Exchange rates, Payment methods, How to, Transfer fees and much more
Sending money online can be worrisome to many people. Is it safe to send? Am I paying too much to transfer money online?
Remitly is an online money transfer service that allows customers in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Eurozone to send money to more than 40 countries internationally. The service makes transferring money quicker, easier, and less expensive than other companies. Send money using your smartphone, tablet, or online through the Remitly online transfer service.
When you send money online with Remitly, you can fund the transfer using:
Individual users can send up to $999 per day, and Remitly doesn’t allow you to set up recurring transactions.
If you choose to submit additional information to Remitly, such as the reason for the transfer or proof of how you are funding the transfer, you can send more money.
For example, providing Remitly with the reason you’re sending the money and the source of the funds, you can send up to $6,000 per day.
The person receiving the money has a few options for getting their funds, including deposit into a bank account, deposit into a digital wallet, or picking up cash at a nearby partner money transfer facility. And if you need to send money somewhere immediately, you can choose the “Express” option for an instant transfer of funds.
With Remitly you need to pass different tiers of verification to be able to send higher amounts of money. To increase your sending limits you will need to provide your personal information and upload certain documents.
Remitly offers two ways to send - express or economy
Remitly Transfer Fees
The fees Remitly charges to transfer money depend on several different factors, including:
Remitly allows users to send money either Economy or Express. Economy often has lower fees - including no fees for your first transfer - but takes longer to reach the recipient.
If you’re sending Economy from Canada to the Philippines, using local currency, the transfer will take up to three days. Remitly charges you $2.99 if you send less than $500, but there is no charge for sending more than $500.
If you need the money to get from Canada to the Philippines immediately, the Express option costs $6.99 regardless of how much you’re sending.
Express transfers happen immediately, so they’re great for people who need to send money for emergencies. However, they do carry additional fees that can add up the more often you send money with this method.
There also may be situations where Remitly will charge you additional fees, such as when you send money to a recipient in a foreign country but they will receive that money in United States dollars.
Users in Australia, Canada, and the United States will also be charged a processing fee if they elect to fund the transfer with a credit card. You also may be charged additional fees directly by your credit card company, but Remitly has no control over these fees. If you’re using a bank account to transfer money, they may also charge you additional fees. These fees are dependent on your bank’s policy and are out of Remitly’s control.
Pros
Easy to use with user-friendly online applications and mobile app.
Those who receive money can collect their money at any Remitly partner bank, including nearly all big banking networks in the countries where Remitly is available.
Multiple payout options, including bank transfer, mobile wallet, home delivery, and pickup at over 140,000 locations.
Currency exchange rate locks in when you start the transfer, protecting you from fluctuations before the money gets to the recipient.
Text message alerts for you and the recipient so you both can track when money has been sent and received.
If you are unhappy with the service you receive from Remitly, you get a refund on all the fees you paid.
Its website is secure, meaning you can be confident you’re transferring money securely.
Cons
Often not the cheapest money transfer option, with exchange rates that are lower than other services.
Fixed fees can get expensive if you’re transferring smaller amounts of money.
You may be limited in how you can send money and how the recipient gets the money depending on where you’re sending money.
Daily and monthly limits on how much you can send without going through extra verification steps.
Higher fees for express transfers. You need to pay much more in fees if you want to fund your transfer with debit or credit card.
Remitly’s exchange rates are competitive with other online money transfer services, typically coming in between 0.5% and 2% worse than general market rates.
The company not only makes money with these exchange rates that are worse than the market, as well as additional fees charged by Remitly.
For example, if you want to send $500 from Canada to the Philippines, you will pay between $2.50 and $10 more to send that money with Remitly over base exchange rates.
The company also charges you fees for sending money instantly with a credit or debit card, as well as fees for transferring money to the Philippines in U.S dollars instead of the native currency.
Remitly makes its money by charging customers to send money from one country to another. These fees are what you pay based on where you’re sending money, how much you’re sending, how fast you want the money to get there, and how you’re paying to send the money.
The fees Remitly charges are higher than some of their competitors, so shop around before deciding what service to use to send money overseas.
Remitly is available for use on your computer, tablet or mobile device through its web-based platform. Additionally, the Remitly app is available for Android and iPhone devices.
All of Remitly’s platforms come highly rated by customers for their ease of use and user-friendliness.
Remitly is considered a very secure and trustworthy online money transfer provider.
