Azimo Review

Azimo exchange rates and fees

Considering the target market, Azimo has tried to regulate the costs of its transfers by modelling different fee structures and exchange rate margins depending on the countries to which customers are transferring money.

Transfer Fees - Azimo charges variable or fixed fees on its transfers. The key determinants as to how much you will pay are the transfer payment method, payout method and the countries involved. Typically, the fee settles in at between £1–10.

Exchange Rates - Like most money transfer providers, Azimo charges a margin above the mid-market rates or interbank rates. Its margin is anywhere between 1–3%. Compared to what banks charge on average, 5%, Azimo’s rate is clearly bank-beating. They allow their customers to lock in the rate for the duration of the transfer so that you know exactly how much the recipient will get.

Other Fees - Generally, Azimo has no hidden fees. The only fees you need to be careful about are the credit card fees. They can go up to 2.99% per transaction. However, if you use a local bank to pay and receive transfers, there shouldn’t be any charges.

While providers such as TransferWise and CurrencyFair do not charge any margin on their exchange rates, they push the needle on their transfer fees. Also, Azimo has a good grip on Africa remittance corridors, a disbursing network coverage that not many companies have.

Top destinations for using Azimo

Azimo has a wide sending network coverage. That said, some routes are busier than others. The frequented routes for users of Azimo money transfer services are Nigeria, Poland, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Thailand.

Sending to these countries from the UK takes anywhere between 1 to 2 days if you pay via a bank transfer. However, there could be delays on some routes because of verifications and other unforeseen events.

With the new Azimo Business product, the popular sending countries are the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany. On the other hand, the popular receiving countries for the service are Pakistan, South Africa, Poland, Hong Kong, China and Singapore.

With a team of 130 employees, you can be assured that irrespective of the remittance corridor you fall in, you will get the support you need to make your transfer.

Pros and cons of Azimo

The simplicity of Azimo has endeared the company to a wider customer base. Coupled with the low fees and favourable rates, Azimo scores highly on many fronts. Here is what we think makes Azimo a great company.

Pros

• No minimum amount - With Azimo, you can send even $1. There is no lower limit on how much you can send.
• High coverage - A wide sending and disbursing network coverage catering for more than 200 countries and territories
• Low fees and favourable rates - The fixed cost and variable pricing models favours remitters of large amounts and small amounts
• Simple and interactive platform - Sending money should not take you hours as long as you have all the information you need and the funds to transfer
• Multi-lingual support – The website supports 8 languages which are Russian, English, Polish, Italian, French, Romanian, Portuguese and Spanish. This makes it usable for a wide range of customers.

Cons

• Delayed refunds - In case of payment failure or cancellations due to duplication, the refund process may take a few days before reflecting in your account.
• No telephone support - The online email support available is from Monday - Friday 9:00 - 18:00 UK time. This limited support with no telephone backup, delays response time leading to piling up of case resolutions.
• Delays in verifications - At times verifications delay especially if the documents are not clear or they have to be counterchecked against some other sources.

Azimo transfer types you can make

Azimo allows for 5 types of transfers:

Bank Transfers

Through partnerships with major banks around the world, Azimo is able to deposit transfers directly into recipients' bank accounts. For instance in Nigeria, Azimo has partnered with Diamond Bank, FirstBank, UBA and Zenith bank. In Poland, it has partnered with ING, Bank Zachodni WBK, mBank and Millennium bank. You can also use SWIFT and send directly to the bank in GBP, USD and EUR.

Cash Pickups

Azimo has 200,000+ cash pickup locations worldwide. It has entered into agreements with local partners and banks allowing them to offer cash pickup services on its behalf.

Mobile Wallet Deposits

In Kenya, Azimo has partnered with Mpesa as its mobile money payout channel. In other countries, more mobile e-wallets are linking up with Azimo to tap into its wide network coverage.

Mobile Airtime Top-up

In addition to mobile money deposits, you can also send an airtime top-up to a prepaid mobile number through the platform.

Home Delivery

In the Philippines, Azimo offers home delivery of cash within 24 hours. It is a secure and convenient method of sending small amounts of money.

Azimo money transfer times

On its website, Azimo says that it should take a day or two to deliver transfers. However, occasional delays may be caused by a number of factors such as the country you are sending to, the payout method and transfer payment method.

If you pay with a bank transfer in countries outside the UK, it can even take up to 3 days for your money to get to Azimo. Add that to the time the provider takes to transfer your money and delivers it to the recipient, it can take a little longer at times.

For faster delivery times, pay with a debit or credit card and then choose cash pickup. The recipient should receive the money the same day.  Using the Azimo app, you can track your transfer to find out where it is at any time.

It fares really well when compared with other providers like TransferWise who only send to banks hence the inherent delays. Azimo is blazing fast in delivery times.

Accepted payment methods with Azimo

Azimo has flexible transfer payment methods. This gives you a wide range of choices and ensures you don’t get locked out. The following are the acceptable payment methods.

• Credit card
• Debit card
• Bank transfer
• Direct online payment like SOFORT Überweisung -A point to note is that SOFORT is only available when sending from Austria or Germany. The amount should not exceed 999 EUR

Reasons to use Azimo money transfers

This money transfer provider can be used for personal and business cases. For business, Azimo launched Azimo Business to help small and medium scale enterprises in the UK and Europe to send money to 189+ countries and at costs that undercut banks by 50%.

