Personal Features

WorldFirst

50

50

WorldFirst offers international money transfer services for individuals. They also offer tools for business clients.

What WorldFirst offers individuals

  • International money transfers
  • Forward contracts
  • Firm orders
  • Rate alerts
  • Personal account managers
  • Mobile apps for Android and Apple
  • Regular transfers

WorldFirst does not offer individuals

  • Access to multi-currency accounts (World Account) to individuals
  • Foreign currency optimised travel debit cards

WorldRemit

67

67

WorldRemit offers

WorldRemit is tailored for individuals with account services that include:

  • Foreign bank transfers
  • Cash pick-up
  • Foreign bill payments (ie electricity, credit cards and television services)
  • Pre-paid mobile credit top-ups
  • Recurring / regular transfers are also supported

Note: bill payments and cash pick-up services are not available in all countries.

WorldRemit has two unique features. These are:

  • Mobile money - Shop in-store, online and withdraw cash at authorised agents
  • WorldRemit Wallet - Money can be received through their vast global network into a multi-currency wallet

 

WorldRemit does not offer

  • Travel debit cards
  • Access to a personal account manager (helpful when transferring large sums of money)

WorldRemit wins!

WorldRemit scores better in the Personal Features category.

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Winner

Business Benefits

WorldFirst

89

89

WorldFirst has an excellent offering for business and promotes partnerships with businesses operating in a global environment. There are solutions for online sellers, import / export and global human resources payments.

What WorldFirst offers business

  • Multi-currency receiving accounts
  • Forward contracts
  • Firm orders
  • Xero integration
  • Business account management

WorldFirst World Account

Through the WorldFirst World Account you can leverage unique banking details in 10 different currencies and reduce costs on receiving money from customers and paying suppliers. Local banking details are available in GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, CNH, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD and AUD.
 

What WorldFirst doesn’t offer business

  • Business debit card for foreign currency transactions from the WorldFirst World account.

WorldRemit

0

0

WorldRemit does not provide a business service, although WorldRemit could be used for business transfers. The Mobile Wallet could be used for business, however it may not be suited for this purpose.


WorldFirst wins!

WorldFirst scores better in the Business Benefits category.

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Winner

Fees & Exchange Rates

WorldFirst

79

79

WorldFirst has a super simple fee structure for international money transfers. The WorldFirst fees are additional to the real exchange rate. 

WorldFirst World Account fees also have the same simple fee structure and fees only apply when withdrawing funds from virtual multi-currency accounts.

Annual Transfer Amount£0 - £500K£500K - £5M£5M+
WorldFirst Fees0.60%0.35%0.25%

WorldFirst Australia currency conversion fees for small transfers

WorldFirst Australia has introduced (March 2021) new fees for small currency conversion amounts of less that AUD$10,000. These fees can make it prohibitive for small businesses to conduct day to day business payments. 

WorldFirst Australia fixed fee for FXFee
< $2,000$20
$2,000 - $10,000$10
$10,000 +$0

WorldRemit

46

46

WorldRemit Fees

Most of the WorldRemit fees are within the exchange rate offered. The exchange rate offered can and does change depending on payment type, receiving option and the amount being transferred.

  • Bank deposit - 0.5% - 2% depending on the destination country and amount
  • Bill payment fee - 1% - 4%
  • Cash pick up fee - 1% - 4%
  • Mobile airtime top up - 1% - 4%
  • Additional fee - $1 - $5 per transfer

New customers from eligible countries signing up through iCompareFX receive 3 transfers fees for free using the code 3FREE. Eligible countries for this free transfer promotion are the USA, UK, Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, New Zealand, and Norway.


WorldFirst wins!

WorldFirst scores better in the Fees and Exchange Rates category.

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Winner

Ease of Use

WorldFirst

57

57

WorldFirst account creation and registration is simple and straightforward.  Unfortunately there is room for improvement in some areas:

ID verification - This can be slower outside of the UK taking up to 24 hours. 

Payment options -  Basic by only supporting bank transfer payment options. 

Mobile apps - The World Account uses a different mobile app than their international money transfer app. This can be cumbersome for account management.

Minimum transfer amount - This is quite high for individuals at $2000 / £1000. There is, however, no minimum for business clients.


WorldRemit

86

86

Registration - Simple and easy through their website or mobile app.

ID verification -  If requested, it is a simple process that can be actioned through their mobile app or via email. Simply upload the requested documentation as photos from your phone. 

Transfer speed -  Speed ranges from instantaneous to up to 2 days. This depends on the country you are sending money to, and if it is a bank transfer or sending cash. 

Payment options - Uploading your funds to WordRemit is also a simple process. With in-country solutions such as Australia’s POLi or via debit card, you can instantly transfer your funds to WorldRemit. This speeds up the entire process of sending money overseas.

Mobile app - There is a WorldRemit mobile app to help manage your transfers end to end.


WorldRemit wins!

WorldRemit scores better in the Ease of Use category.

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Winner

Support & Countries

WorldFirst

56

56

  • WorldFirst supports over 130+ currencies. Their website supports five unique languages. Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, English, French and Japanese.
  • WorldFirst World Account supports 10 currencies. That means your business can have a local banking presence in 27 countries. 
  • WorldFirst customer support is global and can be contacted by email and phone. Additionally the UK has an online chat facility.

Unfortunately, USA residents are not eligible to create a WorldFirst account. This is a major let down for WorldFirst supported countries. This point has impacted the WorldFirst supported countries iCompareFX score.


WorldRemit

88

88

WorldRemit supported countries

WorldRemit has an impressive list of supported countries. 

  • Mobile Money - 23 countries
  • Cash pick up - 80 countries
  • Bank transfer - 150 countries
  • Bill payment -  Selected countries
  • Phone support - Multiple languages
  • Multilingual website
  • Local settlement accounts in dozens of countries.

Customer support

There are reports on TrustPilot and through its mobile app reviews of poor wait times to talk to a customer service representative.


WorldRemit wins!

WorldRemit scores better in the Support and Countries category.

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Winner

Trust & Transparency

WorldFirst

94

94

  • WorldFirst is fully regulated by the FCA. 
  • Client accounts are segregated from the business banking accounts.
  • Fees could not be more transparent with their simple fee structure.
  • Many online sellers and SME’s have discovered WorldFirst’s World Account to reduce their costs in the global market.
  • WorldFirst TrustPilot score has an overall rating of Excellent.

WorldRemit

56

56

  • WorldRemit is regulated by multiple financial regulators globally including the FCA in the UK. 
  • Their company structure is sound and customers funds are segregated from their company accounts thereby reducing the risk for their customer.
  • The WorldRemit fee structure for money transfers includes a hidden fee within the offered exchange rate which reduces transparency. This is unfortunately common amongst most international money transfer companies.
  • High TrustPilot rating. However, there are an increasing number of poor reviews. This will be monitored by iCompareFX. 

WorldFirst wins!

WorldFirst scores better in the Trust and Transparency category.

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Winner

The Result

Winner ribbon iconWinner

 WorldFirst

In the battle of the World's, WorldFirst takes the win over WorldRemit.  The major issue for WorldRemit is its lack of business services.  Despite WorldRemit scoring well for its Ease of Use and Support and Countries categories, WorldFirst's transparent and low fees and exchange rates make is an overall winner.