Personal Features

InstaReM

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50

InstaReM provides reliable international money transfers services for personal customers from several countries.

What InstaReM does

  • International money transfers.
  • Cash pick-up in the Philippines.
  • Multi-currency travel cards.

What InstaReM doesn’t do

  • Regular transfers.
  • Digital wallets.
  • Personal account managers.
  • Hedging tools.
  • Cash pick-up, other than the Philippines.

DBS

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Singapore-based DBS Bank gives personal customers from different countries an easy means to carry out online overseas money transfers through the digibank Remit service. Customers can also carry out DBS money transfers by visiting any of the bank's branches.
 

What DBS offers

  • International money transfers.
  • Local money transfers.
  • Recurring/regular transfers.
  • Bill payments (for customers in Singapore).
  • PayLah digital wallet (for customers in Singapore).
  • Multi-currency DBS debit card (not available in all markets).
  • Rewards credit cards.

What DBS doesn’t offer

  • Cash pickup.
  • Account managers.

DBS wins!

InstaReM scores better in the Personal Features category.

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Business Benefits

InstaReM

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Small and mid-sized businesses may benefit by using InstaReM's services.

What InstaReM business account offers

  • Company-branded travel cards.
  • Multi-currency accounts.
  • Batch payments.
  • Higher send limits than personal accounts.

What InstaReM business account doesn’t offer

  • Hedging tools.
  • Digital wallets.
  • Accounting integration.
  • Online seller solutions.
  • Business specialists.

DBS

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Small, mid-sized and large businesses can use DBS money transfer services as well as other forex-related services.
 

What DBS offers businesses

  • Send and receive international payments.
  • Letters of Credit issuance.
  • Import financing.
  • Corporate multi-currency accounts.
  • Automatic linkage of currency wallets in DBS IDEAL.
  • RMB trade settlement account.
  • Escrow services.
  • Business account managers.

What DBS for business doesn’t offer

  • Online seller solutions.

DBS wins!

InstaReM scores better in the Business Benefits category.

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Fees & Exchange Rates

InstaReM

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InstaReM fees

The transfer fee you need to pay depends on the currencies being traded, the transfer amount and the mode of payment.

  • Transfer fees increase in direct proportion to increases in transfer amounts.
  • Debit card payments come with higher fees than bank account transfers.

InstaReM exchange rates

InstaReM uses Reuter market rates to process transfers and adds an FX margin that is typically below 1%. This essentially depends on the currencies being traded.


DBS

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DBS exchange rate

DBS applies a markup/margin on existing interbank exchange rates, which can be up to 5%. You stand to get preferential rates for transfers that exceed SG $50,000 or its currency equivalent.
 

DBS wire transfer fees

If you send money online using the digibank Remit platform to any of the digibank Remit-supported locations, you pay no transfer fees.

If you send money to countries where digibank Remit is not available, handling and third party fees apply.

If you carry out a regular overseas money transfer through DBS, you need to pay cable/telex charges of SG $20. A handling commission might also apply.

If you set up an overseas DBS money transfer at a branch, a minimum fee of SG $30 will apply.


InstaReM wins!

InstaReM scores better in the Fees and Exchange Rates category.

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Ease of Use

InstaReM

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What InstaReM does well

Signing up

Create a new account easily by using the InstaReM app or website.

Payment options

  • Bank account transfers from all countries.
  • ACH Pull payments from the USA.
  • Debit card payments from the European Union and the UK.
  • POLi payments from Australia.
  • FPX payments from Malaysia.

Mobile app

Available for iOS and Android.
 

Where InstaReM could improve

Speed - Some InstaReM reviews on Trustpilot suggest that transfers can take longer than the stipulated 1 - 2 business days.

Limits - Minimum transfer limits vary based on the sender's location. Maximum transfer limits vary depending on where the sender and recipient live. 

Phone transfers - You can not carry out transfers over the phone as a personal customer.


DBS

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Signing up - Existing DBS account holders don't have to create new accounts to send money overseas.

Transfer methods - Online, digibank Mobile app and DBS iWealth app.

Transfer speed - Transfers to digibank Remit supported countries go through on the same day. Most other transfers take 2 - 4 business days.

Payment options - Make your payment directly through your DBS bank account.

DBS mobile app - DBS provides apps for Apple and Android users. The DBS app you need to download depends on your country of residence.

Daily transfer limits - The default maximum daily transfer limit stands at SG $500. However, you may request for an increase via digibank. Destination-country based daily sending limits also apply.


InstaReM wins!

InstaReM scores better in the Ease of Use category.

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Support & Countries

InstaReM

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75

What InstaReM does well

Supported destination countries - InstaReM lets you send money to a number of countries across North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. However, the list of supported destination countries might vary based on the sender's location.
 

Where InstaReM could improve

Supported registration countries - InstaReM currently accepts customers from the US, Canada, the UK, Euro Zone countries, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore.


DBS

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Registration countries - DBS provides overseas money transfer services in Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China, Indonesia, Taiwan and India.

Digibank Remit supported countries - You may use the online digibank Remit platform to set up same-day transfers to Australia, Canada, Eurozone, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, mainland China, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, UK, USA and Vietnam.

Other supported destination countries - DBS lets you send money in over 20 currencies, to more than 150 countries.

Customer service - Provided via chat, email, phone and social media platforms.

Multilingual website - You can use the DBS websites in English and Chinese (traditional and simplified).


InstaReM wins!

InstaReM scores better in the Support and Countries category.

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Trust & Transparency

InstaReM

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50

What InstaReM does well

Regulated - InstaReM Pte. Ltd. (now known as NIUM Pte. Ltd.) is licensed by regulatory bodies of different countries.

Safety of funds - Uses segregated bank accounts to hold client money.

Trustpilot - Rating of Excellent.
 

Where InstaReM could improve

Transparency - Unless you carry out research on your own, you won't find out how much you pay as exchange rate margins.

Addressing customer concerns - A reasonable number of InstaRem reviews on Trustpilot and Google Play Store complain about delayed transfers and poor customer service.


DBS

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Regulated - DBS is licensed by regulatory bodies of different countries.

Exchange rate transparency - Customers need to carry out their own research if they want to find out how much they pay as exchange rate margins.

Trustpilot - There are very few DBS Bank reviews on Trustpilot as of now. With just 4 reviews, it gets an average score of 7.4 out of 10.


InstaReM wins!

InstaReM scores better in the Trust and Transparency category.

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The Result

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 InstaReM

While neither provider scores exceptionally well, InstaReM does get across the line on most occasions.  The exception is for business services in which DBS as a bank has an advantage.  On all the other sections InstaReM proves it offers better and cheaper money transfer services.