
Skrill Review: Money Transfer Fees, Safety, Alternatives, and Monito's Verdict

Guide

Monito's Managing Editor, Byron has spent several years writing extensively about financial- and migration-related topics.
Reviewer

Monika is an expert in international transfers, fintechs, and neobanks. Leading the life of a digital nomad, she shares her knowledge and experience about living abroad with Monito users.
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Read moreSkrill is a good international money transfer service (8.3/10), often recommended by Monito's experts. By offering competitive fees and exchange rates (7.0/10) on a versatile mobile wallet that's fast and easy to use for international money transfers (8.7/10), Skrill is widely liked by its customers (8.5/10), who frequently praise it for its fast transfers and competitive fees and exchange rates. As a company, Skrill is a well-established and trustworthy player in the industry (8.8/10), with around a million users and transacting around US$1 billion every year.
What Monito Likes About Skrill
- Competitive fees and exchange rates;
- Transfers are secure, fast, and convenient;
- A much-loved service with excellent customer reviews on Trustpilot;
- An impressive number of countries and currencies are supported;
- International transfers are available using debit and credit cards.
What Monito Dislikes About Skrill
- The number of currencies available varies by sending country;
- Money can only be sent to a bank account or a mobile wallet;
- Fees are levied through a nontransparent exchange rate margin.
Category | Monito Score | Highlight |
---|---|---|
8.8/10 | Sends US$1 billion around the world annually. | |
8.7/10 | Making a new money transfer is fast and easy. | |
7.0/10 | Competitive fees and exchange rates. | |
8.5/10 | An excellent 4.7 out of 5 star rating on Trustpilot. |
Pay-in Options | Cash, bank transfer, debit card, credit card, e-wallet, cryptocurrency |
---|---|
Pay-out Options | Bank deposit, mobile wallet deposit |
Min. Transfer Amount | US$1.00 |
Max. Transfer Amount | US$2,500.00 / day |
Currencies Supported | 40 |
Number of Customers | 1 million |
Trustpilot Score | 4.7/5 |
Number of Reviews | 11,600 |
Available in | Most of the countries around the globe except |
Languages Supported | English, German, French, Spanish 7 others |
Headquarters | London (GB) |
---|---|
Established in | 2001 (as Moneybookers) |
Offices (cities) | London (GB), Miami (US), New York (US), Sofia (BG), Dublin (IE), Hyderabad (IN), Montreal (CA) |
Number of employees | 717 |
Private/Public Company | Private |
Awards | Best Digital Wallet at Juniper Research 2019 Awards, Payments Awards 2019, Austria’s Leading Companies Award (2019), Best Payment Provider at E-Commerce German Awards (2020) |
Fun fact | In 2010, Skrill blocked the donation collection account that was being operated by WikiLeaks |
How We Review Money Transfer Providers
With more than 50 providers reviewed and 100 test transfers made over the past ten years, we pride ourselves on providing the best reviews of international money transfer services online. Curious how we make them and why you can trust us? Take a look at our process below:
🔎 See how our scoring methodology works
All international money transfer services we review are put through a comprehensive and rigorous scoring methodology, which involves the testing of the platform's functionalities, assessment of customer reviews, fees, pay-in options, customer service, and business metrics. The methodology is also powered by an analysis of millions of searches on Monito's comparison engine to determine each provider's competitiveness in terms of pricing. When the research is done, each Monito Score is then peer-reviewed by at least one Monito expert. Learn more about our scoring methodology here.
🤝 See why you can trust our recommendations
Reviews are written independently by Monito's editors, and the recommendations given are our own. We might make money from some links on our reviews to bring you premium content without pesky banner ads and paywalls. We promise you that this never impacts the independence of our recommendations. Learn more about our promise and our business model here.
Key Questions About Skrill Answered
Is Skrill Available in Your Country?
Skrill |
Can I Trust Skrill?
Moving around US$1 billion on an annual basis for more than a million users, Skrill is a large and trustworthy money transfer service.
Founded in 2001, Skrill was originally established as Moneybookers, a payment gateway geared toward the gambling industry, before it later rebranded itself to Skrill. Today, Skrill is a fully authorized and regulated money transfer operator serving around a million customers globally and employing some 500 people. What's more, Paysafe Ltd (Skrill's parent company) is a publicly-traded payments giant that specialises in safe and secure money transfers to millions of users around the world.
