Felix Pago Review: WhatsApp Money Transfer, Exchange Rates & Transfer Fees

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Is Felix right for you?

Felix is unique in terms of how you send money. All transfers are made through WhatsApp, making it much more convenient compared to other top money transfer companies.

However, before you start chatting with Felix to make your transfer, you should consider this.

Scoring Felix

Just like for other money transfer reviews, I’ve tested Felix’s fees & rates, product features, transfer speeds, usability, user feedback, and safety.

Here’s a quick summary of what I found.

Before you choose whether to transfer funds overseas with Felix, here’s a quick summary of the benefits and drawbacks.

Felix fees and exchange rates

Exchange rates

Just like any other money transfer company, Felix charges a markup on transfers abroad. This is the percentage difference between their rate and the real mid-market rate (learn more about it here).

In this case, the exchange rate markup can range somewhere between 0.5% and 2.2% depending on the currency you send.

Here’s the table summarising Felix’s exchange rates to give you an idea of what to expect.

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International transfer fees

Felix Pago fees are fixed but vary depending on the country, the transfer amount, and the delivery method.

Here’s a breakdown of their fees:

However, they often offer the first transfer for free.

In addition to these, there are also cash deposit fees depending on where you do it:

*These only apply if you are paying in cash for your transfer.

It might seem like a lot, but this is a great offering, considering many other companies charge a percentage fee.

For example, on a $1,000 transfer to Mexico, Wise would charge around 6.59 USD vs $2.99 with Felix.

Most of the time, a better exchange rate will outweigh lower fees.

To make it a bit easier to understand, let’s take a look at a few transfer examples below.

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As you can see, Felix is not the worst, but also not the best in terms of price. And this is where you need to decide: do you need convenience or a better deal?

Transfer speed

Based on our testing, you can expect most transfers to settle within minutes, but it will depend on the amount, the deposit method, and the delivery method.

Generally, you can expect the following:

Bank deposits

Once the payment is completed, the money should be available immediately. If you’re making a cash deposit, it can take around 15-30 minutes.

Cash pickup

If you’re depositing with a card/bank for cash pickup, money will be available immediately. Similarly to bank deposits, if you’re paying by cash deposit at a store, it can take around 30 minutes.

In some cases, cash pickup may take up to a day, depending on the processing in place, but this is rare, according to Felix.

Barcode processing

If you’re depositing money in the US store, Felix can take around 15 minutes to process the deposit before applying the transfer times above.

In rare cases, if you are sending money to a bank account, the receiving bank may delay the transfer while performing extra security checks.

Transfer limits

Depending on your account status, your limits and account type will change.

The accounts you can have with Felix are:

• Basic Level: When you just sign up with minimal information.

• Advanced Level: Once you verify your identity, your limits will increase.

This is what the limits to like for Felix Pago:

You can find more information about this on their website here.

This is done to ensure the safety of money transfers and compliance with regulators.

In addition to these limits, there are also limits on cash deposits in the US retail stores (CVS, Walmart, 7-Eleven, etc.):

• Per transaction: $20 min / $500 max

• Per day: up to $1,500 (3 transactions of $500)

• Per week: up to $3,500

• Per month: up to $5,000

• Transactions allowed: 3/day, 12/week, 20/month

Essentially, this means that:

• If you’re sending by card or bank transfer, your daily/monthly limits depend on whether you’ve verified your ID.

• If you’re sending by cash deposit, your per-transaction cap is $500, with those daily/weekly/monthly limits layered on top.

Product offering

Felix is simple and unique at the same time. Their coverage is low compared to competitors, but the simplicity of WhatsApp transfers is unmatched.

Supported currencies & destinations

Felix Pago has a very simple product offering.

You can send money from the US to:

• Mexico

• Guatemala

• Honduras

• El Salvador

• Dominican Republic

• Colombia

• Nicaragua

Payment methods

Felix accepts multiple payment methods, however, most need to be US-based, these include:

• US debit cards

• US credit cards

• US bank accounts

• Cash deposits at US retail stores (barcode payments)

Delivery methods

Felix allows transfers to mobile wallets, bank accounts, and cash pickup.

Digital wallets

You can send money from WhatsApp to wallets like Mercado Pago, Nu, and Spin by OXXO. The money will land directly into the receiver's wallet without them needing to do anything.

Bank account deposit

This is the most traditional withdrawal method. Money will arrive in the recipient's bank account without them needing to do anything.

It usually takes a few minutes for the money to arrive, but the receiving bank may delay the transfer for security checks.

Cash pickup

This is one of the most popular pickup methods in Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua. The receiver will need to show their ID and might need to provide transfer details (transfer number, your name, amount, etc.).

Cash pickups are usually available the next working day.

For cash pickup, here are a few examples of where you recipient can pick up the cash:

Ease of use

Felix has no app or website portal, all transfers are handled through the WhatsApp chat.

It is one of their main selling points, because it’s probably the most convenient way to send money that I’ve ever seen.

The process is simple, fill in your details on the site, and start chatting on WhatsApp.

The whole process takes less than 5 minutes from starting to money being sent.

However, I did find a few nuances while testing it out, mainly related to their English website.

Firstly, the EN website is partially not translated, so if you don’t speak Spanish, you may find it a bit confusing. Also, the instructions you get in Felix chat are in Spanish.

There is a decent blog section on Felix's website, however, there’s not enough information on getting help, getting started, or anything related to using them for that matter.

However, considering their primary offering is towards Spanish-speaking users, I don't think these are major issues.

Customer service

Customer service options are lacking with Felix, however, the actual service is good.

You can only get support via WhatsApp, which is available 24/7 regarding any problem (be it refunds or security issues).

I’ve messaged them to confirm a few bits on this review, and they responded fairly quickly.

Safety and trust

Felix is regulated and takes security and safety very seriously.

Customer feedback

Feelix has a 4.2 rating on Trustpilot from 350 users. This is not much, but generally it is positive.

Most users tend to say that they are great at the start, and the service tends to get a bit worse over time, while others say it’s super convenient, great value, and easy to use.

You can also check out some Felix reviews from our users at the bottom of this page.

Opening an account with Felix

To open an account with Felix, you will need the following for a basic account:

• Full name

• Date of birth

• Email address

• Physical address

And to get verified, you will need:

• Government-issued ID

Once you have these details, you simply need to:

1. Navigate to Felix's website on your phone

2. Fill in your phone number and click “start free transfer”

3. This will open a new WhatsApp message with Felix

Making international transfers

To send money with Felix, you will need to know the following:

• Recipient details

• A US debit/credit card or bank account

Sending money abroad via WhatsApp

Once you have all the details ready, you can send money with Felix by following the steps below.

How to Pay with a Barcode (Cash Deposit in the US)

To make a transfer with a cash deposit, follow these steps.

Receive international transfers

Depending on where the money was sent, there’s not much you need to do to receive it:

• If sent to a bank account, the money will be deposited instantly into the given account

• If sent to a wallet, the funds will appear in the recipient’s balance

• If sent for cash pickup, the recipient can collect the funds at a local partner location, often within 30 minutes

How Felix compares to other transfer services

Felix: Is it good for transfers abroad?

Overall, Felix is a great service and I would suggest you try it out.

Its offering is very niche (only covering 7 destinations), but the fees are fairly competitive for small transfers home compared to other companies.

I always recommend comparing your options first to find the best deal, especially on bigger transfers. But here, if you only need to send a few hundred abroad once in a while, I’d suggest you check them out.

Help & FAQ