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CurrencyFair money transfer review

Mehdi Punjwani
Author 
Mehdi Punjwani
33 minutes
February 22nd, 2024
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Expert Rating
8/10

Our Review of CurrencyFair

CurrencyFair was founded in 2010, and has been providing money transfers for over a decade. With over 150,000 customers signed up and a network of over 150 countries to which you can send money, they’re a solid option for those looking for a new provider.

The remittance review team at MoneyTransfers.com has analyzed CurrencyFair’s money transfer service from head to toe, breaking it down into its costs, service, ease of use, safety and trust, and customer feedback. We’ve also signed up and sent money using the app, so we’re in the best position to give an honest and full picture on how good CurrencyFair really is.

Rating breakdown

How MoneyTransfers.com rates CurrencyFair

Fees & Rates
8.7

Fully transparent about their costs, with a flat fee structure and competitive exchange rates, CurrencyFair gets a solid score for their affordable money transfers.

Service
6.8
Ease of Use
6.5
Safety & Trust
8.3
Customer Feedback
7.2
“While CurrencyFair is strong in a few areas, namely its affordable rates and fees, the service itself is not as slick as many of its competitors. It’s worth checking out if they can facilitate your transfer as you might get a good price, but we’d recommend keeping your options open.”
Mehdi Punjwani, Lead Writer and Editor, MoneyTransfers.com
Mehdi PunjwaniMehdi Punjwani
Pros and Cons

Why do we like CurrencyFair?

  • Cost: CurrencyFair offers relatively low rates and fees for money transfers

  • Range: It also has wide network of supported countries

Overall cost

How much does it cost to send money with CurrencyFair?

8.7
Fees & Rates

This is how we rated CurrencyFair based on its fees and exchange rates. Find the best rates for your specific transfer with our comparison tool.

CurrencyFair charges a small transfer fee plus a slight markup on the mid-market exchange rate. You’ll find that the total cost of your transfer will depend on:

  • How much you send: We found that larger transfers with CurrencyFair tend to get slightly better exchange rates. And of course as with any percentage fee, the cost will go up the more you’re sending

  • The country and currency you use: Different currencies will also have different exchange rates and markups

What are CurrencyFair’s transfer fees?

CurrencyFair charges a flat fee of €3 or the currency equivalent - it won’t change for different amounts, currencies or destination countries. We appreciate fees like this as it’s much easier to factor into the total cost of your transfer.

When paying in US dollars, here are the fees you’ll face for pay-outs in different currencies:

Currency

Fee

Currency

Fee

UAE dirham

د.إ15.00

Israeli new shekel

₪40.00

Australian dollar

A$4.00

Indian rupee

₹120.00

Canadian dollar

C$4.00

Norwegian krone

kr25.00

Swiss franc

CHF4.00

New Zealand dollar

NZ$5.00

Czech Koruna

Kč75.00

Philippine Peso

₱80.00

Danish krone

kr25.00

Polish zloty

zł10.00

Euro

€3

Swedish krona

kr30.00

Pound sterling

£2.50

Singapore dollar

S$5.00

Hong Kong dollar

HK$25.00

Thai baht

฿125.00

Hungarian forint

Ft1,000.00

US dollar

US$4.00

Indonesian rupiah

Rp20,000.00

South African rand

R25.00

What exchange rate does CurrencyFair charge for international transfers?

According to CurrencyFair, on average their customers pay 0.53% of the total amount in exchange rate markups, in addition to the flat fee. In our research we found CurrencyFair’s rates to be relatively good compared to the competition - particularly for euro to pound and US dollar to rupee transactions.

If you want to try for a better exchange rate, CurrencyFair also offers a Marketplace, which lets you trade currencies with other users who are sending money the reverse way. You can set your own exchange rate for these transfers. However this is not currently available in the USA.

.

“CurrencyFair’s fees are arguably their strongest feature, so it’s definitely worth seeing if they can offer a good rate on your transfer. A flat fee structure is always welcome, and their exchange rates are relatively affordable compared to other providers.”
Mehdi Punjwani, Lead Writer and Editor, MoneyTransfers.com
Mehdi PunjwaniMehdi Punjwani
Quality of service

How good is CurrencyFair’s money transfer service?

6.8
Product Offering

Here's how we rated CurrencyFair based on the overall quality of service it provides. However its outside our list of top money transfer companies for their service - other providers like WorldRemit are rated higher.

