WorldRemit - Independent review
All you need to know before sending money with WorldRemit
Competitive fees and exchange rates Large pay-out network Highly-rated mobile apps
WorldRemit review by Monito
WorldRemit is an online money transfer service allowing people around the world to send money to their friends and family abroad. The company was created in 2010 by Somali migrant Ismail Ahmed while studying at university in London, who first recognized the opportunity to make money transfers cheaper and improve the experience of sending money.
As of 2018, WorldRemit’s service enables senders in 50 countries to send money to 150 countries across the world. Depending on the country combination, customers can send money to bank accounts, as cash to local cash pick-up agent locations, to mobile wallets (which fosters financial inclusion within the unbanked populations) or as airtime top-up (a popular option for migrants to stay connected with their friends and family back home). In fact, a third of the WorldRemit money transfers are received on mobile phones and the company claims it is now the leading sender of remittances to mobile wallets worldwide.
Pay-in methods are also highly variable but include (depending on the country) bank transfers, debit and credit cards, SOFORT, Apple and Android Pay, Poli, Interac, ACH and Trustly. Within the United states, WorldRemit offers money transfer services from all 50 United States and according to TechCrunch, “they are currently aiming to expand further in Asia.”(TechCrunch)
WorldRemit is a low-cost alternative to traditional money transfer services, and the fact that you can transfer money anywhere and at any time using the WorldRemit website or mobile app makes it a highly convenient service. There’s no need to physically go to an agent location, line up and wait. Everything happens online, which means WorldRemit fees are more affordable than many competitors and its customers save on costs.
They also provide an overall positive user experience, from affordable, transparent costs to well-placed information about the security of their website, as evidenced in our in-depth User Experience analysis of what first time users think of WorldRemit. The User Experience analysis also demonstrated that some customers where confused by some unclear wording in certain sections of the website. Despite this, the main takeaway was that most users were willing to figure out WorldRemit’s quirks and able to move forward and ultimately transfer money.
WorldRemit is an excellent choice for money transfers overall, but as with many providers, certain routes are highly competitive. The WorldRemit exchange rate to Nigeria is particularly good for a variety of transfer combinations including sending money from the US and the UK to Nigeria. They also offer some great rates sending money from the US to Mexico via bank transfer or cash pickups, with the option to receive cash at banks including Banco Azteca, BBVA Bancomer, Bancoppel, Telecomm Telegrafos and Pagos Intermex. The company’s monthly transfers to Pakistan have grown by over 120% in 2017 alone, too, and they offer a large selection of cash pickups in the country including 645 branches of Bank AL Habib. Additional competitive routes include sending US dollars to banks in Colombia, sending money from the US to either a Chilean bank account or for cash pickup in Chile and sending money to a cash pickup locations in Morocco from the US and the UK.
- A large and growing number of payout countries and networks
- A highly-rated mobile app (for both sending and receiving money)
- Low-cost alternative to high-street money transfer companies for remittances
- Speed
- Not always the cheapest provider for transfers of large amounts or to bank accounts
WorldRemit consistently receives excellent customer reviews on Trustpilot, with an average rating of 9.3 stars out of 10. Here’s a summary of what WorldRemit customers have to say:
- By far the aspect of WorldRemit’s service which customers like most is how fast it is to make a transfer and how quickly the money is delivered
- The convenience and ease of use of WorldRemit’s service is frequently praised
- Customers find that the fees and exchange rates of WorldRemit are much better than those of its competitors
- Customers this WorldRemit is trustworthy
- In some isolated cases, some customers’ transfers were delayed for reasons not always under WorldRemit’s control
Can I trust WorldRemit ?
- WorldRemit is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, where it is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the provision of payment services. This imposes strict regulations on WorldRemit to protect consumers against fraud and safeguard their funds in case the company has financial difficulties. It requires the company to hold sufficient amounts of capital to ensure financial stability, and to have internal procedures to manage risk. It also operates and is regulated in the United States (in all 50 states), Australia, and Canada.
- As of 2018, WorldRemit processes 1 million transactions per month. They had £61 million in revenue in 2017, up from £41 million in 2016. They have roughly 3 million users worldwide. All connections to WorldRemit through their website and mobile app are secured using 256-bit SSL encryption with a 2048-bit signature.
- The company is well-funded. They have raised US$220 million in capital from high profile investors including Accel Partners (investors in Slack, Facebook, Dropbox and Spotify), Technology Crossover Ventures/ TCV (investors in Airbnb and Netflix) and LeapFrog investments.
- WorldRemit employs roughly 700 people across its six offices in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, and they have plans to open additional offices, including a new office in the Philippines. According to reviews by WorldRemit employees on the Glassdoor website, the people working at WorldRemit are “very passionate”, “smart” and “talented” people who “genuinely care about WorldRemit’s mission” and come from diverse backgrounds. The office is wonderful, and the company “sets a very high entry standard” and is “disrupting an industry that overcharges its customers”.
