Xoom Review

By Gavan Smythe

Overall Score

Xoom provides international money transfer services for individuals only. Check this Xoom review to determine if you may benefit by using the company's bank account transfer, cash pick-up or international bill payment services.

Jump to a section

About the Author

Gavan Smythe

Gavan started iCompareFX in 2014 after discovering the easiest way to wire money internationally was through a specialist provider and …

Personal money transfers

Multiple payout options

Payment options

Bank account transfer

Credit card

Debit card

PayPal balances

Payout options

Bank account

Cash pickup

Mobile airtime top up

Home delivery (only in the Philippines and Vietnam)

Transfer options

Online

Xoom app

Regular transfers

Not available

Send money from

USD, GBP, EUR, CAD.

Send money to

AED, ALL, ARS, AUD, BAM, BDT, BGN, BHD, BIF, BOB, BRL, BTN, BWP, CAD, CDF, CHF, CLP, CNY, COP, CZK, DJF, DKK, DOP, EGP, ERN, ETB, EUR, GBP, GHS, GMD, GNF, GTQ, GYD, HKD, HNL, INR, JMD, JPY, KES, KRW, KWD, LKR, MAD, MGA, MMK, MWK, MXN, MYR, MZN, NAD, NGN, NOK, NPR, NZD, OMR, PEN, PHP, PKR, PLN, QAR, RON, RWF, SCR, SEK, SGD, SLL, THB, TND, TOP, TTD, TZS, UGX, USD, UYU, VND, WST, XAF, XCD, XOF, ZAR, ZMW.

Xoom provides local phone support during business hours in a number of countries.

Email - https://help.xoom.com/s/contactsupport?language=en_US

Phone - International phone numbers location: https://help.xoom.com/s/contactsupport?language=en_US

Personal Features

Xoom gives individuals easy money transfer services from a number of countries.

What Xoom offers

International bank account transfers
Cash pick-ups
International bill payments
Mobile airtime top up
Home delivery of cash

International bank account transfers - You send money through a Spot Transfer, where the existing Xoom exchange rate applies.

Xoom cash pick-ups - Recipients can pick-up cash by using Xoom's extensive global agent network.

International bill payments - Pay bills of different companies from a given list of countries.

Mobile airtime top up - Depending on where a recipient lives, you can top up mobile airtime from different telecom service providers.

Home delivery of cash - Xoom provides a home delivery service in Vietnam and the Philippines.

What Xoom doesn’t do

Personal account manager
Digital wallet
FX optimised travel card
Unique local multi-currency receiving accounts
Regular transfers
Forward contracts and limit orders

Xoom score

Xoom's Personal Services score is on the lower side because it does not provide services such as regular transfers, forex hedging tools, digital wallets, travel cards and multi-currency accounts.

Business Benefits

Xoom does not provide services for business customers. However, PayPal, the company that owns Xoom, does.

Fees & Exchange Rates

Xoom money transfer fees

Xoom applies an exchange rate margin fee on the existing interbank/real exchange rate. For frequently traded currencies, it is usually up to 2%. With less commonly traded currencies, the margin can be in excess of 5%.

Does Xoom charge additional fees

Yes, Xoom charges additional fees. These vary based on the currencies being traded, the transfer amount, the payment method and the mode of transfer. For instance, transfers that involve cash pick-up or home delivery come at an added cost.

The corresponding table displays transfer fees for sending money from the U.S. to bank accounts in Australia and India.

Transfer amount	Payment method	Fees
$500	PayPal balance	$4.99
	Bank account	$4.99
	Debit card	$15.49
	Credit card	$15.49
$5,000	PayPal balance	$0
	Bank account	$0
	Debit card	$151.49
	Credit card	$151.49

The following table shows transaction fees for Xoom's Bill Pay service.

Payment currency	Fees
USD	$2.99
CAD	$2.99
GBP	£2.99
EUR	€2.99

Xoom Fees & Exchange Rates score

Xoom gets a low score in this section because of the margin it applies on existing exchange rates, which can be particularly high for exotic currencies. In addition, customers might also need to pay steep transfer fees.

Ease of Use

What Xoom does well

Sign up process - Signing up with Xoom is easy, and you may do so using its website or app. The process becomes simpler still for existing PayPal users. PayPal customers can sign in to Xoom with their PayPal account credentials.

Xoom mobile app - Xoom provides apps for iOS and Android, which you may use to send money and track transfers.

Payment methods - You may pay using a bank account transfer, a credit card, a debit card, your PayPal balance, or any of the payment methods stored in your PayPal account.

Where Xoom could improve

Xoom money transfer time - While Xoom transfers to cash pick-up locations and mobile airtime top ups can go through in minutes or hours, the same does not apply to bank account transfers. Customer complaints about significantly longer-than-estimated processing times on Trustpilot and the Apple App Store seem to highlight this issue.