Is Skrill Safe?
Yes, Skrill is indeed a safe and secure platform. Authorised and regulated by numbers regulators around the world, Skrill is supervised by the likes of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, as well as the US Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), making them an undoubtedly trustworthy and legitimate money transfer operator.
Skrill's Service Quality
Skrill's mobile wallet is seamlessly designed, with both international money transfers and new signups taking a matter of minutes or even seconds to complete.
What Is Skrill?
Skrill is a mobile wallet that offers transfers between users, international money transfers, and cryptocurrency trading. Established in 2001, Skrill is today owned by Paysafe Ltd, a global payments giant that provides payment services online, in person, and via other channels. Skrill started as an e-commerce payment gateway specializing in gambling but has since expanded its services to include an online service that lets you send money around the world called Skrill Money Transfer.
By default, opening an account with Skrill gives you access to Skrill Money Transfer as well as the Skrill mobile wallet, the former of which provides a fast, simple, and inexpensive way to send money internationally due to attractive pricing, exchange rates, and fees.
You can fund an international money transfer through Skrill Money Transfer using a credit card, debit card, SOFORT, or bank transfer, depending on where you’re located and which currency you’re using. Your beneficiary will also have the choice of whether to receive funds directly into their bank account or into their Skrill mobile wallet if they have one. (Take note that the latter option is not available in all countries.)
Monito's Impressions During Our Test
Signing up for a new mobile wallet on Skrill was fast and easy, and our experts found the process to be filled with helpful tips and clear, actionable language. Although international money transfers are just one part of the Skrill mobile wallet, navigating to make a new transfer is fast and intuitive. What's more, the service gives a clear overview of how much one can expect to pay in fees, although we didn't like the fact that the exchange rate margin wasn't displayed transparently in addition.
Skrill's Mobile App Review
Skrill’s mobile app, which allows users to make online payments, send money overseas, and trade cryptocurrencies, is available on Android and iOS devices. As of May 2021, the app had garnered good ratings across the board, especially among Apple users. For example, on the App Store, the mobile wallet platform earned 4.4 out of 5 stars from a total of around 6,100 individual reviews. Meanwhile, on Google Play Store, users were more lukewarm about the service and gave it 3.8 out of 5 stars out of a large total of around 112 thousand reviews.
How Skrill Works
Step 01
Check Skrill's Rates
Use Monito's comparison engine to see how Skrill’s fees and exchange rates weigh up against the rest and make sure that they're indeed the cheapest option for your international money transfer. There, you'll be able to discover both the cheapest ways to fund your transfer and have the money received.
Step 02
Create a Skrill account
To create a new Skrill mobile wallet account, you'll need to sign up on the homepage or mobile app using your full name, country of residence, currency, and email address.
Step 03
Set up a transfer
Once your new account is opened, you'll need to set up a transfer, which you can do either by adding money into your Skrill wallet or by using the sending page directly. When you reach the sending page, you'll be able to specify whether you're sending money from the balance in your Skrill wallet, or withdrawing it from your bank account.
Step 04
Add a beneficiary
In the next step, you'll be able to choose whether to send money to yourself or somebody else, after which you'll need to add their full name and banking details.
Final step
Review and pay
Go to Skrill ❯In the final 'Transfer summary' tab, you'll be able to review your transfer, including your beneficiary's details, your payment method, the exchange rate, and the amount to be received. If all's in order, click the 'CONFIRM' button and make the payment using your debit card or whichever transfer method you may have chosen.
Skrill's Fees & Exchange Rates
Often competitive and sometimes even the cheapest of all, Skrill's fees and exchange rates are generally very well-priced. While you may notice minor differences depending on your country and currency, in general, these fees and exchange rates are structured as follows:
Skrill's Fees
Skrill Money Transfer doesn't charge any fixed fees or other transaction costs for sending money overseas, making the service an especially favourable option for smaller transfers, which tend to be made pricey by additional transaction costs. This is the case if you choose to pay for your money transfer using a debit card, bank transfer, or Paysafecash.
For credit card payments, however, Skrill does charge a commission fee of up to 4.99% per transaction, not including any additional foreign transaction fees that your credit card issuer may charge too.
