We all have family, friends and loved ones, and there are always reasons to send them money. It can be for family support, investment, educational or medical expenses in the home country.
Remitly offers low-cost money transfers for many countries, and it is currently being used by people all over the world.
Remitly is an American online money transfer company that provides international remittance to nearly 56 countries. There are a lot of money transfer services, but typically they have poor exchange rates and high fees. Remitly comes into the market with both reasonable prices and transaction speed.
Furthermore, Remitly is extremely easy to use, as an app on a mobile phone and/or a tablet.
The website allows you to transfer money instantly. If you are looking for a reliable option for international money transfers, Remitly does check a lot of boxes. Let’s look at what the platform does, so you can decide if you want to give it a go!
 | Remitly - Visit |
|---|---|
| Transfer Type | Online & Phone |
| Fees | $3.99 |
| Transfer Speed | From Same Day |
| Mobile App | ✔️ |
| Min Transfer | €/£/$10 |
Remitly: An Overview
Remitly was launched in 2012, under the original name Beamit. Later, it was changed to Remitly. According to the World Bank, the average transaction of Remitly is one billion USD per year. Remitly’s source of generating revenue is charging fees and exchange rate markups.
The platform is aimed at an international user base. There are multiple languages available, like Spanish, English, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Romanian, German, Italian, Polish, and French.
Remitly is a user-friendly service that aims to deliver fast, secure, and relatively cheap money transfer services. It is slightly more expensive than some of the other popular money transfer platforms.
Every international money transfer will have its own costs, and you should take a look at all of the options that are out there, and keep up on the changes they make to their policies and rates.
According to Remitly, more than 100,000 Non-India-residents, and more than 100,000 Pinoys have used Remitly to send money. As per a 2016 report, Remitly has processed transactions worth two billion USD. According to Matthew Oppenheimer, founder, and CEO, Remitly has raised more than $100 million USD and has more than 18 investors in 2016.
As noted above, Remitly provides fast transfers. Typically your money will arrive in one day. However, it can take more time depending on the destination, currency, and amount. Obviously, if the places to which you are sending money are easily accessible, then your funds will arrive quickly, but otherwise, the transaction may take longer.
Get to Know the Platform
Remitly has a lot of features and depending on what you want to do with the platform, the costs to make money transfers will vary.
The best way to find out exactly how much it will cost to use Remitly is to start working with the company directly, and here are some of the things you will need to pay attention to when you evaluate the platform.
Transfer cost
Generally, Remitly provides transfers services with a fixed fee of $4 USD, but it also depends on the payment method and the country to which you are sending money.
There are some banks that charge a fee to receive money, even if it is sent in the home currency of the bank. It is necessary to learn this before you send the money, as the money transfer platform isn’t responsible for bank fees.
There are two kinds of payment methods for transferring your funds. One is the express and the other is the economy. If you are in a rush and want to send money quickly, then you should try the express method to send your payment.
The company will send your money quickly using a debit card with an additional fee of $4 USD, and it can take up to the maximum time of 4 hours. But if the amount of money is more than $1,000 USD, you can send it free of cost. Otherwise, $3.99 USD is the fixed price for the transfer.
In contrast, if you use the economy method to send your money, it may take three to five business days for the transaction. If the arrival of the money isn’t urgent, then the economy service could make more sense for you.
If you are sending money to India and the Philippines, there is no fee if you transfer more than $1,000 USD using a bank account.
Additionally, sending money via credit card always charges 3% charges. Remitly may change these policies at any time, and if you want to know what the current policies and fees of the company are, contact it directly.
What About the Exchange Rate?
The exchange rates at Remitly have a markup between 1% to 3% depending upon the currency and payment method.
Overall, Remitly is well placed in the market in terms of speed, fast delivery, and fee charges. Everyone will need something different from their money transfer platform, and it makes sense to evaluate a platform based on what you plan to do with it.
If you are using it for the first time, then there is an extremely reasonable promotional rate for lower amounts of cash, but it still depends upon the country. Furthermore, one thing to keep in mind is that Remitly can change the promotional rates anytime, so it’s unpredictable, and it is worthwhile to double-check.
Quick Tip:
Remitly uses the SWIFT network for the arrangement of international payments. In order to avoid extra charges, double-check the transfer method. Banks almost always transfer the money through the SWIFT network, which means the money passes through multiple banks to get into the right account.
It’s not quick, but it is the long-established method for overseas payments. In addition to the time lag, it is quite expensive because of all of the banks that handle the money charge payments. There may be other options that are cheaper for your transfer, based on where the money originates, and where it is sent.
What is the SWIFT Network?
SWIFT stands for Society for worldwide interbank financial telecommunication that was founded to establish common standards and processes for international financial transactions.
It provides a secure network that allows more than 10,000 financial institutions in 212 countries to transmit information about financial transactions. SWIFT was founded to replace TELEX which was slow and not secure.
Over the last few years, the SWIFT network has come under fire for being both insecure, and very slow. While it is unlikely that you will have any major problems with Remitly because it relies on the SWIFT network, it is worth remembering that the platform relies on the SWIFT network to function.
If there were a major disruption in the global banking system, it has the potential to inhibit the function of the SWIFT system. The global banks may deny that this is possible, but when the global banking system stopped working a decade ago, far more rudimentary systems were affected.
How Fast is the Platform?
If you decide to pay a little extra, then Remitly promises extraordinary speed to transfer your money. As mentioned earlier, Remitly offers two options for transferring – express and economy. The speed of transfer will also depend upon the chosen method as well as exchange rates
If you choose the economy method to transfer your money, then it’s going to take 3-5 business days after releasing your payment.
Express
You can send your money through express delivery by using a debit card or credit card. It will take a maximum of four hours for the payment to reach the receiver.
