Is WorldRemit a good bet for sending small amounts of funds abroad?
What is WorldRemit?
WorldRemit is an international money transfer provider to help you send money home. The company offers various features to help users gain a rich experience. Some of these features are:
Favourable exchange rates
It selects remittance providers to send money home to family/friends for investments or other reasons. WorldRemit often offers competitive exchange rates.
Low transfer fees
Most money transfer services charge a certain fee to transfer money. WorldRemit also charges a minimum amount as a transaction fee and tries to remain competitive by offering the best rates. It claims to be cheaper than a few banks and similar services such as Ria, MoneyGram, and Western Money.
Transfer speed
With WorldRemit, most transactions can be completed within a few minutes, and funds will be received within 5-10 minutes. WorldRemit offers fast service for mobile money transactions, bank transfers, cash pickup transactions, and WorldRemit wallet. It asserts that most of these transactions are completed within ten minutes.
Payment Methods
Users can pay by using credit/debit cards, bank transfers, Apple Pay, Klarna, ACH and so on. You may need to check which options your country supports. Unfortunately, Google Pay is not on the list. You can also pay bills through these options. If you are using cards, then you should be aware of any extra charges. Typically debit cards do not incur additional fees except the ones stated at the time of making payments. But you might be paying a foreign exchange fee to your card issuer (not WorldRemit) if you use a card issued in a country different from the one registered on your WorldRemit account. In the case of credit cards, you might pay a cash transfer fee (not charged by WorldRemit but your card issuer).
Referral Programs
They have rewards and promotions for new and returning customers to encourage the use of the service.
WorldRemit personal and business accounts
Personal
WorldRemit offers an impressive range of personal account services. These include wallet, auto-recurring transfers, cash pick-up service, bank account transfers (foreign), mobile credit top-ups (pre-paid), payments of bills and credit cards, and mobile money. It would be great if WorldRemit introduces a Forex-optimized debit card, especially for travellers, and a personal account manager for clients wanting to send large sums of money.
Business
While WorldRemit has a lot to offer for the personal use category, it does not support businesses. Business entities are not allowed to create an account and use the service. However, recently it has announced an entrepreneurship program focused on four African nations: Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria. The objective is to offer training on digital business and business booster packs (MTN Uganda announced a similar package in 2019) to help the entrepreneurs run, grow, and succeed.
Is it the cheapest option?
It is easy to understand the chargers applied, and you can get a real-time quote by creating an account. WorldRemit does not discriminate based on locations, and its charges and exchange rates are the same for all users. It seems a transparent service to send money, but it may not be the cheapest one always. Keep in mind that the service will charge you fees based on the destination, the payout method, and the amount. I would like to remind you that like similar services, WorldRemit may charge an extra fee hidden in the exchange rate mark-up. You should be aware of the exchange rate fee applied on:
Bank transfers
A margin on exchange rate ranging from 0.5% - 2% may be applicable on foreign transfers. It is added to the real-time exchange rate, and it is higher for exotic destinations. Unfortunately, it is a non-negotiable fee.Mobile top-up, bills and cash pick-up
Please note that these options involve third parties and are costlier than a foreign bank-to-bank transfer. The exchange rate margin for these methods is unusually worse; you might end up paying up to 4% of the amount transferred. It is also a non-negotiable fee.
There could be other additional charges that banks at each end would charge. While you may know the transfer fee and exchange rate upfront, it would be better to compare the costs with other services before making a decision.
Pros
- Presence in many countries: Europe, America, etc
- Various payment methods depending on the country you reside
- Quick and secure transactions
- Many withdrawal options
Cons
- It may not be the cheapest service for transferring large sums of money and for bank accounts
- There are some limits on transfers in some locations
Is WorldRemit Safe?
WorldRemit it is doing fairly well as a transparent and legitimate money transfer provider. It would be nice to know that your funds are held in separate accounts as required by regulatory standards, and a facility to cancel or ask for a refund is also available to you. All transactions are SSL encrypted (256-bit) so no sensitive data is intercepted. FCA UK is regulating WorldRemit licenced and authorized as an Electronic Money Institution. It also complied with the regulations set forth by AUSTRAC (Australia) and FSPR (New Zealand). It would be convenient to say that WorldRemit is among the trusted and secure remittance services.
FAQ
Users can deposit funds via Bank transfer (0% deposit fee) or bank cards- debit/credit (no extra fee charged by WorldRemit, but your card issuer may charge a foreign exchange fee)
Users who have activated their WorldRemit Wallet wallets are able to receive funds in their wallets free of charge. If you have not registered one, please create it within 14 days, otherwise the funds will be returned to the sender.
Using your WorldRemit app or website, navigate to the transfer you want to cancel from your transfer activity section and tap “Request Cancelation.” You will receive an email notification once your request is successfully completed. If a transaction was paid out, it can’t be canceled.
You can view your WorldRemit money transfer status from the “My Transaction” section of your account.
The WorldRemit money transfer can be done even if you have not signed up for a WorldRemit wallet.
The process is as follows:
- Choose the location for sending money.
- Select the method (such as World Remit Wallet) for sending funds.
- Select the currency from the available list.
- Enter the amount. You will be able to view the fee and exchange rate after that.
- Enter recipient details
- Confirm the transaction.
Conclusion
The best approach to knowing about the usefulness of service is through real customer experience. WorldRemit has a good standing due to affordable costs, transfer speed, and coverage. However, the bad experience can’t be ignored as they relate to poor customer service. This is really a cause for concern because users would only use a service if they are comfortable with it. A few complaints were related to delayed arrival of funds and deactivation of accounts. Well, these solely pertain to compliance issues or delays at the bank's end for the former, and the customer’s inability to comply with the service’s regulatory requirements for the latter.
Overall, it is a reliable and trusted funds transfer service with a wide range of options and an extensive global presence. If you are looking for a quick money transfer service for small transactions, WorldRemit can be a good choice. For a convenient cash pick-up, it is also good but be aware of the high exchange rate margin. For larger amounts, I suggest other services since WorldRemit has a cap on the amount to be transferred. The transfer fee will also increase for large transactions.
I have explained the good and the bad in this review to help you make the best decision. Hopefully, you will be able to utilize this information and compare whether WorldRemit is right for you or not.