Remitly

 

 

Remitly, founded in 2011,  is a technology company headquartered in Seattle, United States, specializing in cross-border remittances. It was successfully listed on NASDAQ (RELY) in 2021, with a current market value of about $5 billion.

 

Receiving Methods:

Debit card, Credit card, Maestro card, Klarna

IDEAL, SEPA credit transfers payment

Alipay, wallet, UnionPay card

 

Payment methods:

• Visa, MasterCard（debit card or credit card）— All outward countries/regions
• Bank accounts - United States, Canada, and Australia
• Maestro Card - EU and UK
• Prepaid Card - All Outbound Countries/Regions
• Passbook Visa Debit Card - United States
• Bank transfers (also known as Faster Payments) - UK
• IDEAL - Netherlands
• Klarna (also known as Sofort) - Australia and Germany
• SEPA - Italy and France (to be launched in other countries/regions)
• Postpay - Italy

 

Handling fee:

Free handling fee for first transfer of new customers.

Existing customers: specific differentiation based on remittance amount and remittance speed.

Note: If credit cards are used for remittance payments, banks or card issuers may charge additional handling fees.

 

Remittance Speed:

Economy: It usually takes 3-5 working days to receive money.

Express: Money can be received within a few minutes at the soonest.

 

Upper Limit:

The default level of remittance limit is $2,999/24 hours, $10,000/30 days, and $18,000/180 days. If you need a larger limit, you need to apply for an upgrade on the official website.

 

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
24hours	$2,999	$6,000	$10,000
30days	$10,000	$20,000	$30,000
180days	$18,000	$36,000	$60,000

 

Wise (TransferWise)

 

 

Wise was founded in 2011, which is a technology company headquartered in London, UK that focuses on cross-border remittances. It was successfully listed on the London Stock Exchange (WISE) in 2021 and currently has a market value of approximately $5 billion.

 

Receiving Methods:

Alipay, WeChat wallet, UnionPay card collection

 

Payment methods:

Debit card, Credit card and Bank transfer

Apple Pay, Google Pay, iDeal, Trustly, SOFORT, SWIFT - Europe

OBT - Only applicable to Canada

POLI - Only applicable to Australia

 

Handling fee:

The handling fee depends on the amount, remittance currency, and payment method; Including fixed and variable fees.

 

If euros are remitted to regions outside of SEPA, Wise will charge an additional 3.55 euros.

 

Fixed fees: Covering fixed costs related to transactions. Generally deducted from Wise accounts, fixed fees are the lowest, followed by credit cards, debit cards, ACH bank deductions. Transfer and payment bills are generally higher.

 

Variable fees: Covering the cost of currency exchange, if deducted from a credit card, the highest fee is up to 5% or more, and if deducted from a Wise account, it is the lowest. Secondly, ACH bank deduction, transfer, and payment of bills are equally high.

 

The remittance fee (fixed fee+variable fee) publicized by Wise is 0.41% or more of the remittance amount. For some major currency remittances, such as British pound, euro, US dollar, Canadian dollar and Singapore dollar, in most cases, the fee does not exceed 1%. For other currencies or less popular currencies, the fee will be 1% or more.

 

Remittance Speed:

Depending on the remittance and recipient country, as well as the payment method

Card payments are usually instant (within 2 hours)

Bank transfers may take longer, especially SWIFT transfers: up to 2 working days.

 

Upper Limit:

The maximum remittance amount paid through bank transfer is 1.2 million euros.

The following are the maximum amounts for each remittance:

The maximum limit for card payment is 10,000 euros

The upper limit for payment using SOFORT is 25,000 euros

The maximum limit for using iDEAL payment is 50,000 euros

The upper limit for using Trustly payment is 1.2 million euros

The maximum payment limit for using PayPal is 2,500 euros

The maximum amount for each remittance in a commercial account is 6 million euros, depending on the payment method. If paid by card, the limit will be lower. But if the amount you send is below the limit, you can only use the card for payment.

If you want to transfer more than 1.2 million euros, you need to transfer from your Wise account.

 

Panda Remit 

 

Panda Remit was established in Hong Kong in 2018 and holds MSO licenses. The enterprise aims to provide safe, convenient and reasonable remittance services for overseas Chinese, so that remittance can be as simple as sending WeChat red envelopes to family members.

 

The company has received a seed round investment from the well-known venture capital company Sequoia China, and has so far helped Chinese people worldwide complete millions of cross-border remittances!

 

Receiving Methods:

Debit card, Bank transfer, Alipay, Wallet, UnionPay card

 

Payment methods:

ACH, VISA/MasterCard Debit card payment - US

Bank transfer, POLI, PayID - Australia

VISA, MasterCard, Bank Transfer - Europe

Online banking, ATM, PAYNOW - Singapore

E-transfer - Canada

Online Banking, FPS Transfer - Hong Kong

 

Handling fee:

New customers are exempt from handling fees

Existing customers: 5.99GBP/EUR (no hidden or additional fees)

 

Remittance Speed:

2 minutes at the soonest

 

Upper Limit:

A minimum of 50 euros and a maximum of 3000 euros per transfer, but there is no limit on the number of transfers.