- So, is WorldRemit safe? We would not hesitate to say that WorldRemit is completely trustworthy and is among the most secure remittance services available.
Authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Firm Reference : 574642
How WorldRemit works
- Select the country you are sending money to. This will determine the available payout methods.
- If multiple payout methods are available, choose the payout method you want to use.
- Choose how much money you would like to send or how much the recipient should receive. The fees and exchange rate will vary depending on your amount and payout method.
- Pay for your transfer using your preferred pay-in method. Your choice depends on what country you are sending money to but may include cash pickup, bank deposit, mobile money, airtime top-up.
- Your money is on its way, and both you and your recipient shall be notified by SMS and/or email every step of the way.
WorldRemit Exchange Rate & Fees
Transfer fees
WorldRemit fees depend on the amount, the payout method and where you are sending the money. For example, the fees for cash pickup are usually higher than for a bank deposit. While WorldRemit’s transfer fees are usually flat, in some cases fees will vary according to the amount you are sending
Exchange rate
WorldRemit exchange rates depend on the payout method you choose. They are locked in advance so that you know exactly how much money will reach your recipient.
Other fees
WorldRemit does not charge any other fees. However, if you are paying by credit card, you should be aware that your card provider might charge you a cash advance fee. It’s best to check this with your card provider directly to avoid any bad surprises. Also, if you are sending an airtime top-up, note that some countries apply taxes which will reduce the amount of airtime received by your recipient. If this is the case, WorldRemit will warn you before you complete your transfer.
WorldRemit Mobile apps
WorldRemit is a mobile-first company both for sending and receiving money. The London-based firm reports that over a third of its global transfers and half of its transfers to Africa go to mobile money services, and it has been called “the WhatsApp of money.” WorldRemit’s apps, available for both iOS and Android, provide an easy and very convenient way to send money with WorldRemit, from anywhere and at any time. With the WorldRemit mobile app, you can check out WorldRemit’s exchange rate and fees, set up and track your money transfers, and manage your recipients. The mobile apps are rated well: 4.5 / 5 in the Google Play Store and 4.7 / 5 in the Apple App Store.
Pay-out methods when sending money with WorldRemit
Bank deposit
If you choose this payout method, your money will be credited to the bank account of your recipient. They will then be able to withdraw the funds as cash, use them to make payments, or make a bank transfer.
Cash pickup
With this payout method, the money you send will be available for pickup in cash at a local agent location of a WorldRemit money transfer partner.
Mobile money
This allows you to send money to a mobile money account (also known as mobile wallet), such as Vodafone M-PESA, MTN Mobile Money, Airtel, Globe Cash, Tigo, etc. This way, the money is available to your recipient anywhere and at any time.
Airtime top-up
You can also choose to top-up your recipient’s mobile airtime, which they can use to make calls or send SMS text messages.
The story behind WorldRemit
WorldRemit was founded in 2010 by Ismail Ahmed, a Somali migrant who arrived in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s to study economics at university. He regularly sent money back to his family in Somaliland, which cost him over 10 per cent in high street bank fees and required him to travel across town to the closest agent location.
Ismail later worked in the UN in the area of regulatory compliance, where he discovered the challenges that companies were facing to meet anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regulations. He started thinking of how to make money transfers more efficient, and decided to create WorldRemit and place its headquarters in London. Ismail was convinced that technology could improve how money was sent internationally, reducing costs and improving regulatory compliance.
The company was very quickly met with great success, and continues to grow rapidly to this day. Ismail was awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2016, rewarding him for his efforts and for “overcoming adversity” and achieving “global impact and success”.
Offices
UK office
62 Buckingham Gate
London
SW1E 6AJ
US office
600 17th Street
Suite 200S
Denver
CO 80202
Canada office
1000 rue de la Gauchetiere Ouest
Suite 2400, 24th floor
Montreal
QC H3B 4W5
Australia office
Level 16
1-7 Castlereagh Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
New Zealand office
41 Shortland Street
Plaza Level
Auckland 1010
Japan office
Ark Mori Building 12F
1-12-32 Akasaka, Minato-ku
Tokyo 107-6012
Key facts about WorldRemit
Service information
| Time to open an account | A few minutes |
| Minimum amount | - |
| Maximum amount | - |
| Can you transfer from your mobile? | Yes |
| Available languages |
Français English Deutsch Español |
| Personnal transfers | No |
| Business customers | Yes |
| Advanced currency contracts | No |
| Required documents | - |
Company information
| Type of service provider | Online money transfer operators |
| Active since | 2009 |
| Headquarter | London, United Kingdom |
| Regulated by | FCA |
Contact information
| Contact support | - |
| Service hour | - |
| @worldremit | |
| worldremit |