Personal Features

WorldRemit

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WorldRemit offers

WorldRemit is tailored for individuals with account services that include:

  • Foreign bank transfers
  • Cash pick-up
  • Foreign bill payments (ie electricity, credit cards and television services)
  • Pre-paid mobile credit top-ups
  • Recurring / regular transfers are also supported

Note: bill payments and cash pick-up services are not available in all countries.

WorldRemit has two unique features. These are:

  • Mobile money - Shop in-store, online and withdraw cash at authorised agents
  • WorldRemit Wallet - Money can be received through their vast global network into a multi-currency wallet

 

WorldRemit does not offer

  • Travel debit cards
  • Access to a personal account manager (helpful when transferring large sums of money)

Remitly

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What Remitly offers

Remitly provides overseas money transfer services to:

  • Foreign Bank Accounts
  • Cash pick up locations
  • Mobile Money solutions (not available in all countries)

Remitly also offers a regular transfer service for people who need to do repeated international money transfers for the same amount each time. For example, monthly pensions.

Remitly does not offer

  • Personal account management
  • Travel debit cards
  • Digital wallet services

Sending limits apply to customers for international money transfers.


WorldRemit wins!

Comparing WorldRemit and Remitly, both offer similar services for individuals. However, WorldRemit’s Wallet, Mobile Money and bill payments services. WorldRemit wins the individual services category.

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Business Benefits

WorldRemit

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WorldRemit does not provide a business service, although WorldRemit could be used for business transfers. The Mobile Wallet could be used for business, however it may not be suited for this purpose.


Remitly

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Remitly does not offer services for businesses. Their service is specialised and tailored for personal use.


It's a draw!

Neither WorldRemit nor Remitly offer specialist services for businesses. However, with WorldRemit’s Wallet feature, this could be used for business purposes to receive funds from global suppliers as local payments. WorldRemit wins this category by a hair.

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Fees & Exchange Rates

WorldRemit

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WorldRemit Fees

Most of the WorldRemit fees are within the exchange rate offered. The exchange rate offered can and does change depending on payment type, receiving option and the amount being transferred.

  • Bank deposit - 0.5% - 2% depending on the destination country and amount
  • Bill payment fee - 1% - 4%
  • Cash pick up fee - 1% - 4%
  • Mobile airtime top up - 1% - 4%
  • Additional fee - $1 - $5 per transfer

New customers from eligible countries signing up through iCompareFX receive 3 transfers fees for free using the code 3FREE. Eligible countries for this free transfer promotion are the USA, UK, Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, New Zealand, and Norway.


Remitly

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Remitly fees are hidden within the exchange rate plus an additional fee on top. The fees on the exchange rate can be up to 2% of the transfer amount.

Additional fees apply for the transfer of funds. These can be simple for some countries and complex tiered fees for other countries. 

Economy Transfer Fee - Up to US$3.99

Express Transfer Fee - Between US$4.99 and US$99.99 for larger transfer amounts when receiving in USD.


WorldRemit wins!

WorldRemit’s lower exchange rate margin and lower additional fees are better than Remitly. Reviewing WorldRemit vs Remitly fees and exchange rates show that WorldRemit offer better rates and lower fees.

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Ease of Use

WorldRemit

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Registration - Simple and easy through their website or mobile app.

ID verification -  If requested, it is a simple process that can be actioned through their mobile app or via email. Simply upload the requested documentation as photos from your phone. 

Transfer speed -  Speed ranges from instantaneous to up to 2 days. This depends on the country you are sending money to, and if it is a bank transfer or sending cash. 

Payment options - Uploading your funds to WordRemit is also a simple process. With in-country solutions such as Australia’s POLi or via debit card, you can instantly transfer your funds to WorldRemit. This speeds up the entire process of sending money overseas.

Mobile app - There is a WorldRemit mobile app to help manage your transfers end to end.


Remitly

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Registration - Remitly has a smooth account creation process. The website and mobile app are easy to use.