Xoom sending limits - Sending limits apply based on where you live, the desired transfer method, and partner limits. Account-specific limits come in the form of 24-hour limits, 30-day limits and 180-day limits.

Phone transfers - Xoom customers can not speak with currency dealers over the phone to initiate transfers.

Xoom Ease of Use score

Xoom can improve its Ease of Use score by making sure that it carries out timely transfers, easing sending limits, and allowing over-the-phone transfers.

Support & Countries

What Xoom does well

Supported countries
Multilingual website access and customer support

Xoom supported countries

Send to countries - Xoom lets customers send to over 70 countries. Supported destination countries depend on the money transfer type.

Send from currencies - Xoom only supports sending from USD, CAD, GBP and EUR.

Transfers to bank accounts and/or cash pick-up - Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo - DRC, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, U.S. Virgin Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Bill payments - Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicargua and Vietnam.

Multilingual website access and customer support

Xoom customers get website access and customer support in different languages, which include English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Filipino, Chinese and Arabic.

Where Xoom could improve

Handling customer complaints - Some customer reviews on Trustpilot and the Apple App Store complain about rejected transfers, of transfers not going through, of not getting refunds for failed transfers and of long processing times. In addition, these complaints are typically left unaddressed.

Xoom score

Xoom can improve its score in this section by replying to and addressing its customers' concerns in a timely manner.

Trust & Transparency

What Xoom does well

PayPal Inc. owns Xoom. PayPal is licensed to provide money transfer services by the U.S. federal government as well as by various U.S. state governments and agencies.
It holds client funds in segregated bank accounts.
Xoom uses 128-bit encryption to safeguard all customer information that is transmitted online.

Challenges Xoom faces

There are issues surrounding transparency in exchange rates owing to the exchange rate margin that Xoom applies, and this is reflected through some Trustpilot customers’ Xoom reviews. The company could improve the way it addresses customer complaints about transfer delays and not getting refunds in the case of failed transfers.

Xoom score

While Xoom rates as Excellent on Trustpilot, scoring 9 out of 10, it can do better by effectively addressing the concerns put forth by its customers.

How to sign up to Xoom

Step 1

Provide your personal information

Show proof of identification

Step 2

Create a transfer

Determine the type of transfer service online

Choose amount, source and destination currency

Provide recipient details

Step 3

Payment

Receive payment instructions from Xoom

Choose from one of their multiple payment methods including PayPal

Step 4

Transfer Notifications

Track notifications of the transfer through the Xoom app

How long does it take to receive money from Xoom?

Transfers to Xoom cash pick-up locations and mobile phone top ups can take place in minutes or hours, depending on the destination country. Transfers to international bank accounts can take up to five business days. However, a number of customer reviews on Trustpilot, Google Play Store and Apple App Store mention transfers taking considerably longer than expected. Paying Xoom by credit / debit card or PayPal balance will improve time of funds delivery.

Is Xoom a good way to send money?

Xoom gives you an easy way to send money to several countries. It is one of the few companies that supports transfers to countries in Africa, South America and Asia. It also lets recipients collect transferred money as cash from physical locations. However, these services come at a price - in the form of transfer fees and exchange rate margins. When sending popular currencies to foreign bank accounts, there are cheaper alternatives to Xoom.

Is Xoom available in UK?

Yes, Xoom is available in the UK. Residents of the UK may use its services to send money overseas, top up mobile phones and pay international bills.

Is Xoom reliable and safe?

Xoom services are provided by PayPal. PayPal is licensed to provide money transfer services by the US federal government, as well as regulatory bodies of various American states. It also complies by regulatory requirements of all the countries where it provides its services.

A number of customer reviews on platforms such as TrustPilot, Apple App Store, and Google Play Store mention that transfers are stuck in limbo indefinitely. Some express concerns over not getting their refunds in the event of failed transfers. Some reviews also indicate trust issues surrounding the level of customer service Xoom provides. Incidentally, replies from Xoom on these platforms are rare so perhaps Xoom may not be reliable all of the time.

Why does Xoom ask for SSN?

Xoom asks its US customers for their Social Security Number (SSN) if they wish to get past its Level 1 sending limits. You will need to provide additional information to move from Level 2 to Level 3, as the corresponding table indicates.

Level	24-hr limit	30-day limit	180-day limit	Required information/documents
1	$2,999	$6,000	$9,999	Basic profile information
2	$10,000	$20,000	$30,000	SSN or passport details
3	$50,000	$60,000	$100,000	Details from passport, driver’s license or Green Card Copy of pay stub or bank statement Answers to security questions sent via email

Summary

Xoom provides international money transfer services for individuals, and not for businesses. It supports transfers to an extensive list of countries with different payout types. However, the specialist services that this company provides tend to come at a high price. Xoom is expensive to use.