Remitly review: What you should know before you sign up

Remitly provides a simple and convenient platform for low-value transfers, but suffers from poor customer service and excessive requests for personal information.

The seed for the idea behind Remitly was planted when its founders noticed that sending money to parts of the developing world was not as easy as it should be. The service that was launched as a result has gone on to receive eager support from its customers, and also from investors who believe in its vision.

Focusing on the popular currency corridors to Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the company is reducing the costs for people sending money back to their friends and family. Its product does not intend to be all things to all people, and instead focuses on creating a seamless remittance experience.

With a loyal following among immigrant populations, Remitly is starting to see some signs of success. To learn more about their capability and to see if their service is right for you, read on for my in-depth review of Remitly.

 

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

Remitly was established in 2011 by three co-founders, Matthew Oppenheimer, Josh Hug, and Shivaas Gulati. The inspiration behind the company, initially named Beamit, came when Matthew was working for Barclays in Kenya and discovered how difficult it was to send money internationally. Since then, the company has focused specifically on low-value remittance corridors to selected destinations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The company claims to facilitate over $4 billion worth of transactions each year, and employs approximately 400 staff across four international offices. It has attracted significant support from investors such as the World Bank, Bezos Expeditions and TomorrowVentures, raising a total of $200 million in funding to date. Remitly’s marketing strategy positions the company as a venture for social good, helping immigrants support their loved ones back home.

Today, Remitly continues to be led by its founding team, with Matthew acting as CEO and Josh as Chief Operating Officer. They are supported by Krishnan Srinivasan as Chief Financial Officer, who has significant experience in senior leadership roles at Microsoft and Amazon. Co-founder, Shivass, continues to look for ways to improve Remitly’s product offering, as Head of New Initiatives. James Philip rounds out the executive team as Chief Compliance Officer.

2. Supported currencies

Remitly supports the transfer of 23 currencies, leading to a total servicing of approximately 26 countries. For the most part, the company facilitates its transfers using the SWIFT banking network; a downside to this network is there may be charges incurred by the recipient, of which Remitly has little control of. In addition to transferring funds to a bank account, the company also has as range of other delivery methods, including:

• Cash pick up
• Door to door delivery
• Mobile money

Remitly has no minimum transfer value, and its maximum transfer limit is split into three tiers.  The first tier permits transfers of up to £5,000 without providing formal identification. The second tier permits transfers up to £25,000 after the submission of photo ID. The third tier permits aggregate transfers of up to £150,000 in any six month period, after the submission of “proof of funds”, such as a detailed bank statement.

3. Exchange rates and fees

Before committing to using a money transfer service, it’s important to understand its business model. Put simply, a service like Remitly typically generates revenue in two ways. Firstly, it may charge a transaction fee for executing each transaction. 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 Remitly against traditional banks, the company fares pretty well. Banks typically charge a large transaction fee and a 5% margin on the total value of the transfer. Remitly, on the other hand, charges a small flat fee of £2.99, depending on the size of your transfer. The exchange rates are much more competitive; amounting to approximately 0.87% of the total amount transferred for both small (£200) and larger values (£5,000).

When comparing Remitly to other specialised currency transfer services, it performs slightly less well. While services 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. Unfortunately, these cheaper alternatives can’t always send funds to the countries that Remitly focuses on.

As an example, let’s compare Remitly against its competitors when transferring British Pounds (GBP) into Indian Rupees (INR):

As you can see, there is certainly some benefit to using Remitly, despite the limits placed on transfer values and the countries in which funds can be received. Generally speaking, Remitly provides reasonable value for those looking to make small payments to areas of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Importantly, though, it should be noted that any transfer conducted via SWIFT may incur hidden charges by correspondent banks; the amount depending on the amount of the transfer and the recipient country.

4. Transfer speed

For what Remitly lacks in diversity of originating currencies, it makes up for with the speed of its transactions; particularly for those which paid using their Express feature. These payments can be funded with a debit or credit card, and offer same day delivery. Express transactions incur a fee of up to £2.99.

Standard payments by bank transfer can incur a transcation fee of up to £1.99. The speed of delivery will depend on a couple of factors, including the currency you’re sending, and the size of the transaction, and the banks involved. For the majority of currency pairings, you should allow between 1 – 3 business days for the transferred funds to reach the recipient’s account.

5. Key features

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

Spot contracts. 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 Remitly website or app, and with a couple of clicks, a transfer can be arranged. Unfortunately, at this stage, this is the only type of payment that Remitly can facilitate. As a result, anything resembling the more advanced features offered by other currency transfer services, such as scheduled payments or conditional orders, are not possible.

Flexible delivery. Remitly’s strengths lay in its ability to transfer funds in a variety of customer-friendly ways. In this spirit, the company has established relationships with a network of financial services that offer cash pickup and home delivery of remittances. This network provides flexibility into areas of the world with limited banking infrastructure.

6. Customer service

In addition to the Remitly headquarters in the United States, the company also has regional offices in Nicaragua, the Philippines and United Kingdom. Each of these offices is used to varying degrees to service the company’s customer base. Their customer service team can be contacted by phone or email.

