CurrencyFair Money Transfer Review

Are you looking to transfer money abroad? Then you may be interested in CurrencyFair.

This international payment service allows you to exchange currency with other users. Using CurrencyFair, you can pay international tuition fees, buy or sell property, or even get an overseas pension.

There are many international payment providers out there. Before picking one, you need to know the answers to a few questions.

Are CurrencyFair’s costs competitive? How convenient is the service? Can you trust CurrencyFair with your money? These are all the factors that go into choosing the right service for you.

To find out everything you’ve ever wanted to know about CurrencyFair, keep reading.

So how does CurrencyFair work? After signing up, you can enter the details of the payment you want to send. The site or app then displays both the exchange rate and the fees that will be applied.

If you are happy with it, you can fund the payment with a bank transfer. CurrencyFair then pays out your beneficiary in whichever country they reside.

Now here’s what makes CurrencyFair different from other services. You can use the service like a marketplace. This means that you can choose your desired exchange rate. If there’s another customer also looking to exchange who accepts it, you’ll both get what you want.

The process is totally automatic. It’s also transparent, since you know exactly what you want to pay and what you’ll get.

There’s also a second option for senders who do not want to wait. A sender can choose to convert at the current best available rate in the marketplace. This means a transaction can happen immediately. These rates are competitive too, on average, only 0.35 % below the mid market rate.

In both cases, there’s a flat transfer fee of approximately 3 euros. In terms of time, expect one business day to transfer the money to CurrencyFair. Then one to two business days for the beneficiary to actually get the money. For some currency combinations, the process can take longer.

No matter which option you choose, you can use theCurrencyFair service through their website or mobile app (on Android and iOS). Service is accessible from anywhere, and at any time.

It’s a good idea to know more about the Auto-Transaction option with CurrencyFair. This automatic and simple way to transfer money abroad is the most convenient option for most senders. Take a note that it only works if you don’t currently have money in your account.

First, confirm how much money you want to send, which currency, and the account of your beneficiary. Then make your bank transfer. Once CurrencyFair has the money they will exchange it automatically at the best available rate.

Your beneficiary will receive the transfer without you having to do anything more.

Verification with CurrencyFair is an important step in the transfer process. The company has to verify your identity in order for you to easily make a transfer. You will be required to provide:

• Passport number
• Photo or scan copy of your ID - driver’s license, national ID or passport
• Proof of address - license with address showing, bank statement, credit card statement, tax notice, or household insurance document

For the ID and proof of address, it’s possible that you will be asked for two forms of each. For example, to prove your address you may need to provide a utility bill and a bank statement.

The good news is that in many countries you can sign up in minutes with electronic verification. This applies in Australia, Canada (if you’re an immigrant), France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK.

A large part of the choice in transfer companies comes down to fees and exchange rates. Here’s what CurrencyFair will charge you to send a money transfer.

There is a flat fee for sending each transfer from your CurrencyFair account. It is approximately 3 euros, $4 CAD or $5 USD. As a result, it’s easy to calculate up front what your total cost will be. It also means large transfers don’t get charged more.

Pro tip: you can choose a currency to pay the fees in to get the best rate. For example, let’s say you have accounts with CurrencyFair in both pounds and USD. You can pick which account to use to pay the transfer fee, depending on what is the best option for you.

CurrencyFair’s exchange rate margin is a large part of the cost you’ll pay to send a transfer. There is an advantage in that you can choose your own exchange rate. In theory, this means you can get a better deal than the mid-market exchange rate. This is the midpoint between the buy and sell rates of any given currency pair.

The issue of course, is that this only works if a user accepts the rate you offer. You can choose to not go peer-to-peer and accept the best available rate. This will usually be a good deal. Estimate around 0.35 percent below the mid-market rate.

Beware of intermediary bank fees when sending money abroad with CurrencyFair. These apply if you are sending money to or from accounts that are not in local currencies. For example, a GBP account held in Sweden.

Most of the CurrencyFair’s accounts are held locally in the country’s currency. Say you are transferring from a UK. CurrencyFair will give you the details of a British account to send money to, so you effectively are making a local transfer.

Unfortunately, this does not apply to or from the following countries and currencies:

• United States Dollar
• United Arab Emirates Dirham
• Candadian Dollar
• New Zealand Dollar
• South African Rand
• Israeli Shekel

The history of CurrencyFair started in 2009. There were a few disgruntled immigrants who had personal experience with moving countries and trying to send money as a result. International bank transfers are known to have both bad exchange rates and high fees.

Four founders, David Christian, Jonathan Potter, Sean Barrett, and Brett Myers, got together. Their idea was to create a marketplace where people who wanted to exchange money could do it amongst themselves. Now, they have achieved their goal of helping people avoid expensive international transfers.

Over $5 billion has already been transferred with CurrencyFair. Since it was founded the service has been used by hundreds of thousands of customers. The company also employs staff in a number of countries and has been covered in international media outlets. It is regulated by the Irish Central Bank. The money used for CurrencyFair’s operations are kept separate to client monies.

Overall, CurrencyFair is a safe place to trade currencies and put your money in.