Our top picks are our selection of some of the best money transfer products and services, based on our extensive research and market experience. Our top picks are displayed at the top of some pages to help you make decisions faster, but they may not necessarily be the best picks for you.
Finder’s top picks highlight brands that our analysis shows are the best fit for specific categories. Be sure to consider your own personal objectives, needs and circumstances before making a decision using our top picks.
8
Top pick categories
14
Features taken into consideration
43
Companies compared
Companies compared include both those that have financial agreements with us and those that do not.
1st Contact Forex
Agility Forex
Bank of Montreal
Calforex
CIBC
Citibank
Compass Global Markets
Currencies Direct
Currency Online
Currency Solutions
CurrencyFair
CurrencyTransfer
First Global Money
Global Reach
HawkFX
ICICI Bank
InstaReM
Knightsbridge FX
Money2India
Moneycorp
MoneyGram
MTFX
OFX
Payoneer
PayPal
Paysera
Payza
RationalFX
RBC
Remit2india
Remitbee
Remitly
Ria Money Transfer
Scotiabank
Sendwave
Skrill
TorFX
Transfast
TransferMate Global Payments
Wise
Wise (Business)
Travelex
UAE Exchange
Ultimate Currency Exchange
Unimoni
Vancouver Bullion and Currency Exchange
Veem
Venmo
Venstar Exchange
VoPay
WeChat
Western Union Business Solutions
WorldFirst
WorldRemit
Xe
Xoom
Xpress Money
ZipZap
How do we decide the top pick for each category?
Our top picks are chosen by comparing 14 features. For each category, we make a selection based on our expert analysis of the “sending corridor” that we’re displaying that top pick in. Transfers between the US and Mexico is a sending corridor. Transfers between France and Australia is another, for example. We also take market data and the opinion of industry peers and customers who have used the service into consideration.
Small transfers
What’s in this category? Transfers ranging from $1-$9,999. The small transfer size is chosen based on CRA tax regulations, popular send amounts, price breaks based on send amounts and more.
What’s the most important feature of this category? Total transfer cost.
What other features do we prioritize?
Fees
Exchange rates
Others depending on the specific money transfer corridor
Large transfers
What’s in this category? Transfers above $10,000. The large transfer size is chosen based on CRA regulations, popular send amounts, price breaks based on send amounts and more.
What’s the most important feature of this category? Total transfer cost.
What other features do we prioritize?
Fees
Exchange rates
User experience
Customer service availability
Fast transfers
What’s in this category? Transfers that can arrive instantly, within minutes or within an hour. Fast transfers are determined by speed and will vary depending on the sending destination, your payment method, public holidays, the receiving method, identification requirements and more.
What’s the most important feature of this category? Delivery speed.
What other features do we prioritize?
Guarantees
Cash transfers
What’s in this category? Transfers that can be picked up in cash, be delivered door-to-door in cash or instantly loaded onto a debit or similar spending card. Cash pick-up is often needed in emergencies, so we take this into consideration alongside the number of cash pick-up locations.
What’s the most important feature of this category? Availability of having cash delivered to the recipient.
What other features do we prioritize?
Number of agent locations
Guarantees
Delivery speed
Receiving methods
Payment methods
Frequent transfers
What’s in this category? Transfers that reward you for using the same company for all of your sending, whether that is every day, week, month or less. If you’re looking to pick one company and use it for all your transfers, this category may be for you.
What’s the most important feature of this category? Rewarding customer loyalty.
What other features do we prioritize?
Quantities
Limits
Customer service
Guarantees
Rewards
Hedging options
What’s in this category? Transfers that allow you to take advantage of market tools to lock in exchange rates. These tools are typically for advanced users and may include spot contracts, recurring transfers, forward contracts and similar tools.
What’s the most important feature of this category? Availability of hedging options.
What other features do we prioritize?
Limits
Quantities
Customer service
No bank account
What’s in this category? Transfers that don’t rely on traditional banking options to be sent or received. Because people who have only basic bank accounts or don’t have a bank account at all often lack the proper ID needed for money transfers, this category takes ID requirements into consideration when possible.
What’s the most important feature of this category? Cash payment with little to no ID.
What other features do we prioritize?
