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WorldRemit vs Sendwave

Which service to choose to get better exchange rates, lower fees and faster international money transfers.

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By

Tim Falk

Updated

Fact checked
Sendwave is a smartphone app designed to offer quick and affordable money transfers to Africa, while WorldRemit is an online transfer service that lets you send funds to more than 140 countries.

How do the two companies compare and which one offers better value for money? To find out, let’s compare WorldRemit and Sendwave in terms of fees, exchange rates and transfer times.

WorldRemit and Sendwave at a glance

WorldRemitSendwave
Overall rating★★★★★★★★★★
Arrange transfers online
Arrange transfers through app
Arrange transfers by phone
Founded20102014
BasedLondon, UK
FCA reference900891710118
LinkGo to site

Compare WorldRemit to Sendwave

1 - 2 of 2
Updated regularly
Name Product Filter values Ratings Pay by Receiving options Fastest transfer Fee (pay by bank transfer) Key benefits
WorldRemit
OFFER
WorldRemit
Finder rating
★★★★★
Credit card, Debit card, Bank transfer, Apple Pay
Cash pickup location, Bank account, Mobile wallet, Home delivery, Prepaid phone credit
Within minutes
From £1.99
Use promo code 3FREE and pay no fees on your first 3 transfers. Conditions apply.
Go to site
View details
Sendwave
Sendwave
Finder rating
★★★★★
Debit card
Cash pickup location, Bank account, Mobile wallet
Within minutes
N/A
View details
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Which has lower fees?

WorldRemit’s transfer fees vary depending on where you’re sending money, how much you’re transferring and the type of transfer you send.

Bank transfer fees range from £1.99 to £2.99 in most cases. However, because there are several variables that can affect the fee you’ll have to pay, make sure you use WorldRemit’s online calculator to work out the total cost of your specific transaction.

Sendwave does not charge any fees on international money transfers and instead makes money by offering an exchange rate that’s lower than the mid-market rate.

Trophy iconWinner: Sendwave

The absence of transaction fees makes Sendwave the winner in this category.

However, it’s important to note that this doesn’t necessarily mean that Sendwave offers cheaper transfers, as you’ll also need to consider the exchange rate when comparing the two services.

Let’s crunch the numbers: Sending £500 to Kenya

Let’s take a closer look at how WorldRemit and Sendwave compare in a hypothetical example of transferring £500 to Kenya.

Sending £500 to Kenya
WorldRemitSendwave
Transfer fee£0.99£0
Transaction cost£500.99£500
Exchange rate1 USD = 128 KSH1 GBP = 127 KSH
Transfer speedInstantInstant
Total received (in NGN)63,943 KSH63,795 KSH

As you can see, it’s a very close call. WorldRemit’s slightly higher exchange rate means that your recipient will get an extra 148 KSH (approximately £1.13), leaving you with an extra 15p after its 99p fee, and only just pipping Sendwave to the post as the most cost-effective provider for this transfer.

Which offers better exchange rates?

WorldRemit

The exchange rate WorldRemit gives you when you send money overseas is different than the mid-market rate listed on Google. This is because WorldRemit, like many other transfer providers, makes money on the margin, which is the difference between the exchange rate at which they buy and sell currency.

WorldRemit’s margin differs across all currencies, but when sending to the destinations supported by Sendwave (Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda), it typically sits between 2% and 5.5%. For example, if you wanted to send a transfer from the UK to Uganda:

  • If the mid-market rate is 1 GBP = 4,660 UGX
  • WorldRemit’s rate might be 1 GBP = 4,552 UGX
Sendwave

Sendwave also adds a margin on top of the mid-market exchange rate. With the exception of the Tanzanian shilling (TZS), for which Sendwave offers a margin of just 0.5%, our research found that the margin usually ranges anywhere from 2% to 5.5%.

Trophy iconWinner: WorldRemit

When we compared GBP exchange rates for the six countries to which Sendwave offers transfers, WorldRemit offered a slightly better rate, albeit with a few only marginal differences. So WorldRemit comes out on top in this category.

Coverage and payout

WorldRemitSendwave
Coverage rating★★★★★★★★★★
Number of available currencies61
(including: USD, CNY, INR, PHP, PKR, ZAR) 		19
(including: USD, PHP)
Number of supported countries9323
Cash pick-up facility
Speed rating★★★★★★★★★★
Fastest transfer speedWithin minutes
LinkGo to site

Which is faster?

WorldRemit

WorldRemit’s transfer times vary according to the type of transaction you send.

  • Bank transfers. Instant processing to some banks, but a transaction time of 1-3 business days in other cases.
  • Cash pick-up transfers. Instant.
  • Mobile money transfers. Instant or near-instant.
  • Airtime top-ups. Instant or near-instant.
  • Home delivery transfers. 1-7 days.
Sendwave

Sendwave lets you transfer funds from your smartphone to your recipient’s mobile wallet within 30 seconds.

Trophy iconWinner: Tie

WorldRemit and Sendwave both offer fast transfer options if you need to send money to an overseas recipient as soon as possible.

Payment methods

WorldRemitSendwave
Bank transfer
Debit card
Credit card
LinkGo to site

Forex features

WorldRemitSendwave
Facilities rating★★★★★★★★★★
Recurring transfer facility
Forward contracts facility
Limit orders facility
Stop loss orders facility
Customer servicePhone, Live chatPhone, Email
Personal account manager
Price matching facility
LinkGo to site

Frequently asked questions

We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you.

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