Normally, you can use express delivery to transfer money quickly from the USA, UK, and Canada to countries like Mexico and the Philippines. However, if you choose the economy method, then it will take longer but has lower charges and much better exchange rates.
If you intend to send money to India from the US, UK, and Canada through the economy option, then the fund transfer via bank account also takes three to five days. It also depends on the banks in India.
Additionally, if you are sending funds from the USA to India, you need to deposit money to HDFC and Axis bank. However, the express transfer still takes four hours.
Transfer Methods and Options With Remitly
Remitly has a wide range of options and methods available, giving you multiple ways to pay and high transfer limits. You can send money through different channels, either using a website or a mobile app.
Delivery options
If you are looking for multiple delivery options in your money transfer service Remitly makes a lot of sense. You can pick up your money at numerous locations including banks, pharmacies, and supermarkets. If you want to send money to India, you only can use banks.
The transfer limits for Remitly are $2,999 USD within 24 hours when you register and use it for the first time. This limit can be increased to $10,000 and $30,000 USD for India if you deliver the source and identity of funds. The total amount that can be transferred is capped at $30,000 USD within a month.
Tracking Your Transfer
Remitly provides a tracking option to check the status of your transfer on its website.
All you have to do is log in to your Remitly account, and then you will be automatically taken to your transfer page and there you can select the transaction history. When the transfer is completed, both the sender and receiver will receive a notification that the funds have arrived.
You will receive the status notification in one of the following forms:
- Your transfer is under review by one of our partners
- You make any changes to your transfer, such as changing the name of your recipient
- Your transfer is delayed for any reason
Transfer Cancellation
You can cancel the transfer anytime, as long as the recipient doesn’t actually receive the money. For the cancellation of transfer, you will have to follow the following steps.
- Go to the website Remitly.com and login to your account, or you open the Remitly app on your mobile app or tablet. You will be already at the transfer’s page after logging into your account.
- At the bottom of your receipt, you will find the cancel transfer button. In case you don’t find the button, then you can make a call.
- In case you cancel the transfer, you will need to give the reason for your cancelation to improve the service.
- You will receive a confirmation email from Remitly once you cancel your transfer.
- You will receive your money back in 24 hours if you cancel your transfer the same day you have sent funds. The refund will depend upon how long your transaction is in the transfer process.
Remitly Customer Service
Remitly provides robust customer service that delivers service 24/7 over the phone. You can call anytime using the phone in English. Furthermore, you can talk to the Spanish speaking customer service from 4 am to 10 pm pacific time. Remitly also provides live chat for any further queries.
The website is user-friendly, allowing you to surf and navigate easily. There is a list of countries and destinations on each webpage.
The FAQ has multiple questions to clarify any concerns or problems. Like any international money transfer platform, Remitly won’t be able to guarantee a specific result time frame for every country, but it is a reputable money transfer platform that is well supported by the company.
Remitly has an “Excellent” rating on Trustpilot with reviews from over 18,000 customers.
Some Other Options to Consider
Remitly is a great option for sending money on an intermittent basis, or if you are sending small amounts of money internationally, but there are other options that could make more sense for people that do business internationally, or need to send larger amounts of money on a regular basis.
Both Transferwise and Revolut have rock-bottom pricing on international money transfers, and high limits as well. The systems are both different, and Revolut will require you to both create an account, and pay a subscription fee to get the best deals and high transfer limits on your account.
The plus side is that the fees that you will pay are ultra-low, which makes a big difference when you are moving around large amounts of money on a regular basis.
We aren’t endorsing either one of the above-mentioned platforms, but if you are doing a lot of international money transfers, especially if they are in large amounts, it makes sense to take a look at all the options that exist today.
Can You Trust Remitly?
Remitly is a secure and trustworthy money transfer service provider. It is registered with the United States Department of treasury and licensed as a money transfer service provider in the United States.
Remitly has been authorized in the UK, Ireland, and nearly all of the provinces in Canada, except Quebec, where it will open soon.
Remitly Security Measures
- To prevent any kind of fraud Remitly will verify all of the accounts to keep them safe and secure.
- Users need to send documents for identification in order to send funds through Remitly.
- Remitly uses an automated and manual detection activity to find out and remove any kind of suspicious account activity by the users.
You don’t have to worry about doing transactions through Remitly because every transaction is secure with high-end technology that includes 256-bit SSL along with a 2048-bit signature.
Possible Downsides for Remitly:
- Remitly is not as cheap as other money transfer service providers that offer better exchange rates.
- It can be a bit expensive if you send a small amount through Remitly because of the fixed fee.
- In some countries, you will be limited in how to send funds and how the recipient gets the funds.
- The limitation on daily and monthly money transfers might be inconvenient but these can be lifted.
You can send money through Remitly to the following countries:
Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungry, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Malaysia, Haiti, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Uruguay, Vietnam, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Nigeria.
Remitly Offers Speed With Good Exchange Rates
Remitly is known for its delivery speed with lots of options to send to multiple countries. Other competitors charge higher fees for their speedy delivery, while Remitly offers speed with affordability. If you are a first time user, then you will receive a better exchange rate, compared to returning users.
There are certainly a lot of competitors providing international money transfer services, and Remitly may or may not make sense for your needs, based on where you need to send money.
A decade ago, there were far fewer options for international money transfers. Today, that has changed, and Remitly is one of the best options there is for people who don’t want to set up a dedicated account for international transfers or pay a monthly fee for lower money transfer rates.
Remitly
Pros
- Fast Service - Send Money in Minutes
- Cash Pickup Available
- Text Updates
- Multiple Payment Methods
- Exchange Rates are Locked In
Cons
- Low Daily Limits
- Higher Fees for Faster Delivery
- Requires ID
- Exchange Markup
