CurrencyFair is a service for sending money abroad. Visit their website to make a transfer, request a currency quote or learn more about the company. Open an account today and exchange your currencies at the mid market rate with zero commission and no hidden fees.
Read our latest guide on internal money transfer companies here.
CurrencyFair is a revolutionary new way to send money abroad. This cost-effective way of transferring money can save you up to 6% on every transfer, even if you compare it to using your bank.
Currency Fair is one of the leading international money transfer companies in the world, with a proven track record of security. They have been in business for many years and have received numerous awards for providing secure financial transactions.
Four expats B Meyers, J Potter, S Barrett and D Christian founded CurrencyFair in 2009. The company to date operates out of Dublin and Australia employing over 90 staff. The company was started when Breet had a bad experience when he emigrated from Australia and sent a large amount of money to Europe. The peer to peer exchange money transfer marketplace was created where people could exchange money and avoid high fees and low exchange rates often charged by the local bank.
CurrencyFair Guide – What you Need to know
Here we will take a closer look at what the CurrencyFair Money Transfer Service can offer you.
CurrencyFair enables you to trade between twenty different foreign exchange currencies and, with recent expansion into Asia, you can send money to 150 countries around the world. For almost all of the sponsored currencies, the firm has local currency accounts, which means that for most of its customers its free to transact with them. They hire workers who speak English, French and German.
At any time (except on weekends and bank holidays) and from anywhere, you can action money transfers on the CurrencyFair internet site or on the CurrencyFair mobile app, available on both Android and Apple iOS platforms.
They also provide facilities for company money transfer. For foreign payroll, currency exchange, sending and receiving money, businesses often use CurrencyFair.
In foreign money transfers, CurrencyFair has a special approach. Instead of the normal convention of exchanging foreign currency with another money transfer provider or bank, you exchange currency with other likeminded CurrencyFair users.
This fully automated and straightforward peer to peer strategy means you can pick what rate you want, provided the other CurrencyFair user seeks to transact with you and supports your exchange rate, that’s the rate you’ll both get. The big benefit of doing this is that you will better the interbank rate (usually described as the standard or mid-market rate. This money saving service is utilised by over 10% percent of CurrencyFair MarketPlace users.
If there are no users on the MarketPlace available to transact with, CurrencyFair offers outstandingly competitive exchange rates that are only 0.35% below the mid-market currency rate on average.
How Does CurrencyFair Operate?
- To open a free account, simply visit their website by clicking the “Sign Up” button.
- To set up an account, a drivers license, passport or national ID card which is essentially photo identification is required in order to comply with money laundering along with proof of address.
- Enter your recipient ‘s information to send the money to the receiving bank.
- Decide how you want to pay for the transfer and enter the amount you wish to send.
- In respect of payment methods, fund your transaction through a credit card, debit card payment or bank transfer.
The CurrencyFair Mobile App
CurrencyFair has mobile apps on Android and Apple operating systems. You can transact by moving money easily from anywhere 24 hours a day (except at bank holidays and weekends) with the CurrencyFair app.
You can set up deposits in your CurrencyFair account with the CurrencyFair app, and the app will give you the information you need to make your transfer in 20 different currencies via your online banking platform or at your local bank branch.
Is it Quick to Send Money with CurrencyFair?
In respect of transfer processing time, the vast majority of their customers like the fact it is quick and easy to transfer money online.
Is CurrencyFair Secure and Trustworthy?
Hundreds of thousands of customers have used CurrencyFair to trade over 8 billion euros. On Trustpilot, they have thousands of five star ratings and very few complaints.
Under the European Communities (Payment Services) Regulations 2009, CurrencyFair is governed and authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland which is a major financial institution. This needs CurrencyFair to safeguard client funds via segregated accounts, adhere to minimum standards of processes and procedures (especially to detect and deter financial crime), maintain a minimum level of capital and liquidity, and have key staff individually approved and vetted.
In compliance with regulations, customers’ funds are kept separately from CurrencyFair’s own business accounts into separate accounts. This implies that should the business have any financial difficulties, your money is safe.
How Much Does CurrencyFair Cost? Fees and exchange rates
Transfer Fees
CurrencyFair’s flate rate fee is €3 to transfer funds from your account to a local bank account of your choice. Should you hold money in a many different currencies you can determine the particular currency to assign the fees to. In their terms and conditions, CurrencyFair can charge fees on the exchanged amount which falls between 0.1% and 0.6%.
Exchange Rates
You can pick the exchange rate of your choice in CurrencyFair’s peer-to-peer marketplace, meaning this can in theory be higher or lower than the mid-market rate. If there is no other CurrencyFair customer to trade with, you can still transfer money 0.35% lower than the mid-market rate. This is cheaper than any online bank transfer conducted by an intermediary bank.
Other Countries Additional Fees
In a few countries such as Israel, UAE, United States, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand you may have to pay extra fees to the local or national banks you are using. Always check with CurrencyFair if this is the case although please note, it is often cheaper to still use the service even when bank fees are being charged, although, please note, when sending a large transfer, shop around as there is no discount offered.
Pros and Cons of CurrencyFair
Currency Fair is one of the leading money transfer companies in the world, with a proven track record of security. They have been in business for many years and have received numerous awards for providing secure financial transactions, below is the pros and cons of their service.
Pros
- Transfer fees are considerably lower than the banks or Paypal and exchange rates are 0.35% are below mid market rate or even lower if you use the Peer to Peer currency transfers service although this does depend on the currency pair.
- There is a large range of available currencies to choose from.
- Sending money abroad is fast and very simple.
- Recipients receive transfers very fast eg between 2 to 4 business days.
- Ability to set up regular payments in all major currencies.
- Customer Service is excellent, just read their reviews on Trust pilot.
- Some customers have claimed they are cheaper than TransferWise.
- Five free transfers are available.
Cons
- An extremely small number of people complain about the user experience and struggle with the sign up process which is typical of all money transfer providers. Whilst the vast majority of transactions go without a hitch, a very small number were blocked, again, this is not uncommon with a money transfer company and is often caused by third party banks rather than CurrencyFair. Unfortunately, there is no advantageous rates or lower fees for larger transfers. There is no currency risk management tools
Overall, CurrencyFair is a great and possibly very cheap option if you use their marketplace, however, be sure to check out reviews on other providers below.