Skrill's Exchange Rates
For all transfers, regardless of the currencies and payment method, Skrill charges an exchange rate margin (which it calls an "international transfer exchange rate mark-up".) This is essentially a small markup over the mid-market exchange rate that Skrill makes every unit of currency you convert into another and can range as high as 4.99% of the total value of your transfer.
Exchange rate margins are also slightly higher for debit card transfers than for credit card transfers. Given the fact that exchange rate margins are not transparent in the first place, we find this aspect of Skrill's pricing to be the only major drawback.
For many currencies pairs, the above fees and exchange rates are a good deal. However, for others, they can be more expensive. Say, for example, you were to send British pounds to Euros using a debit card. With Skrill, sending £500.00 to Spain in this way would cost 2.88% of your transfer value in exchange rate fees according to Monito's comparison engine at the time of writing. Meanwhile, if you were to send South African rands to Spain, a roughly equivalent R10,000.00 transfer would cost 3.85% in exchange rate fees — highlighting how these rates vary from currency to currency.
Quoted: 9/2/2023 09:00 GMT +02:00
Sending To | Is Skrill Available? | £500 in local currency | Duration | Better Alternative |
---|---|---|---|---|
India | ✔ | ₹47,276 | Same Day | |
China | ✘ | / | / | |
Pakistan | ✔ | Rs101,839 | Minutes | |
Qatar | ✘ | / | / | |
Egypt | ✘ | / | / | |
Hong Kong | ✘ | / | / | |
Montenegro | ✘ | / | / | |
Peru | ✘ | / | / |
Quoted: 9/2/2023 09:00 GMT +02:00
Sending To | Is Skrill Available? | ₹10,000 in local currency | Duration |
---|---|---|---|
UK | ✔ | £103.59 | Minutes |
US | ✘ | / | / |
Australia | ✔ | AU$187.17 | Next Day |
Canada | ✘ | / | / |
Germany | ✔ | €115.71 | Same Day |
Thailand | ✔ | ฿4,048 | Same Day |
China | ✘ | / | / |
UAE | ✘ | / | / |
Quoted: 9/2/2023 09:00 GMT +02:00
Transfer Times
Money sent through Skrill Money Transfer usually arrives on the same business day. However, it can take between three and five business days at the extremes depending on your payment method and how the funds are delivered.
According to millions of searches on Monito, here's when we think you should (and shouldn't) use Skrill:
- Sending from Poland to the UK? Use Skrill, it's often very competitive!
- Sending from the UK to overseas? Compare providers, Skrill often isn't the cheapest.
Compare fees & exchange rates cheaper than Skrill:
Skrill Customer Reviews
Skrill is much-loved by its customers, receiving an excellent 4.8/5 stars on Trustpilot from around eight thousand reviews to date. In general, many of these reviews reflected the following strengths and weaknesses of the service:
Positive
- Fees and exchange rates are very competitive;
- The mobile wallet is easy to use and well-designed;
- Transfers were very speedy.
Negative
- Frustration over the documentation required to verify identity;
- The fee breakdown can mislead in that it doesn't include the exchange rate.
FAQ About Skrill
Is Skrill the cheapest way to send money abroad? 💸
Skrill offers a cheap and transparent way to send money abroad, but it's only sometimes the cheapest service of all on any given search on Monito. We therefore recommend running a search on Monito's real-time comparison engine to compare all services and determine whether or not Skrill is indeed the cheapest available option to send money abroad.
How do I avoid Skrill's fees? 💵
While there's no way to avoid Skrill fees entirely, they can be kept to a minimum by doing the following:
- Compare Skrill fees and exchange rates with alternatives using Monito's real-time comparison engine;
- Avoid paying with a credit card if possible (Skrill or the card issuer may charge additional costs if you do);
- Always use Skrill's price estimator before continuing with your transaction to double-check you're happy with the transfer fees and exchange rates.
Are Skrill payments safe? 🔐
Yes, it most certainly is safe to make a payment with Skrill. Having been in business since 2001, Skrill is a fully authorized and regulated financial service provider supervised by various regulators around the world, including the FCA in the UK and FinCEN in the US. What's more, Skrill is also a part of Paysafe Ltd, a publicly-traded payments giant.
What are Skrill's fees for international money transfers? 🧾
The best option to check international money transfer fees is to use Monito's live comparison widget and discover if Skrill cost to send money abroad is the lowest available right now. The tool lets you quickly calculate how much you’ll pay and shows you exactly how much the beneficiary will receive, based on the exchange rate offered by Skrill. Skrill fees vary depending on the amount you’re sending, the countries that you’re transferring money between, how you’re paying for the transfer, and how the beneficiary is accessing the funds you’re transferring.
