Paysera review: What you should know before you register

Paysera is the Eastern Europen answer to borderless accounts. Despite its potential, however, there are cheaper services out there.

Paysera has been around since the beginning of online payments but didn’t properly establish themselves as a major player until a few years ago. After a handful of name reiterations and the development of their online platform, they’re now ready to compete.

Their mission is ambitious: to create a world where electronic payments have no boundaries. But the service knows that a big part of making it a reality is getting the simple things done right. As a result, Paysera claims to offer a fast and accessible money transfer service at reasonable prices.

So does Paysera stack up to the quality of its competition? To learn more about their capability and to see if their service is right for you, read on for my in-depth review of Paysera.

 

 

1. Company history and founding story
2. Supported currencies
3. Exchange rates and fees
4. Transfer speed
5. Key features
6. Customer service
7. Security and regulation
8. Reputation
9. User experience
10. Conclusion and final thoughts

1. Company history and founding story

Paysera was established in 2004 under a temporary working name, Elektroniniai Verslo Projektai, by three Lithuanian founders, Kostas Noreika, Audrius Lučiūna and Šarūnas Brog. Despite starting out in this venture on their own, by 2013 the company had grown to over 50 employees under the second iteration of its name, EVP International. It wasn’t until 2014, that the service took its final and most well-known name, Paysera.

Since then, the service has grown to encompass well over 100 employees, as it has continued developing its proprietary technology, including an online platform and mobile app. The service has also been recognised by a range of established banking institutions, such as the SEPA instant payment system, and its product now incorporates the issuance of IBAN numbers and debit cards. The service itself, now claims to complete €3.6 billion worth of transfers annually.

Since 2015, Paysera’s daily operations have been manged by Vytenis Morkūnas as CEO. He is joined by a board of directors that consist of the three original founders as well as Rolandas Razma. On the executive team, Rūta Šeštokaitė is Head of Marketing and Sarunas Krivickas who plays the important role of Chief Information Security Officer. Martynas Dabulisa has been also been with the service for some time and is now Head of Sales (Business).

2. Supported currencies

Paysera supports the transfer of 30 currencies, leading to a total servicing of approximately 180 countries. For the most part, the company facilitates its transfers using the SWIFT banking network, which provides it with the ability to deliver funds to a selection of key destinations. The downside to this network is there are often charges incurred by the recipient, of which Paysera has little control of.

Paysera does not have a minimum transfer value. While the company is equipped to complete transfers of almost any size, its online platform may impose limits on specific users. Depending on the setting applied to your account there may be an aggregate limit applying to the maximum amount which can be transferred each day, month or year. These limits can be lifted by performing additional identity verification procedures.

3. Exchange rates and fees

Before committing to using a currency transfer service, it’s important to understand its business model. Put simply, a company like Paysera typically generates revenue in two ways. Firstly, it may charge a transaction fee for executing each transfer. Secondly, it may also take a margin on the exchange rate provided to its customers, also known as the “spread”; which is the difference between the exchange rate of the wholesale market (i.e. the interbank rate), and the exchange rate offered to the customer.

When comparing the pricing of Paysera against traditional banks, the company fares slightly better. Banks typically charge a large transaction fee and a 5% margin on the total value of the transfer. Paysera, on the other hand, charges a fee of up €7 and offers exchange rates that are marginally better than traditional banks; averaging between 5.41% of the total amount transferred for small values (£1,000), and 3.24% for larger values (£100,000).

When comparing Paysera to other specialised currency transfer services, it looks less impressive. While companies such as TransferWise (review) and CurrencyFair (review) don’t take a margin on the value of the transfer, and rather they provide their customers with the mid-market rate, they do charge a larger fee to compensate; amounting to approximately 0.50% of the transfer value.

As an example, let’s compare Paysera against its competitors when transferring British Pounds (GBP) into Australian Dollars (AUD):

As you can see, there is certainly some benefit to using Paysera. With its ability to provide flexible payment arrangements throughout Europe and other select markets, it does provide some value. Importantly, though, it should be noted that any transfer conducted via SWIFT may incur hidden charges by correspondent banks; the amount depending on the recipient’s bank.

4. Transfer speed

The transfer speed of an average transfer with Paysera depends on a couple of things, including the currency you’re sending, the bank used, and the size of the transaction. For the majority of currency pairings, you should allow between 3 – 5 days for the transferred funds to reach the recipient’s account, not including the time required to transfer your funds to Paysera’s local account.

5. Key features

What are the key features of Paysera’s online platform? Let’s take a look at the various payment services offered by the company.

Spot contract. A spot contract consists of a single payment from one currency to another at the currently available exchange rate. If you need to send money right away, simply log in to the Paysera website or app, and with a couple of clicks, a transfer can be arranged.

Recurring payment. If you need to transfer funds on a regular basis, a single payment can be scheduled as a regular recurring transaction. This allows any future payments to be debited automatically, providing a convenient solution to make better use of your time.

Multi-currency account. Making and receiving payments in various currency denominations? A multi-currency account is very useful for individuals and businesses who need to accept payments from all over the world. It is a virtual alternative to having a foreign bank account.

6. Customer service

Paysera’s headquarters in Lithuania is used as the base in which to service its clients in Lithuanian, Latvian, Russian and English. The service also has an office in Bulgaria, which provides assistance in Bulgarian, Polish, English and Spanish. Their customer assistance team can be contacted by phone or email.

+44 20 8099 6963 (UK)
support@paysera.com

In my experience, I found the Paysera customer service staff to be friendly and helpful. I did not have to wait too long to speak with someone on the phone, and my queries by email have been answered in a prompt and professional manner.