The company is a registered Money Services Business with the United States Department of the Treasury and is a licensed money transmitter. Remitly also is authorized to operate in all Canadian provinces except Quebec (although this is coming soon), as well as the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Remitly offers a variety of safeguards and security measures to protect your information and your money, including:
● All Remitly accounts are verified using a variety of different measures, helping keep them safe and secure while also preventing fraud.
● In order to send money through Remitly, users must submit certain documents to prove their identity.
● Remitly uses manual and automated fraud detection techniques and risk management procedures, helping them detect and eliminate suspicious account activity.
● All transactions are protected by strong online security measures, including 256-bit SSL encryption with a 2048-bit signature.
Remitly is financially strong, and it has the backing of a variety of investors including TomorrowVentures, Jeff Bezos, Trilogy Equity Partnership, QED, and DJF. They have raised more than $100 million in venture capital, and completed a second round of fundraising with investors such as Barclays, Bridge Bank, Goldman Sachs, Prudential Financial, and Top Tier Capital Partners.
Remitly has more than 20,000 reviews on consumer review site TrustPilot, with more than 85 percent of them being 5-star reviews.
Frequent positive points in reviews of Remitly include the ease and speed of transferring money, and reviewers were highly satisfied with the customer service provided by Remitly.
Here are some sample positive reviews of Remitly’s service:
Kellie said Remitly not only made her transfers quick and easy, but the customer service she received when she experienced an issue was exceptional. She has stopped using all other transfer apps in favor of Remitly.
“Excellent service, unsurpassed speed, and the best rates! I'm very glad I read about your company and gave you guys a shot!” - FA
However, Remitly isn’t without its critics.
Negative reviews include complaints about the fees Remitly charges, difficulties canceling transfers or closing accounts, and difficult experiences with customer service representatives.
Remitly offers 24/7 customer service on the phone and via the chat feature on their website
Remitly Email Support -
Remitly Support via Phone -
(888) 736-4859
Remitly Online Chat -
(link to the online chat)
Deposit - instantly to Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Catholic Syrian Bank, Central Bank of India,City Union Bank, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank, South Indian Bank, Union Bank of India, Vijaya Bank, and YES Bank. Remitly’s cash pick-ups network includes Banrural, Banco industrial, elektra, Banco Agricola, MiCoope, Credomatic, Davivienda, Banco Atlantida, Ficohsa, Banpro (Grupo Promerica), Banco Lafise, BBVA, Bancolombia, Interbank, Servipagos, Banco Internacional, Banco del Austro, Sistema Fedecredito.Send Money to India using Remitly
Deposit within 4 banking hours to all others including ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, and Citibank.Send Money to Philippines using Remitly
Banking network — The Bank of the Philippine Islands, Banco de Oro, Philippine National Bank, Metrobank, Globe Gcash Wallet, and all Bancnet member banks.
GCash network — covers all Globe Telecom outlets, Tambunting Pawnshops, Villarica Pawnshops and the Green Bank of Caraga.
BDO cash network — covers all BDO bank branches, all SM Malls and department stores, SM Global Pinoy centers, Palawan Pawnshop and over 30 rural banks.Send Money to Brazil using Remitly
Remitly’s banking network includes Banrural, Banco industrial, Banco Agricola, Credomatic, Ficohsa, Davivienda, Banco Atlantida, Bancolombia, BBVA, Banco Internacional, Banpro (Grupo Promerica), Banco Lafise, Banco del Austro, Interbank, Banco Guayaquil.
When Matt Oppenheimer, one of the founders of Remitly, was having trouble sending money back to the United States from Africa, he decided there needed to be an easier way. In 2010, he founded BeamIt Mobile.
Back in the United States, he began to work on a money transfer system that was easier for customers to use.
He was accepted into the Techstars Incubator program in Seattle where he met fellow Remitly co-founder Josh Hug. The two changed the business’s name from BeamIt Mobile to Remitly.
In 2013, Remitly doubled its transaction volumes over 2012 numbers, and it grew its customer base 400 percent in 2014. Since then, the company has continued to grow, expanding its service into more countries and partnering with more banks and credit unions.
Remitly may not be the least expensive option for online money transfers, but what it lacks in more fees, it makes up for in other areas.
From its easy-to-use web and mobile applications to its speedy transfers, its variety of options for receiving money to its great customer service, Remitly is a top choice for many people who want a reliable money transfer service.