CurrencyFair offers a powerful money transfer tool, able to send funds to countries around the world. It also gives you access to a multi-currency wallet as well as business services. A popular provider despite not being a household name, we’ve dived into CurrencyFair’s services to see how good they really are.

How fast are CurrencyFair’s transfers?

According to CurrencyFair, most of their transfers should be completed within a few days - which isn’t as fast as many other providers who can offer transfers within minutes or hours, or at least on the same day. Remember, CurrencyFair only accepts bank transfers as payment, which is why it can take one or two days to process at least.

When paying in US dollars, CurrencyFair estimates that it’ll take 1-2 business days for them to receive the money - then the time it takes for them to pay out varies by currency. Here are the payout times for currencies supported by CurrencyFair when sending US dollars:

Currency

Transfer time

Currency

Transfer time

UAE dirham

One business day

South Korean won

0-1 business days

Australian dollar

One business day

Mexican peso

0-1 business days

Canadian dollar

Two business days

Norwegian krone

0-1 business days

Swiss franc

0-1 business days

New Zealand dollar

1-3 business days

Czech Koruna

0-1 business days

Philippine Peso

0-1 business days

Danish krone

0-1 business days

Polish zloty

0-2 business days

Euro

1-2 business days

Swedish krona

0-1 business days

Pound sterling

0-1 business days

Singapore dollar

0-1 business days

Hong Kong dollar

0-1 business days

Thai baht

1-4 business days

Hungarian forint

0-1 business days

US dollar

One business day

Indonesian rupiah

0-1 business days

Vietnamese dong

0-3 business days

Israeli new shekel

One business day

South African rand

One business day

Indian rupee

0-1 business days

How much can I send with CurrencyFair?

There is no maximum limit for how much you can send with CurrencyFair - which is great, especially for those planning on big transfers. The minimum amount you can transfer is €8 or the currency equivalent.

What kind of transfers can I make with CurrencyFair?

When you send money with CurrencyFair, you’ll always have the option of paying by bank transfer. But while it mentions that your other options vary by currency and location, it does not actually say which options are available.

The only pay out method available is a deposit into the recipient’s bank account - so if you’re looking to send money for a cash pickup, or to someone’s mobile wallet, you’ll be better suited to another provider.

Where can I send money with CurrencyFair?

You’ll be able to send money to the following countries with CurrencyFair:

Aland Islands

Algeria

American Samoa

Andorra

Angola

Anguilla

Antigua And Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

Aruba

Australia

Austria

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belgium

Bermuda

Bhutan

Bonaire, Sint Eustatius And Saba (Netherlands Antilles)

Botswana

Brazil

British Virgin Islands

Brunei Darussalam

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Canada

Cape Verde

Cayman Islands

Chad

Chile

China

Colombia

Cook Islands

Costa Rica

Côte D'ivoire

Croatia

Curaçao

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Estonia

Eswatini

Faroe Islands

Fiji

Finland

France

French Guiana

French Polynesia

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Gibraltar

Greece

Greenland

Grenada

Guadeloupe

Guam

Guernsey

Holy See (Vatican City State)

Honduras

Hong Kong

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Ireland

Isle Of Man

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Jersey

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kiribati

Korea (South)

Kuwait

Latvia

Lesotho

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macau

Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic Of

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Malta

Marshall Islands

Martinique

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mayotte

Mexico

Micronesia, Federated States Of

Monaco

Mongolia

Montenegro

Montserrat

Namibia

Nauru

Nepal

Netherlands

New Caledonia

New Zealand

Niger

Nigeria

Niue

Norway

Oman

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Peru

Philippines

Pitcairn

Poland

Portugal

Puerto Rico

Qatar

Réunion

Romania

Rwanda

Saint Barthélemy

Saint Helena, Ascension And Tristan Da Cunha

Saint Kitts And Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Martin (French Part)

Saint Pierre And Miquelon

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines

Samoa

San Marino

Sao Tome And Principe

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Seychelles

Singapore

Sint Maarten (Dutch Part)

Slovakia

Slovenia

Solomon Islands

South Africa

Spain

Sri Lanka

Suriname

Svalbard And Jan Mayen

Sweden

Switzerland

Taiwan, Province Of China

Tajikistan

Thailand

Timor-Leste

Togo

Tokelau

Tonga

Trinidad And Tobago

Tunisia

Turkmenistan

Turks And Caicos Islands

Tuvalu

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Vietnam

Virgin Islands, U.S.

