How to make overseas transfers easier?

Mainstream banks can charge as much as $20 just to process a basic international money transfer. Fortunately, today people are not doomed to handling personal finances only through mainstream global big banks. There are numerous independent financial platforms and companies, which offer much more competitive rates.

In this article we will try to cover the basic tips on cutting the transfer fees, therefore sending money online cheaper.

Which features are important to YOU?

There is a literal abundance of remittance services online. A simple Google search of “send money online” pops out thousands valid results. You can send money with all of these companies, however, each of them offer different benefits, features and quality of service. So what are you looking for exactly?

Transaction speed

First of all, decide if you are in need of an urgent payment that you are ready to pay more to have it deliver within seconds or you are ready to wait few days to cut costs and save money on additional express delivery charges.

Safety and reliability

Smaller everyday transfers or purchases don’t require any special approach, however once in a while you mightl need to send a significant and important transfer. Then, it’s better to not test some random company, but choose a well-established and trusted platform.

Still, the safest transfers are processed by large banks, as there are strict financial regulations and transparency, as well as well-developed and advanced systems. It all prevents them from simply running away with your money and disappearing.Alternatively, you can also choose a reputable platform like for example PayPal, which has been on the market for many years now.

Transfer costs

And here we move on to the most important aspect. This part is not as straightforward as you may suppose, as in some cases the transfers with the lowest fees turn out to be quite expensive after adding to the calculation various hidden charges or biased exchange rates.

Be careful of “free” or very cheap international money transfers. They don’t charge you for the transfer itself, instead they hide the costs in currency conversion fees.

How to choose the best remittance service?

Research and compare

So with thousands of different offers, how to choose the best one? There are many places online where you can find in-depth analysis of the hidden costs and overall ratings and reviews.

For example, you can use Wirly.com which researches and tests the remittance companies, sorts them based on different categories and lets you compare how much you will pay for the same transfer at different transfer companies. Such calculator is quite convenient as you will see that there can be even a $20 of difference between top services. It’s better to save these 20 bucks than get overcharged.

Read reviews

Before making your first transfer, it’s also important to check the customers reviews online. The most popular place to do this for many are Google Reviews or TrustPilot. Look through the negative comments and check if the company won’t scam you. It’s not worth it to choose the cheapest option if the website and information about the platform seem suspicious. You don’t want to lose your money. Here you can read TransferGo review, MoneyGram Review, Remitly Review or WorldRemit Review. Get familiar with all of these services and read these in-depth overviews to learn both advantages and disadvantages of different providers.

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