety of user-friendly platforms. It also provides bonuses and loyalty offers for regular customers. It is best suited for remittances to Asian countries and Australia. However, it covers a narrow base in the Middle East and doesn’t support transfers to New Zealand.

A major drawback of InstaReM is you can’t use credit cards or digital wallets. They also don’t have 24/7 access to customer support nor tools to monitor currency risk. The higher the amount, the more fees you’ll have to pay for the transfer.

Bottom Line

Multiple companies around the world offer global money transfer services. Each has its unique advantages/disadvantages. Some agencies like Wise and TransferGo offer reasonable market rates, but they focus mainly on European countries and can charge significant fees for exotic countries. Like InstaReM and Azimo, some don’t provide 24/7 customer support, which can confuse customers and lead to many failed transactions.

LycaRemit is one of the emerging platforms for large and small international money transfers. They offer competitive rates/fees, is easy to use, and covers a wide range of exotic and major countries and currency pairs.

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