Payment types
Payment methods
Receiving methods
Information required
Overall
What’s in this category? For this category, we take into account all features, fees, exchange rates and more for the specific sending corridor in question. Although our “overall” pick may not indicate the best option for any specific use category, the performance of the company makes it a strong choice for all situations. We only display an “overall” pick when one company clearly stands out from the rest.
What’s the most important feature of this category? Well-rounded capabilities.
What other features do we prioritize?
As many as are needed based on the specific sending corridor in question
What features do we compare?
Payment types. Paying different ways may incur different fees, both from the provider and from your bank, credit card or debit card. These include:
Bank account
Credit card
Debit card
Cash
Other
Payment portals. Paying through different means sometimes incurs different fees, with in-person and over-the-phone payments usually costing more than online payments. The methods we compare are:
Online
By phone
In person at an agent location
Receiving methods. Receiving money transfers in different ways often incurs different fees, with home delivery and paper cheque usually being the most expensive, and bank account delivery usually being the cheapest. We look at:
Bank account
Cash
Mobile wallet
Physical, paper cheque
Bill pay
Debit card
Home delivery
Other
Delivery speeds. Fees often vary based on speed. It may be worth opting for a slower, cheaper transfer when possible. Delivery speeds include but aren’t limited to:
Instant
Within an hour
Within a day
Within multiple business days
Hedging options. Using forex tools can help you lock in an exchange rate which may save you money down the line. These could include:
Scheduled transfer
Recurring transfer
Spot contract
Forward contract
Limit order
Fees. Sometimes paying a small fee upfront to secure a stronger exchange rate will save you money. Beware of additional fees added on top of your transfer by your credit card or bank account. The types of fees we look at include:
Sending fee
Receiving fee
Account maintenance fee
Withdraw fee
Deposit fee
Currency conversion fee
Exchange rates.
Mid-market rate vs a margin added to the mid-market rate
Shifting margins based on the sending amount vs set margins no matter the size of the transfer
Quantities.
Number of agent locations
Number of currencies supported
Number of countries supported
Limits. Some companies impose limits on your account until you further verify your identity. The limits we compare are those for a fully verified account, and include:
Sending limits
Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
Receiving limits
Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
Guarantees. Price-match and exchange-rate guarantees often have a lot of complicated details, so read them in full before relying on them to save you money. The guarantees we look into include:
Exchange rate guarantee
Delivery guarantee
Price-matching guarantee
Information required.
Phone number
Social Insurance Number
Photo ID, e.g. passport or driver’s license
Bank account information
Email address
Physical address
Customer service.
Email
Live chat
Phone
In person
Social media
Other
Reputation.
Online reviews from other comparison services
Customer sentiment
Lawsuits
Complaints
Regulations
Licences
History
Rewards. Being rewarded for your loyalty to a specific company can help you save money down the line through exchange rate and fee discounts. Sometimes these rewards can help offset the cost of your transfers. Rewards include:
Point-earning programs
Referral programs
Email discounts for existing customers
Does Finder compare all money transfer providers in the market?
No, but we’re trying our best to make that happen. Because it takes a large amount of time and resources to properly analyze a money transfer provider, we aren’t yet able to cover 100% of the market. It’s extremely important to us that the information we provide you is as accurate as possible, and we’d rather focus on quality over quantity when it comes to reviewing providers.
The process of gathering data is quite time-consuming, as we not only check reviews, fees and exchange rates for every new provider we list, we also maintain updated data on existing providers on our site.
Other questions
How often are the rankings reviewed?
It varies depending on the market. Some corridors are reviewed weekly, while others may be reviewed once a quarter or once a year. We update markets based on developments in the money transfer industry and developments focused specifically on the market at hand.
Something doesn’t seem right: Who should I contact?
Click the dark blue chat bubble at the bottom right of your browser, or scroll to the bottom of the page and ask one of our experts using the available form. We sincerely appreciate feedback to make sure we provide the best information possible.
What other conditions are there?
Due to the complicated nature of money transfers, there are a few assumptions we may have to set on specific pages. Whenever fees or exchange rates are listed, we will include the date from which the data was sourced. Rates may have changed since then, so always double-check exchange rates and fees.
Zak Killermann was a technical publisher at Finder who specialised in currencies and investing. Zak’s expertise was in breaking down technical finance concepts into approachable, digestible nuggets of information.
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Advertiser Disclosure
finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
