The remittance industry has evolved significantly over the last years and there are plenty of options and service providers that can help you send money overseas. Especially in the last year digital channels have become stronger than ever as the need for touchless and cashless options increased in demand. There is certainly no shortage of Fintech players offering ways to send money overseas with a range of different services to fill all sorts of requirements and specialising in niche markets.

But how do you choose the best remittance service for your needs? How do you know which money transfer operator is reliable and can deliver on its promises? Let’s look at some of the most important elements when picking a remittance service so you can make an informed decision when it’s time to send money overseas.

Knowing the cost upfront

As with any type of service, cost plays a big part in deciding which one is right for you. Especially if you send money on a regular basis, you need to take even the smallest costs and fees into account as they do add up over time.

The costs of sending money overseas has long been a challenge for both senders and receivers of money. According to the latest report by the World Bank, the global average cost of sending $200 dollars remains high at 6.8% with some corridors even exceeding 14%. The recent surge in digital channels is helping to bring the average cost down, but it will take some time before that is true for the entire industry at large.

That said, there are plenty of online money transfer services that are able to send money at far lower costs than the average 6.8% cited above. What’s important to know is that there are different ways costs are presented to you. Some service provider may give you a very low fee for the transfer, but then hide further costs into an exchange rate that is higher than the rest of market. That’s why you will often see different exchange rates quoted by different providers on the same day for the same currency pairs.

It pays to compare. Check out the exchange rates on different platforms, and make sure you are shown all the potential fees before making the transfer. For example, if you want to send CAD to India, Nigeria or Kenya, you can see our rates before even signing up.

If the site you are on doesn’t show all fees upfront, there could be additional “admin fees” or even “collection fees” for the recipient. We believe full transparency is the only way to do business, so you will see exactly what the fees are before you make a transfer when you use N2Xpress.

And about the cost, we think sending money shouldn’t cost you a fortune. So we keep our fees down to a minimum to stay comfortably below the global average.

The speed of transactions

The time it takes to complete overseas transfers is important for both senders and receivers. Whether you are sending money regularly or just making a one-time payment, you want the funds to arrive on time. Delays are frustrating, and in some cases could even lead to missed opportunities or hardship for the person receiving the funds.

The speed at which a money transfer service is able to complete a transaction not only varies between different providers, but also between the payment channels and currencies you are using. For example, sending money using a cheque to a recipient’s bank account will likely take longer than sending money using a bank account to a recipient’s mobile phone number. In fact, sending money to top up mobile airtime is literally instant.

Whenever you send funds using N2Xpress, you can track the transaction with a unique ID code from your account dashboard. You will always know exactly where your money is and when it will arrive safely.

High security at all times

When it comes to security, there are 2 main questions that must be answered positively: is your money safe and are your personal details secure? For both of those questions, the answer is yes if you only use fully licensed and regulated money transfer services. Financial regulators have extensive compliance procedures which a company must meet at all times in order to be granted a license to operate. Those compliance requirements cover all security issues related to managing customer funds, processing transactions, and safely storing personal details.

For our Canada operations for example, we are licensed by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). That is the Canadian financial regulator in charge of licensing money transfer agents that serve customers in Canada.

We have state of the art compliance and encryption features designed to prevent transactions that may be associated with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Anti-Terrorist Financing (ATF) activities. Additionally, we are Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant, following PCI Security Council standards to secure and protect your credit card data at all times and we store your personal data private following General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance standards.

Customer experience and support

Not at all unimportant, you also need to look at the experience you will be getting as a customer. Is it easy to reach a support team? Do they respond adequately and in a timely manner? Of course, you may not know the answers to these questions before you are a customer, but that’s what customer reviews are for.

Check out what customers before you have said about the company you want to use. Keep in mind that like with restaurant reviews, people tend to write reviews in order to complain rather than give a positive and fair review. So while you should read reviews, they are not definitive when it comes to what your experience will be. On that note, when you have a good experience with N2Xpress, leave a review or tell a friend! Why let good things go unnoticed?

Find out what others have said about us here.

Extra services available

Beyond the basics of a straightforward money transfer, are there any interesting add-ons that a platform is offering? Especially now that competition in the digital space is heating up, more and more digital remittance providers are thinking of new ways to improve the way things are done.

That’s why we are currently working on finalising a deal with one of our strategic partners that will make it possible for you to pay bills directly using N2Xpress. Instead of sending money, you will be able to pay for utility, tuition and tax bills or even home deliveries. It’s a new way of sending money, making the transaction more meaningful for both the sender and receiver. Instead of cash, you will be able to keep the lights on at your uncle’s house or invest directly in the education of your niece.

Another feature we are working on right now is the virtual wallet function. You will no longer pay for each transaction individually but instead pay a single fee for loading up your digital wallet, after which you can send parts of that money to any number of people. Load once, pay once, send to many. We like the way that sounds. Digital money transfers, the way it should be.

If you have any ideas or suggestions that you would like to see from us, please let us know on Instagram or Facebook. We are building a better money transfer experience for everyone, and we need your help to do it.