+61 2 8607 8054 (AU)
+44 800 086 9992 (UK)
+1 888 736 4859 (US)
service@remitly.com

In my experience, I found the customer service of Remitly to be severely wanting. My issue was not with any one customer service representative in particular, rather the company’s clunky and unrefined processes. I was able to speak with someone, presumably based in the Philippines, with relatively ease. However, no matter how friendly they were, practically speaking, they were of very little use when I ran into issues with my account.

Specifically, whist conducting my review, I began the process of obtaining tier 3 account verification, to increase my transaction limit £25,000. This process required that I send a copy of my passport and a bank statement. As per all my dealings with money transfer services, I redacted some of the information on my bank statement which I deemed not relevant for the purposes of verifying my identity.

This action, in my opinion, is not just acceptable, but best practice when dealing with companies in the marketplace. My general principle is that you should not provide more personal information than is absolutely necessary to acquire the services you require. Remitly, apparently has an issue with this, and instead of opening up a dialog asking for further information, decided to permanently suspend my account without reason; directing me only to their terms of service, without even specifying a clause of reference.

7. Security and regulation

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

Government regulated. As Remitly is headquartered in the United States, the company has obtained authorisation to transmit money in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces, except Quebec. Remitly’s subsidiaries are also regulated by the relevant authorities in the jurisdiction of their operations, such as Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom.

Customer funds held on trust. In accordance with the standards imposed by government regulators, the funds of Remitly’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 Remitly encounter financial difficulties.

Website security. The Remitly 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 Remitly? Let’s take a look at look at some of the key factors which affect the company’s reputation.

Trustpilot. As of publication, Remitly has received 8,730 reviews on Trustpilot with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars; representing a positive experience in 93 percent of interactions with its customers.

Here are my observations of the feedback posted:

Social media. Upon viewing the Facebook and Twitter feeds of Remitly, we can see a range of varied interactions between the company’s customer service staff and its customers. It appears that any queries raised by customers are being addressed within a day of posting, with Remitly moving the conversation into private messaging to rectify any issues.

Hi Dulce, we are so sorry for the inconvenience experienced. We just confirmed that your transaction was already fixed. We sent you a Direct Message in regards to your case.

Thank you for your understanding and patience in advance.

The Remitly Team→

— Remitly 🌎 (@remitly) May 7, 2018

Mainstream media. As for the mainstream media, their reporting on Remitly has generally been positive. A handful of vanity pieces have been written on the company, many of which highlight the benefits of money transfer companies for international remittances.

Interview with Remitly founder, Matthew Oppenheimer. One Million by One Million

The 2 principles that guided Remitly to Series D funding. Inc.

Remitly guns for aggressive Asian expansion. Tech in Asia

9. User experience

The Remitly website has been designed thoughtfully, with special attention being paid to user experience and simplicity. As far as I am aware, the website is only available in English. In addition to its online platform, Remitly has also developed mobile apps for both Apple and Android devices.

Signing up. The registration process is very, very quick. All you need to do is enter an email address and password. The entire process takes a minute or so.

As highlighted earlier, no identification is required to make transfers up to £5,000. If you would like to make transfers larger than that, you’ll need to provide further documentation. The presentation of photo identification will increase your per transaction limit to £25,000, and a “proof of funds” document, such as a bank statement, will increase your six moneht aggreate transfer limit to £150,000.

How does Remitly work?

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

Step 1. Visit remitly.com and log in. Once you have entered the Remitly website, you are greeted directly with a screen for commencing your first transfer. In this example, my intended recipient is in India. I have the choice of either standard or express delivery, and I can select the method in which the funds should be delivered to the recipient. I proceed with bank transfer, as this is the only option for my destination.

Step 2. Enter the specific information of your intended recipient. If you selected bank deposit as the method of delivery, as I have, now is the time to enter the recipient’s bank details.

Step 3. Enter you own contact details, if you haven’t already provided these to Remitly.

Step 4. Select the method in which you would like to pay. If you wish to pay by debit or credit card, this is the fastest method of transferring funds to Remitly.

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

Once your transaction is confirmed, it is time for Remitly to get to work and begin processing your payment.

Step 6. After your transaction is confirmed, it is time for Remitly to get to work and begin processing your payment. Once your funds have been received by Remitly, they will finalise the transfer to your recipient. You can track your transfer online or with their mobile app. Additionally, throughout the process, you will be provided with email updates as the payment moves within the system.

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 Remitly online platform was simple to use and clear instructions were provided. Unfortunately, I was not able to complete a full test of the service, as I do not have a presence in any of the countries that Remitly delivers to.

10. Conclusion and final thoughts

Remitly offers a service that is focused squarely on assisting immigrants from Africa, Asia and Latin America. While it is nice to see that their mission is tightly composed, the potential of the service is hamstrung by clumsy and unpleasant customer assistance. Although I wasn’t able to personally test the service with a transaction at my own, it seems as if their online platform works reasonably well. At least the ability to make a low-value transaction without providing identification is incredibly convenient.

However, I can’t help but feel that Remitly’s ambition to grow has come at a significant cost. With the availability of high-quality alternatives such as WorldRemit or TransferGo, it is very difficult to recommend Remitly, based solely on the quality of their customer assistance. There are a lot of reviews out there complaining about their intrusive behavior when it comes to personal information, and my experience has been no exception. I would suggest avoiding if there are other options available to you.

Our rating: 2 stars