Online money transfers at no-margin, mid-market rates
InstaRem offers online money transfer services using Zero-Margin FX rates, which are mid-market rates sourced from Reuters without any margins or other hidden charges added to it. InstaRem does add a nominal fee to cover transfer costs. The remittance fee and the amount your recipient will receive are openly displayed when you use the platform.
| Product Name | InstaRem Money Transfers |
|---|---|
| Min. Transfer Amount | USD 50 |
| Max. Transfer Amount | No limit |
| Transfer Methods | |
| Transfer Options | |
| Transfer Speed Minimum transfer time | 1 - 2 days |
| Customer Service | |
| Available Currencies | ARS, AUD, BDT, CAD, COP, EUR, GBP, HKD, IDR, KRW, LKR, MXN, MYR, NPR, PEN, PHP, SGD, THB, USD, VND |
| Online Transfer Fee | 1.00% |
|---|---|
| Branch Transfer Fee | 1.00% |
| Phone Transfer Fee | 1.00% |
| Exchange Rate Updates | Daily |
What is InstaRem?
Founded in 2014 in Singapore, InstaRem operates money transfer services in eight countries, including the US. From these locations, InstaRem offers money transfers to 54 countries across Asia, Europe, North America,South America, and Oceania. Currency support vary per location. In the case of the US, InstaRem supports 21 currencies.
The Zero-Margin FX rates that you get when transacting with InstaRem are based on mid-market rates from Reuters. InstaRem guarantees that these rates do not contain any hidden margins or other charges. Customers earn loyalty points for transacting on the platform. They also earn referral fees when friends and acquaintances sign up for an InstaRem account.
How are InstaRem’s exchange rates?
InstaRem offers Zero-Margin FX rates, which are based on the mid-market rate from Reuters and does not contain any added margins or hidden charges. These make its exchange rates competitive with those from other money transfer specialists.
How much will I pay to send money with InstaRem?
Depending on your location, InstaRem charges fees equivalent to 0.25% to 1% of the transferred amount. With its Zero-Margin FX rates, your beneficiary may get more money when you use their services. InstaRem offers complete transparency during the money transfer process, allowing you to check the total amount your recipient will get minus its minimal transaction fee.
Minimum transfer amounts and available countries. How much can I send with InstaRem?
In the US, there is a $50 minimum transfer amount for InstaRem transactions. InstaRem allows you to send money to 54 countries worldwide. InstaRem does not have a maximum transfer amount.
What types of transfers does InstaRem support?
InstaRem offers bank-to-bank money transfers to 54 countries worldwide. You cannot transfer funds using cash or a credit card. Unlike many of its competitors, InstaRem does not offer any additional services, such as forward contracts, other than straight money transfer. InstaRem offers email subscription services for its rate watch and FX alert services. It also offers a MassPay platform for business accounts.
How do I send money through InstaRem?
To send money via InstaRem, register for a free personal account online. You may be asked to submit additional documents during the account opening process. You can then login to your account and initiate a transfer. InstaRem will walk you through the process so it shouldn’t be that difficult. To get started, click here.
Note that you should transfer your funds to InstaRem within 24 hours, since the company will cancel your transaction if it does not receive your money within 72 hours.
How do I track my transfer?
You can check the status of the transfer from your InstaRem online account. You will also get an email from InstaRem once your recipient gets the money.
What to look out for?
Although you can send money to 54 countries worldwide, this is somewhat limited by the fact that InstaRem only supports 21 currencies if you’re in the US. The 0.25% to 1% fee that InstaRem charges based on total transaction amount is more than competitive, but it would be good practice to check with other providers to see if the total amount your recipient will get with them would be higher.
Benefits and drawbacks
Benefits
- Competitive exchange rates than other FX services
- Higher exchange rates than local banks
- Reasonable 0.25% to 1% fee on money transfers
- Fully transparent transaction process, allowing customers to see the exchange rate, transaction fee, and total amount your recipient will get.
- Customers get loyalty points and/or bonus coupons when they use the service, and referral fees for friends who sign up for the service.
Drawback
- Limited coverage as there are only 21 currencies supported if you’re sending money from the US. Operations are currently limited to 8 countries, including the US.
- >No Android and iOS smartphone and tablet apps
- Require supporting documents during account registration
- Does not offer hedging mechanisms such as spot contracts, market orders, and forward contracts
- Supports bank-to-bank transfers only
- You cannot book a transfer using a bank account that is not under your name
How safe is InstaRem?
InstaRem is licensed by the financial regulators in the 8 countries where it maintains operations. It is also ISO/IEC 27001 certified, meaning that it has passed stringent and internationally-accepted information security management standards.
Next Steps
Send the money from your bank account to InstaRem’s bank account so that they can start processing your money transfer transaction.
Conclusion
InstaRem offers money transfer transactions using its Zero-Margin FX rate, which is based on the mid-market rate offered by Reuters, without adding margins or other hidden charges. Thus, its rates are competitive with other money transfer specialists and higher than local banks. The 21 currencies it supports if you’re sending money from the US seems limited, though you can send money to 54 countries worldwide. You also cannot avail of any other services such as spot contracts and forward contracts with InstaRem, since it only supports traditional money transfer transactions.
If you want to know more about other money transfer options, you may want to check out our guide to international money transfer services.
Compare InstaRem to other money transfer services
Use our comparison calculator to assess transfer fees, exchange rates and other details for sending funds overseas with our money transfer partners.