ID Verification - ID verification is not required for Tier 1 membership but this lowers the account sending limits. Tier 2 and 3 require increased proof of identification and source of funds. This can be a slower process. 

Transfer speed - Generally between 2 - 3 days upon payment.

Low minimum transfer limits - Send under $5

Low maximum transfer limits - Transfer limits are tiered based on your ID verification. Even with tier 3 ID verification. 

Low maximum sending limits - After full ID verification, you may only send up to $60,000 within 180 days. That’s low!


WorldRemit wins!

WorldRemit and Remitly both score high within the Ease of Use category. However, Remitly’s tiered approach is not obvious on account registration. Remitly’s sending limits and tiered ID verification can slow down the onboarding and could result in some confusion as customers first use their service. WorldRemit has no such limitations and therefore has better ease of use.

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Support & Countries

WorldRemit

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WorldRemit supported countries

WorldRemit has an impressive list of supported countries. 

  • Mobile Money - 23 countries
  • Cash pick up - 80 countries
  • Bank transfer - 150 countries
  • Bill payment -  Selected countries
  • Phone support - Multiple languages
  • Multilingual website
  • Local settlement accounts in dozens of countries.

Customer support

There are reports on TrustPilot and through its mobile app reviews of poor wait times to talk to a customer service representative.


Remitly

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Destination countries - Remitly specialises in sending to South American, Asian and African countries. Sending to more popular countries like the UK, USA and Canada is not supported.

Language support - Remilty supports 11 languages. They have local settlement accounts for sending funds to Remitly freely and easily in Singapore, Australia, Europe, UK and the USA.

Customer service - Customer support can be contacted by their website’s online chat service. Phone support is also available but only in English and Spanish between 3:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. PT.


WorldRemit wins!

WorldRemit supports more countries to send from and to. Their large network means a higher level of global coverage. Remitly cannot compete in the supported countries category.

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Trust & Transparency

WorldRemit

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  • WorldRemit is regulated by multiple financial regulators globally including the FCA in the UK. 
  • Their company structure is sound and customers funds are segregated from their company accounts thereby reducing the risk for their customer.
  • The WorldRemit fee structure for money transfers includes a hidden fee within the offered exchange rate which reduces transparency. This is unfortunately common amongst most international money transfer companies.
  • High TrustPilot rating. However, there are an increasing number of poor reviews. This will be monitored by iCompareFX. 

Remitly

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Transparency - Remitly’s transparency on fees is quite poor. They show the real exchange rate below their money transfer widget but the ‘received amount’ in the widget does not use that rate. Remitly uses the real exchange rate plus approximately 2%.

The additional fees for sending to a country can be found clearly within the help center. However, it is not shown to the customer going through the money transfer process until after a few steps.

Remitly & TrustPilot - Remilty’s lack of transparency on fees can be quite confusing which is reflected in many poor reviews on TrustPilot. Many poor Remitly reviews are about transparency on fees and sudden account closures or funds not arriving at their destination. 


WorldRemit wins!

Remitly has concerning real customer reviews on account closures and missing fund transfers. 

WorldRemit is very clear on the exchange rate on offer and the additional fee amount. Even though there is still a hidden fee within the exchange rate, Remitly does not make it clear the rate on offer and confuses matters showing the real market exchange rate on the transfer widget.

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The Result

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 WorldRemit

The Remitly vs WorldRemit comparison shows a clear winner across all of the iCompareFX scoring categories. WorldRemit offers more services to more countries at a lower cost of transfer to the customer. 

WorldRemit is the obvious choice when sending money for cash pickups, bank transfers, bill payments when compared to Remitly.

FAQs

Is Remitly and WorldRemit the same?

Nope! Remitly and WorldRemit are not the same. They are different companies but are both international money transfer companies. Both WorldRemit and Remitly have similar services. Send money overseas to foreign bank accounts, mobile airtime top’s, bill payments and cash pick-ups. However, WorldRemit supports more source and destination countries to WorldRemit and have lower fees for their services.