April 10, 2024
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Many financial technology start-ups are vying for customer growth in the money transfer market. Challenger banks and newer money transfer companies seek to supplant legacy banks and corporations that have been around for decades. They attempt this by offering efficient, low-fee, and transparent mobile-first applications. Fintechs typically market to individual and business customers who travel frequently, live abroad, freelance, and sell products globally. Let’s review a few innovative fintechs and banking apps that are regularly making headlines.
TransferGo Overview
Founded in 2012, TransferGo is a convenient way to make faster, low-cost, and secure money transfers. It’s built a network of banks and people to make your life easier.
TransferGo’s mission is to make sending money abroad as quick and easy as sending a text. It’s changing the face of finance to make it accessible everywhere. Also, it uses a digital account-to-account model and prides itself on delivering high-quality money transfers with speed, ease, and excellent value.
TransferGo is available on Apple and Google Play app stores and offers a web app. It has an “Excellent” score on Trustpilot.
Wise Overview
Founded in 2011, Wise (formerly TransferWise) is on a mission to make a positive, irreversible change in finance. Built by and for people who live global lives, Wise makes sending money abroad fair, accessible, and up to eight times cheaper than traditional banks and money transfer companies.
Wise focuses on people on every continent to help them live, travel, and work internationally. It wants to support a financial experience without borders for instant, convenient, and transparent transactions.
Wise is available on Apple and Google Play app stores and offers a web app. It has an “Excellent” rating on Trustpilot.
Products and Services
TransferGo products and services include:
- Personal and business accounts
- Money transfers
- Mass payouts/batch payments
- API
Wise products and services include:
- Personal and business accounts
- Budgeting and analytics
- Currency exchange
- Expense management
- International bank account details
- Investment account
- Money transfers
- Multi-currency account
- Online payment
- Prepaid debit card
- Mass payouts/batch payments
- Third-party money transfer solutions
- API
Revenue Models
TransferGo makes money by charging fixed fees on money transfers and marking up exchange rates. For business accounts, it charges batch payment fees.
Wise makes money by charging fixed and variable fees for transfers, conversions, investments, excess holdings, and incoming USD wire payments. Their prepaid debit card generates interchange revenue, and an ATM charge on monthly withdrawals exceeds a predefined amount. It generates income as a third-party money transfer solution for financial companies, such as bunq and N26. For business accounts, it charges for batch payments and accounts in multiple currencies.
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Comparison
Exchange Rates
TransferGo adds up to 2.2 percent on rates. They state, “TransferGo has a small FX markup on the mid-market rate. Our rates are always amongst the most favorable on the market.”
Wise exchanges currencies at mid-market and real-time rates, the best rates customers can get. You can try their calculator below.
Fees and Commissions
While TransferGo has a no-cost option, its other two delivery methods attract fees starting at £0.99. All three delivery options aren’t available for every country/destination.
Wise uses a combination of variable and fixed rates. Fees differ for each country.
Supported Currencies
TransferGo customers can send money from mainly European countries and the United Kingdom, which is fantastic for sending euros and pounds. However, people outside the EU, such as Americans, Canadians, and Indians, can only receive money transfers.
Wise customers can send and receive money from various countries worldwide.
Single Currency Transactions
TransferGo and Wise support single-currency transactions. For example, someone in Germany can send euros to someone in France.
Processing and Delivery Times
Both companies can process international money transfers within three days, depending on the currencies involved.
Transfer Limits
TransferGo has no daily limits when using bank funds to send money.
Wise users can send up to a million dollars per transfer.
Transparency
TransferGo’s transaction calculator provides fewer details compared to Wise. Both companies offer a user-friendly, searchable, and comprehensive help center.
Other Products and Features
TransferGo doesn’t offer any additional products or features.
Wise offers the following:
- Get local bank details for ten countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
- Schedule and track transfers.
- Send large amounts of money of up to 1 million dollars.
- Work anywhere and link your account to Amazon, PayPal, and more to receive payments.
- Hold cash, bonds, or stocks using iShares ETFs managed by BlackRock.
- Compare your sending and spending activities across months and categories.
Referral Programs
Both companies have a referral and affiliate program.
Recap
| TransferGo | Wise | |
| Exchange rates | ✔ | |
| Fees | It depends on the currencies. | It depends on the currencies. |
| Supported currencies | ✔ | |
| Processing times | ✔ | ✔ |
| Transfer limits | ✔ | ✔ |
| Transparency | ✔ | ✔ |
| Other products/features | ✔ |
Recommendation
TransferGo’s free money transfers are excellent for customers who can wait a little longer to deliver their funds (that’s the tradeoff). On the flip side, its other delivery methods start at £0.99 plus conversion fees of up to 2.2 percent, which can get costly. TransferGo is of very little use to people outside the United Kingdom and Europe, where its operations are concentrated. It must expand to support more currencies, like Wise and other major money transfer providers, to increase its value proposition and competitive edge.
Wise is the standard for money transfer companies. It offers real-time rates, low fees, efficiency, high limits, and transparency with every transaction. It doesn’t get much better than that. Secondly, it continues to add products, services, and features to improve its value proposition. Case in point, Wise Mass Payouts is a robust alternative to PayPal Payouts.
TransferGo‘s free money transfer option is competitive, considering supported currencies, rates, and fees. However, in most cases, Wise will be the more cost-efficient approach. Wise also offers more products and features to support your financial goals.