Business

• Pay suppliers across the world
• Pay contractors and overseas employees on the go
• Pay local salaries
• Pay utility bills and other vendors
• Receive payments from customers

Personal

• Send money to your family and friends
• Move money to your home country
• Pay a mortgage
• Pay school fees

If you have businesses in China, using the direct to payout method can give you some of the lowest transfer fees.

Can I trust Azimo?

Azimo is a Private Limited Company incorporated in the United Kingdom on 3 January 2012. Its company number is 07895399 and its official address is 9th Floor 107 Cheapside, London, United Kingdom, EC2V 6DN. Out of the four original founders Ricky Knox, Michael Kent, Marek Wawro, and Marta Krupinska, only Michael and Ricky are remaining the others left the company to pursue other interests.

Before changing its name to Azimo Ltd in 2012, the company was initially known as Ping Mobile Services Ltd. According to its latest annual report, Azimo Ltd has five wholly-owned subsidiaries with the sixth one (Azimo B.V) coming in 2019 hence not captured.

• Azimo Inc. -USA
• Azimo Canada Inc.
• Azimo Money Transfer Ltd -Ireland
• Azimo Hong Kong Ltd
• Azimo Singapore PTE. Ltd

Azimo is authorised in the United Kingdom to operate under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Additionally, HMRC licenced the provider and it is regulating it as a Money Services Business. In the Netherlands, Azimo operates as  Azimo B.V., authorized by De Nederlandsche Bank.

The regulations ensure the Azimo observes the laid down rules and policies with regard to running the company. One of the key operational rules is to separate clients' funds from company finances and put them in a low-risk institution.

Azimo is a venture capital-backed company that has so far attracted funding from 19 investors who have given over USD 45 million. They include:

1. Ripple
2. GR Capital
3. Silicon Valley Bank
4. Infinity Ventures
5. Rakuten Capital
6. e.ventures
7. Greycroft
8. Quona Capital
9. Frog Capital
10. MCI Capital SA
11. Future Fifty

The level of confidence investors have in the company means a lot for the millions of customers who use Azimo regularly. The company accounts are audited by KPMG LLP, a reputable Big Four auditing firm. As of March 2018, the company had connected over 1 million customers on the platform.

Azimo systems have  24/7 built-in security features that continuously scan the platform for any unusual activities. Visa and MasterCard have verified the system which means only valid transactions are processed. The Azimo platform has been inspected by the TÜV Rheinland Group and certified as secure for data handling and transmission.

The 90+ employees the company has on its payroll, rate it 4.5/5 on Glassdoor. Some of the reviews from the employees show just how Azimo has created an innovative space for employees to realise their potentials.

User feedback about Azimo

Using customer satisfaction algorithms that gather comments, reviews and mentions, Azimo was found to have 151 positive social media mentions against only 6 negative mentions. On Trustpilot, the provider has 30,917 reviews, 91% of which falls in the ‘Excellent’ and ‘Great’ rating categories while 4% fall in the ‘Poor’ and ‘Bad’ categories.

Those who rated the company highly cited the following experiences:

• Fast and efficient in transferring funds
• Low transfer fees and high exchange rates
• Reliability and trustworthy

Those who rated the company as ‘Poor’ or ‘Bad’ gave the following reasons

• Slow customers service
• Occasional delays in transfers

In general, Azimo is a very easy-to-use service with email support even to non-customers. The FAQ section and help centre are packed with lots of information on the transfer service.

Send and receive money with Azimo

Getting started on Azimo is simple and straightforward. The steps are easy to follow and can be interpreted in 8 languages. Below is how to get started.

How to Send Money Using Azimo?

Step 1: Sign up for an account- it takes a few minutes to create an account on Azimo. You can sign up through the app, website, Facebook or your Google account.

Step 2: Identity Verification- You’ll need two documents, one proving identity and the other your address. You can provide your passport or a driver's licence and utility bill. Once verified, you are ready to initiate the transfer.

Step 3: Add recipient -When you log in, you’ll find a minimal interface where you can easily add your recipient.

Step 4: Choose the destination, currency, and delivery method. The payout method will vary depending on the country you’ve chosen.

Step 5: Formalize the exchange rate by indicating the amount you are sending or the amount you want the recipient to get.

Step 6: Once you’ve confirmed the details, pay for your transfer and send it. Remember you can always track the transfer through the website or the Azimo app.

 How to Receive Money Using Azimo?

If the delivery method selected is a direct bank deposit or mobile e-wallet deposit, the recipient doesn’t have to do anything. However, for home deliveries or cash pickups, you’ll need the following information or documents.

• The transaction ID- The sender will provide you with this code
• Your government-issued ID – The name displayed on the ID must match that was given by the sender
• You may also be asked to identify the sender and the reason for the transfer. Ensure you are prepared with this information

Does Azimo have a mobile app?

Yes, Azimo has a mobile app available as a free download on both Google Play and Apple Store. There is so much you can do with the mobile application such as :

• Opening an Azimo account
• Sending money to bank accounts, cash pickup locations, mobile wallets, or mobile phone top-ups
• Tracking your transfer
• Checking exchange rates and transfer costs
• Adding and remove recipients
• Viewing your transaction history

On Android, the app has surpassed the 500,000 download mark. It has been reviewed by 15,000+ users giving it an average rating of 4.5. Anyone can download the app, it has no country restrictions.

Can I cancel my Azimo transfer?

If for whatever reason you need to cancel your transfer, get in touch with the customer support immediately. Transfers that are indicated as completed may not be possible to cancel or recall. The best defence is to be careful at all times and confirm that you have the right details before you hit the ‘Send’ tab.