 

 

PaySend

 

 

PaySend is established in London, UK in 2018. It is the first company to introduce the concept of card to card remittance. Currently, the company is valued at approximately $720 million.

 

Receiving Methods:

MasterCard, Visa, UnionPay card, WeChat wallet, Alipay

 

Payment methods:

MasterCard, Visa, UnionPay

 

Handling fee:

Mostly fixed at 1 EUR

The "card to card" technology provides users with a fixed handling fee for cross-border remittances:

1. Remittance from the UK only requires £ 1

2. Remittance from Europe only requires € 1

3. Remittance from the United States only costs $2

 

Remittance Speed:

The remittance time depends on the recipient's bank. In most cases, the payment is received within 1 minute, and in a few cases, it takes several hours.

As Paysend is the first company to launch the concept of card to card remittance, it transfers money directly from your bank card to the collection card of your domestic relatives and friends, including Alipay and WeChat.

 

Upper Limit:

Remittance from the UK or Eurozone is based on a cumulative amount of £ 800 or € 1000 every 6 months, with no limit on the number of times. According to European financial regulations, if the cumulative remittance exceeds £ 800 within six months, KYC certification is required to comply with regulatory requirements.

 

Users can increase their personal remittance limit through passport, address proof, and other means. Identity verification such as passport can be increased to £ 4,000; Submitting proof of address can be increased to £ 13,000; Submitting proof of funding source can increase to over £ 13,000. All limits are valid for 6 months, and new increased limits are automatically obtained every 6 months.

 

Drawback:

Long user review process: feedback report files submitted online for identity verification have undergone lengthy verification; Paysend has clarified that the review process can be completed within 3 hours to 3 days, and it depends.

 

The types of domestic UnionPay cards are limited.

 

The exchange rate is slightly lower than the market.

 

WorldRemit

 

 

WorldRemit, headquartered in London, UK, was established in 2010. Known as the "WhatsApp of the remittance industry", it is valued at approximately $5 billion.

 

Receiving Methods:

Bank transfer: Funds are directly transferred from the remitter's bank to the recipient's bank.

 

Cash pickup: This method allows payees to receive physical cash from proxy locations in WorldRemit's vast local payment network.

 

Mobile money: Through this electronic wallet service, funds are directly deposited into the recipient's mobile account; Compatible with all the latest iOS and Android devices (Alipay).

 

Home delivery: This method may be the most convenient, which delivers the funds in cash and directly delivers them to the recipient's home. However, the delivery time varies depending on the recipient's country and address.

 

Airtime Top Up: Users can recharge the recipient's prepaid phone number, allowing them to send text messages and make phone calls. (Supports China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom)

 

Payment methods:

Debit card, Credit card, and Prepaid Cards: WorldRemit accepts most cards issued by Visa, Mastercard, or Maestro. When you make payment through a credit card, the transfer will incur fees charged by the issuing bank.

 

Bank transfer: You can transfer funds from your bank account to the recipient's account through WorldRemit. This payment method applies to Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Somaliland, the United Kingdom, and South Africa.

 

Apple Pay: This is the digital wallet and mobile payment service that allows you to pay transfer fees using iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, or Mac. It is available in 16 countries / regions, including Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

 

Inter ac: This method is applicable to customers sent from Canada; The maximum amount that can be sent per transaction is CAD 40,000.

 

IDEAL: This option applies to people sending from the Netherlands; The maximum amount for each transaction is 40,000 euros.

 

Poli: If sent from New Zealand or Australia, this payment method can be used.

 

Sofort: This payment method can be used when sending from Germany, Austria, Belgium, or the United Kingdom; The maximum limit for each transaction is 40,000 euros, excluding the UK, with a limit of 50,000 pounds

 

Trustly: If remittances are made from Denmark, Finland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, or Sweden, Trustly can be used to pay the transfer fee. It is associated with a bank account and transfers funds online to the payee

 

Handling fee:

Free handling fee for new users' first transaction

Existing customers: starting from 1.99 euros.

Card issuers may charge fees that are separate from any transfer fees. For example, customers who use credit cards to pay transfer fees may be charged an additional fee of up to 3%.

 

Remittance Speed:

Cash pickup, Mobile money, and Airtime Top Up are all instant transfers.

 

Bank transfers depend on the destination and may be immediate, but some payments may take 2 to 3 days to complete. According to WorldRemit, 50% of its bank transfers are completed within 10 minutes.

 

Home delivery may take 24 hours to 7 days, depending on the recipient's location.

 

Upper Limit:

The transfer limit of WorldRemit varies by country/region and is reset daily.

(For example, US $5,000/day to Australia; UK $100,000/day to Australia; Europe $40,000/day to Australia)

 

Drawback:

No real-time chat option: WorldRemit does not provide real-time chat customer service channels; Users must contact the customer service team through online forms, email, or phone calls