Wallis And Futuna

Zambia

However, CurrencyFair do not allow transfers into local currencies for all of these countries - the only currencies you can send money to be received in are the following:

AED

AUD

CAD

CHF

CZK

DKK

EUR

GBP

HKD

HUF

IDR

ILS

INR*

MXN

NOK

NZD

PHP

PLN

SEK

SGD

THB

USD

VND

ZAR

How good is CurrencyFair’s customer service?

CurrencyFair’s customer service team is available by phone and email, although they aren’t open 24/7 which isn’t ideal. There is no live chat option, and the email form only allows you to send a query if you’ve already made a transfer. Here’s how we got on with their team

Chat

Availability

24/7 - just a chatbot, no human

Response time

Instant

Languages

English

The help center has a ChatBot that answers your questions by directing you to relevant guides, but as it’s entirely AI it is somewhat limited in how it can help.

Phone

Availability

7am-10pm Monday to Thursday, 7am-8pm Friday

Response time

No answer

Languages

English

We called CurrencyFair’s customer support team to ask a few general questions about setting up an account, canceling a transfer, and what kind of rates we might get when sending money. The person we spoke to was exceptionally helpful and informative, explaining how rates are decided, why the markup is added, and they didn’t hesitate to compare their rates to what you’d get with a bank.

Email

Availability

7am-10pm Monday to Thursday, 7am-8pm Friday

Response time

Within an hour

Languages

English

We sent an email asking for more information about CurrencyFair’s exchange rates and fees, and they got back to us within an hour, but asked for our unique CFID before we could proceed. We found it a little frustrating that we had to be fully signed up before we could access support.

Help center FAQs

Availability

24/7

Languages

English

The help center guides are detailed and helpful, and there are lots of them - and the ChatBot almost serves as an intelligent search function - which is definitely useful.

What else can I do with CurrencyFair?

In addition to international money transfers, with a marketplace that allows customers in certain regions to set their own exchange rates and trade with other users, CurrencyFair also offers other products and services.

With CurrencyFair you can open a multi-currency account that lets you send and hold money in over 20 currencies. It supports money transfers to and from over 150 countries, and you can get same day transfers with major currencies.

Multi-currency accounts are useful for expats, travelers and anyone who regularly deals with multiple currencies - and CurrencyFair’s offering is pretty good. However it is also limited by the low number of supported currencies - so if you’re looking for something more global you might be tempted by a larger provider.

.

“CurrencyFair is a fairly strong provider, offering a powerful money transfer tool as well as other useful services. While other providers do put on a better showing, if CurrencyFair offer a good rate then their money transfer service is well worth trying.”
Mehdi Punjwani, Lead Writer and Editor, MoneyTransfers.com
Mehdi PunjwaniMehdi Punjwani
Simplicity

How easy is CurrencyFair to use?

6.5
Ease of Use

Here’s how we rated CurrencyFair based on how easy it is to open an account and send money.

We went through the process of signing up to CurrencyFair on their desktop site and app, as well as sending money on both platforms - we’ve reviewed them in detail below.

Signing up with CurrencyFair

Signing up to CurrencyFair should only take a few minutes - so let’s start at their homepage.

Download the app
Step 1
Download the app

We downloaded the CurrencyFair app from our app store and opened it on our device

Select account
Step 2
Select account

We were asked if we wanted to open a personal or a business account, and we chose personal

Add your email
Step 3
Add your email

We added our email address and created a password - though there is an option to sign up with a Facebook account

Add personal details
Step 4
Add personal details

We were asked to give our name, country of residence, how we’ll be using CurrencyFair and how we heard about them

Activate your account
Step 5
Activate your account

Before we could send money we needed to activate our account, which involved giving our postcode, date of birth, phone number and nationality

Give regulatory information
Step 6
Give regulatory information

We also needed to give our annual gross income, average transaction size, an estimation on how often we’ll use CurrencyFair, which countries we intend to send money to and which currencies we intend to use

Verify your identity
Step 7
Verify your identity

The next step was to verify our identity by uploading a photo ID document, proof of address and a selfie

We thought the verification step was a little strange, as we weren’t told when our identity had been verified so we could make a transfer.