What are Skrill's limits for international money transfers? 📊
Skrill has a number of daily, weekly, and monthly limits in place for transfers abroad. Maximum single transfers are US$1,000 for bank transfers and US$2,500 for credit card transfers and are limited to US$2,500 per day for both transfer methods. On a weekly basis, no more than US$2,500 and US$5,000 can be sent by bank transfer and credit card respectively, and on a monthly basis, this limit is US$4,500 and US$10,000 respectively.
Can Skrill be trusted? ✅
Yes, Skrill can most certainly be trusted. Having been in business since 2001, Skrill is a fully authorized and regulated financial service provider supervised by various regulators around the world, including the FCA in the UK and FinCEN in the US. What's more, Skrill is also a part of Paysafe Ltd, a publicly-traded payments giant.
Does Skrill accept MasterCard payments? 💳
Yes, Skrill accepts MasterCard credit and debit cards as a pay-in method. However, you'll not be able to use your MasterCard to deposit money into your Skrill account (this can only be done using a bank account), only to fund an overseas money transfer through Skrill.
Can Skrill work in Nigeria? 🌴
Yes, Skrill can indeed work in Nigeria, regardless of whether you're a Nigerian resident looking to open a Skrill mobile wallet account or you're living abroad and looking to send money into the country. (Take note that the latter can only be done using US dollars and no longer in Nigerian naira.)
Can Skrill be used in India? 🛕
Yes, Skrill can indeed be used in India, regardless of whether you're an Indian resident looking to open a Skrill mobile wallet account or you're living abroad and looking to send money into the country from overseas.
Can Skrill be used in Pakistan? 🕌
Yes, Skrill can indeed be used in Pakistan, regardless of whether you're a Pakistani resident looking to open a Skrill mobile wallet account or you're living abroad and looking to send money into the country from overseas.
Can Skrill be used in Ghana? 🐘
Yes, Skrill can indeed be used in Ghana, regardless of whether you're a Ghanaian resident looking to open a Skrill mobile wallet account or you're living abroad and looking to send money into the country from overseas.
What does it mean to transfer from Skrill to Skrill? 📲
Skrill allows you to send money from your Skrill wallet directly to another Skrill wallet, the so-called “Skrill to Skrill” service, allowing you to transfer money to other Skrill users instantly. However, the fees and exchange rates offered for the Skrill to Skrill service are extremely poor, and we cannot recommend it as a way to send money internationally.
What are Skrill's withdrawal times? 📆
Depending on your preferred withdrawal option, Skrill's processing times for withdrawals are as follows:
- Skrill Card withdrawals: Instant at ATM locations
- Bank wire withdrawals: Two to five business days
- Visa withdrawals: Up to seven days
Does Skrill accept payments from prepaid cards? 💳
Yes, Skrill accepts prepaid cards as a pay-in method. However, you'll not be able to use your prepaid card to deposit money into your Skrill account (this can only be done using a bank account), only to fund an overseas money transfer through Skrill.
How does Skrill's 'refer a friend' program work? 👥
Skrill offers a cash incentive for inviting other people to use the Skrill wallet. If you refer a friend to Skrill using the feature on the homepage or mobile wallet dashboard, Skrill will add 10% of the fees they generate from paying or sending money into your Skrill account for a whole year. There are two ways to share Skrill with your friends:
- Use your personalized invite link in My account › Settings › Referrals
- Select ‘Use my referral ID for this payment’ whenever you send a payment to a friend who doesn’t have a Skrill account yet”
See How Skrill Compares Overall With Alternatives
Skrill Money Transfer Reviews and Comparisons with Skrill Alternatives



















Why Trust Monito?
You’re probably all too familiar with the often outrageous cost of sending money abroad. After facing this frustration themselves back in 2013, co-founders François, Laurent, and Pascal launched a real-time comparison engine to compare the best money transfer services across the globe. Today, Monito’s award-winning comparisons, reviews, and guides are trusted by around 8 million people each year and our recommendations are backed by millions of pricing data points and dozens of expert tests — all allowing you to make the savviest decisions with confidence.
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