7. Security and regulation

Is Paysera safe? Let’s take a look at the various initiatives adopted by the company to ensure the security of its customers.

Government regulated. As Paysera is headquartered in Lithuania, the company is a licensed e-money institution with the right to execute the activity related to the issuance of e-money and provision of payment services all around the European Union. This licence is issued by was issued by the Bank of Lithuania.

Customer funds held on trust. In accordance with the standards imposed by government regulators, the funds of Paysera’s customers are held in segregated accounts and are therefore kept completely separate from the company’s own operating accounts. This ensures the security of customer funds, should Paysera encounter financial difficulties.

Website security. The Paysera website is protected with TLS encryption, which prevents sensitive data from being intercepted during your visit. You can confirm that this is in place by recognising a green padlock next to the website’s URL on your browser.

8. Reputation

Can you trust Paysera? Let’s take a look at look at some of the key factors which affect the company’s reputation.

Trustpilot. As of publication, Paysera has received 156 reviews on Trustpilot with an average rating of 3 out of 5 stars; representing a positive experience in 91 percent of interactions with its customers.

Here are some of my observations on the feedback posted:

Social media. Upon viewing the Facebook and Twitter feeds of Paysera, we can see that there aren’t all that many queries raised on these platforms, however, when they are they are quickly answered. The remainder of Paysera’s posts revolves around marketing many of the service’s features and providing general interest news.

Dear Andrejs,
thank you for you interest! At the moment we are working on partnering with E-lats, which would offer around 40 locations around Latvia. However, it is a process that takes time. But we do expect to have more partners in Latvia in the future. 🌍

— Paysera (@paysera) January 10, 2019

Mainstream media. As for the mainstream media, their reporting on Paysera in the English language has been quite minimal. However, there is quite a bit of positive coverage in various Lithuanian publications, a list of which is available on Paysera’s website. To read it you might need to use some translation software, though.

Paysera increased authorized capital and prepares to become a bank. 15.min.lt

Paysera will not grat holidays to money transfers. Kreditai.info

Deep into the woods of banking: Paysera issues a payment card. Verslo žinios

9. User experience

Design. The Paysera website has been designed thoughtfully, with special attention being paid to user experience and simplicity. It is available in 8 languages; English, Bulgarian, German, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, and Spanish. In addition to its online platform, Paysera has also developed mobile apps for both Apple and Android devices.

Registration. The registration process is relatively straight-forward. You begin by entering your email, a password, and selecting the type of account that you would like, before providing essential contact information such as your name and phone number. The entire process takes around 5 minutes.

Identification. Before you are able to commence transferring funds, you first need to provide proof of identification so Paysera can verify your account. A photographic ID is required, such as a passport or drivers licence. This will permit you to transfer up to €6,990 per month in the aggregate. If you would like to remove the limitation on transfers, either single or aggregate payments,  you’ll need to complete an account verification by Skype call.

How does Paysera work?

To familiarise you with the Paysera service, I’ll take you through a transaction I completed with them recently. If you need some guidance in navigating your own account, you can follow along below.

Step 1. Visit paysera.com and log in. Once you have entered the Paysera website, you are greeted with a dashboard. To begin a transfer, you’ll first need to register a balance by clicking Add Funds.

Step 2. To make a deposit into your account, choose the country you’ll be sending funds from. After advising how much you’d like to deposit, you’ll be provided with the details of Pasyera’s local bank account so you can transfer funds to them.

Step 3. After making a deposit, your new balance will be registered on your Paysera dashboard within a day or two. You can use these funds to make a payment to your recipient by clicking Transfer To a Bank.

Step 4. Now that we’re ready to transfer, we first need to exchange our original currency into our desired currency. In my example, I will exchange EUR into AUD.

Step 5. A summary of the quoted exchange is provided for your review. Once you are sure you want to proceed with the transaction, click Confirm.

Step 6. Add the information of your intended recipient, including their bank details, and then confirm the transaction. Your funds are now on their way to their final destination.

Step 7. After confirming the transfer, you’ll be taken to a summary of your most recent transactions. Here you can see the specific details of each transfer, including the date, the amount, and the fee charged by Paysera.

Step 8. As your funds are sent to your recipient, you can track your transfer online.

All done! Finally, once the transfer has been completed, its status will be updated accordingly and the payment will be reflected in your recipient’s account shortly.

In my experience, the Paysera online platform was simple to use and I was satisfied with the updates provided to me along the way. The entire process took 4 business days, and the funds arrived into my recipient’s account, albeit with a short payment of $8.97. Upon querying this discrepancy with their customer service team, I was advised that as my transfer was conducted through the SWIFT network, there were fees charged by correspondent banks in this system.

10. Conclusion and final thoughts

Paysera aims to be the alternative method of banking for those conducting transactions across borders. While it is certainly suitable for use by individuals, the core of its product is targeted at entrepreneur and business users. It combines some interesting and useful features, combining a multi-currency account approach with money transfer services and a debit card. There is no doubt that its services will be well received by many, particularly in Eastern Europe.

However, for all its promise, the service does have some obvious downsides. Its pricing structure for business is probably more complicated than it needs to be, and their exchange rates some distance away from other competitors in this space. If you’re looking to optimise the value obtained from international transfers, you’ll be much better served by taking a look at CurrencyFair or TransferWise. If a multi-currency account is really what you’re after, WorldFirst or OFX is probably the way to go.

Our rating: 3 stars