Sending money with CurrencyFair

We used CurrencyFair to send GBP to EUR - here’s how it went:

Initiate transfer
Step 1
Initiate transfer

We clicked on Get Started to initiate a transfer in the CurrencyFair app

Add transfer information
Step 2
Add transfer information

We chose the currency we wanted to send and what we wanted to be received, as well as the amount

Choose purpose
Step 3
Choose purpose

We were asked to give the purpose of the transfer from a provided list

Add recipient
Step 4
Add recipient

We chose the option to add a new recipient and added their information, including their country and bank details

Verify phone
Step 5
Verify phone

We verified ourselves via a code sent to our mobile phone

Choose deposit method
Step 6
Choose deposit method

We chose to deposit from our own bank account

Step 7
Review transfer

We reviewed the details of the transfer, confirmed our payment and finalized the transaction

We found the CurrencyFair app had a few issues when we were using it, being very slow to load and occasionally freezing between screens. Additionally, connecting our bank account didn’t work in the app, so we had to transfer the money manually, which we took points off for.

“Sending money through CurrencyFair was mostly straightforward, though the app had a few issues with freezing and loading, and the bank account deep link didn’t work. It wasn’t ideal, but the transfer still went through so the issues weren’t that serious. However there is still room for improvement, as there are other providers with sleeker and smoother apps out there.”
Mehdi Punjwani, Lead Writer and Editor, MoneyTransfers.com
Mehdi PunjwaniMehdi Punjwani
Trustworthiness

How safe is CurrencyFair?

8.3
Safety & Trust

This is how we scored CurrencyFair based on its transparency, safety and security. They rank outside our list of top providers for safety and trust.

CurrencyFair claims to have helped hundreds of thousands of customers move over €13 billion since being founded in 2009. With plenty of customers and reviews, it is a popular money transfer provider - and like all on MoneyTransfers.com it’s fully authorized and regulated.

We took a deep dive into how CurrencyFair practices, who they’re regulated by, and what security features they use.

Is CurrencyFair authorized to provide money transfers?

CurrencyFair is fully regulated and authorized to provide international money transfers by the following regulators:

  • In the EU: Regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland pursuant to Regulation 18 of the European Union Payment Services Regulations 2018

  • In the UK: Registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, registration number FRN 522602

  • In Singapore: Regulated Money Changer and Remittance Company authorized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Money-Changing and Remittances Business Act

  • In Australia: Regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, AFSL number 402709

  • In Hong Kong: Licensed as a Money Service Operator under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance

Is CurrencyFair safe and secure?

According to CurrencyFair’s website, it adheres to the standard practice of segregating customer funds in separate accounts from corporate funding. This ensures client money is protected in the event that CurrencyFair should become insolvent.

It also employs two-factor authentication, 256-bit encryption via SSL from VeriSign, and stores all data in a secure, safeguarded facility. Data is backed up on a multiple region multi availability zone AWS cloud.

These are robust measures that you would expect from a money transfer provider that prioritizes customer security and safety. CurrencyFair details their thorough verification methods, systematic procedures and checks on their website.

Is CurrencyFair transparent?

CurrencyFair is fully transparent with its transfer fees and exchange rate markups, though it does not disclose that the exchange rate markup contains the bulk of the overall cost.

User reviews

What do other customers think of CurrencyFair?

7.2
Customer Feedback

This is how we rated CurrencyFair based on the feedback they've received from their customers, on Trustpilot, the App Store, and Google Play. It ranks low on our list, only ahead of XE and Western Union - however it’s worth noting that the Google Play rating significantly drags the average down.

CurrencyFair has helped hundreds of thousands of customers move money, so it’s always useful to see what some of those people have said about their experiences. We’ve looked at CurrencyFair’s ratings on Trustpilot as well as both major app stores - here’s what we found.

What is CurrencyFair rated on Trustpilot?

CurrencyFair is rated as Excellent on Trustpilot, with a score of 4.4 from over 6,500 reviews when this article was written. This is a very good score, although the number of reviews is relatively low compared to some of the bigger providers - but still nothing to be balked at.

Some of the positive reviews praise their exchange rates, customer service, and efficiency of the overall process. However, negative feedback mentions trouble with the verification process and some payments not going through. According to Trustpilot, CurrencyFair responds to 87% of reviews, usually taking less than 24 hours to do so.

What is CurrencyFair rated on the Apple App Store?

CurrencyFair’s iOS app is rated 4.7 out of 5 on the Apple App Store in both the UK and Ireland (from 822 and 266 ratings respectively), and 4.4 out of 5 on the US App Store from only 79 ratings. These are low numbers when it comes to the amount of times they’ve been scored, so it’s worth taking the ratings with a pinch of salt.

Looking at the reviews, the positive feedback revolves around the easy-to-use app, fees and rates, and the overall quality and efficiency of their transfers. However, some negative feedback mentions the app not functioning correctly, as well as some criticism of their customer service.

