Xoom vs WorldRemit

Xoom lets personal customers transfer money to a significant number of countries, through different channels.

What Xoom does

• International money transfers
• Cash pick-ups
• International bill payments
• Home delivery of money

What Xoom doesn’t do

• Personal account managers
• Regular transfers
• Unique local multi-currency accounts
• Digital wallet
• FX optimised travel card
• Currency hedging tools

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)

Xoom does not provide services for businesses.

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.

Xoom fees

Exchange rate margin fee - This is up to 2% for commonly traded currencies, and can be more than 5% for exotic currencies. 

Additional fees - The transfer fee varies based on the currencies being traded, the transfer amount, the payment method and the transfer method.

• Debit and credit card payments tend to attract added fees.
• Transfers to cash pick-up centers are typically more expensive than bank account transfers.
• The Bill Pay service comes with a flat transfer fee of $/£/€ 2.99. This is not including the exchange rate margin.

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.

Sign up - Registration is simple, and becomes even easier for existing PayPal customers.

ID verification - Level 1 membership comes without the need for ID verification.

Payment options -  Bank transfers, debit cards, credit cards and PayPal.

Mobile apps - Available for Android and iOS.

Minimum transfer amount - Low minimum transfer amount.

Transfer limit - Xoom has 24-hour, 30-day, and 180-day transfer limits.

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.

Supported payment currencies - Xoom lets customers send money from more than 70 countries.It accepts payments in USD, CAD, EUR and GBP.

Supported destination currencies - Xoom lets you send money to around 130 countries, in around 80 currencies. 

Supported countries for bill payments - Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicargua and Vietnam.

Multilingual customer support - Customers get multilingual customer support. Languages include English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Filipino, Chinese and Arabic.

Foreign language website access - Xoom's website is available in a number of languages such as  French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, Polish, Arabic, Filipino, Chinese and  Vietnamese.

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.

Where Xoom does well

Regulated - Xoom is regulated by the US federal government and various state regulatory bodies. It is licensed to provide its services in all its countries in its transfer network.

Trustpilot - Xoom gets an Excellent rating on Trustpilot. However, a number of complaints highlight lengthy turnaround times and failed transfers. 
 

Xoom challenges

Fees transparency - Xoom applies a margin on existing exchange rates. This can be over 5% for some currencies. 

Customer support - The company does not seem to respond to any of its customers' reviews on Trustpilot and the Apple App store. Many customers also complain about receiving poor customer service over the phone.

• 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.