What is CurrencyFair rated on the Google Play Store?

CurrencyFair’s rating on the Google Play Store is considerably lower than their other scores, at 2.5 stars out of 5 from 915 reviews and 50,000+ downloads. Many negative reviews mention lost money and incomplete transactions, with difficulties dealing with their customer service team. Positive reviews mention rates, although they also say other providers have similar or better rates, and again the overall efficiency of the app when it does work.

It’s hard to compare the two very different app store ratings, but there are similar themes across all reviews. We would advise to use with a little caution, perhaps with small transfers first.

Our MoneyTransfers.com expert says

“CurrencyFair stands out with its transparent fee structure and its peer-to-peer exchange platform, offering customers a way to get the best rate for their money transfers. It’s worth trying to to see if you can find a good rate when sending money, although we did have a few issues using the app. CurrencyFair’s customer support team was also very helpful and informative, which is important.”
Jonathan Merry, Founder, MoneyTransfers.com
Jonathan MerryJonathan Merry
FAQs

Frequently asked questions about CurrencyFair

Do I need an account to receive money with CurrencyFair?
Do I need a bank account to join CurrencyFair?
Is CurrencyFair legal to use?
Who owns CurrencyFair?
Can I open a CurrencyFair account in any country?

Compare CurrencyFair to our other providers

CurrencyFair
CurrencyFair
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Fees & Rates
8.7
Transfer Speed
8.0
Safety & Trust
8.3
Product Offering
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Transfer Limits
9.0
Ease of Use
6.5
Customer Feedback
7.2
MoneyTransfers Score 2024
7.8
Fees & Rates
9.4
Transfer Speed
9.0
Safety & Trust
9.5
Product Offering
8.8
Transfer Limits
9.5
Ease of Use
10.0
Customer Feedback
8.5
MoneyTransfers Score 2024
9.2
Currencies Direct
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9.8
Transfer Speed
9.0
Safety & Trust
9.0
Product Offering
8.0
Transfer Limits
9.0
Ease of Use
9.0
Customer Feedback
8.4
MoneyTransfers Score 2024
8.9
Fees & Rates
9.3
Transfer Speed
9.0
Safety & Trust
9.0
Product Offering
8.0
Transfer Limits
9.0
Ease of Use
9.0
Customer Feedback
8.7
MoneyTransfers Score 2024
8.9
Fees & Rates
9.1
Transfer Speed
8.0
Safety & Trust
9.0
Product Offering
9.0
Transfer Limits
8.0
Ease of Use
9.0
Customer Feedback
9.0
MoneyTransfers Score 2024
8.7
Fees & Rates
9.4
Transfer Speed
8.0
Safety & Trust
8.5
Product Offering
8.8
Transfer Limits
9.5
Ease of Use
8.2
Customer Feedback
8.3
MoneyTransfers Score 2024
8.7
Fees & Rates
8.5
Transfer Speed
7.0
Safety & Trust
9.5
Product Offering
8.8
Transfer Limits
9.0
Ease of Use
9.5
Customer Feedback
8.0
MoneyTransfers Score 2024
8.6
Fees & Rates
8.0
Transfer Speed
8.0
Safety & Trust
7.9
Product Offering
10.0
Transfer Limits
10.0
Ease of Use
7.0
Customer Feedback
8.2
MoneyTransfers Score 2024
8.4
Atlantic Money
Atlantic Money
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Fees & Rates
9.3
Transfer Speed
7.0
Safety & Trust
8.5
Product Offering
6.5
Transfer Limits
9.0
Ease of Use
9.5
Customer Feedback
8.7
MoneyTransfers Score 2024
8.4
Fees & Rates
8.9
Transfer Speed
9.0
Safety & Trust
8.8
Product Offering
8.5
Transfer Limits
6.5
Ease of Use
8.0
Customer Feedback
8.8
MoneyTransfers Score 2024
8.4
Summary

Our final verdict

CurrencyFair is certainly a provider worth considering, and its unique approach to exchange rates with its peer-to-peer platform presents an opportunity to find better than mid-market rates. However it has its flaws too - so if you're looking for a more polished and reliable service you might find more joy with providers like Wise and WorldRemit.

Contributors

Mehdi Punjwani
Mehdi is an accomplished writer and editor, specializing in personal finance with over five years of experience. His expertise is reflected in his work for prominent brands such as MoneySuperMarket, Equifax, and The AA. Additionally, Mehdi contributes as an author at USA Today, further showcasing his proficiency in the field.