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  2. Review of OFX Money Transfer

Review of OFX Money Transfer


Written by John Csiszar | Published on 4/30/2019

OFX provides a solution for customers who need to send money internationally, converting it into a different currency as part of the transaction. Since international money transfers involve many steps and services, there are lots of opportunities for fees to pile up.

The bottom line is that you want to find a reliable service that keeps transaction fees, conversion fees and ancillary fees to a minimum and provides your recipient with the largest amount of money in the fastest time possible.

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What is OFX?

OFX is a money transfer service that allows you to send money online or from a mobile app to an overseas account in its local currency. Billing themselves as experts in international money transfers, OFX allows customers to send money to over 190 countries in 55 currencies.

The company launched in 1998 under the name OzForex, based in Sydney. Now, the company’s headquarters are in San Francisco, although its 200-plus employees are spread across offices in Sydney, Hong Kong, London, Toronto, and Auckland.

Besides having banking relationships with industry heavyweights UBS, Barclays and Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), OFX trades on the Australian Securities Exchange. The company’s OzForex platform is the backbone of the international money transfer services of other well-known names, including Travelex International Payments, MoneyGram and ING Direct, among others.

OFX money transfer highlights

  • Zero transfer fees: The company charges a markup on the transfer rate, but there are no additional service fees.
  • Favorable exchange rate: OFX focuses on keeping its exchange rate markup to a minimum.
  • 24/7 access: As a web-based money transfer service, OFX is always “on.”
  • Federal registration: The company is registered with a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury known as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN.
  • Transfers are not instantaneous: in most cases, it will take one to 2 business days for your money to be deposited into your foreign destination account.
OFX Money Transfer Details
Sending money Fees and penalties
  • Where can you send money? You can send money in 55 different currencies to over 190 countries worldwide using OFX.
  • How long does a transfer take? Generally, international transfers take 1-2 business days. Some countries, like Thailand, require 4 business days.
  • How much can you send? There are no limits on the amount you transfer, even if you want to send $2 billion or more. The minimum transfer amount is $1,000.
  • Fee to send money: OFX doesn’t charge any fees to transfer money. But it does mark up the exchange rate, with the amount varying depending on the currency used.
  • Extra fees: There are no additional fees for transfers beyond the exchange-rate markup.
  • Calculator:
    https://www.ofx.com/en-us/currency-converter/

Sending a money transfer with OFX

Before you can begin sending money via OFX, you’ll need to sign up for an account. The process takes about five minutes. You’ll be asked various personal and identifying details, such as your name and address, occupation, email address and date of birth.

Once you’ve provided all the required information and opened your account, transferring money via OFX is a simple three-step process.

The first step is to sign up or log in and set up the details of your transfer. This information will include how much you’re transferring, which currency you’ll be converting to and who the recipient is.

The second step requires you to fund your transfer via either wire transfer or Automated Clearing House (ACH) debit from your bank. Cash, credit cards, checks and bank drafts are not accepted.

Lastly, your money will be transferred to your recipient. In most cases, the entire process takes between one and two business days. You can track your money transfer on the website or via the company’s mobile app.

Pros and cons of OFX

OFX has many features that make it a strong competitor in the international money transfer space. But it does carry some drawbacks as well.

Pros Cons
  • No more transfer fees: There used to be a flat transfer fee, but the company now charges nothing for its international money transfer service.
  • Competitive exchange rates: Although the company has to mark up the exchange rate to turn a profit, the margins are not very high. Converting $1,000 U.S. dollars into euros, for example, nets you €882.34 with OFX, €882.55 with TransferWise and €872.50 with Xoom as of Feb. 12, 2019.
  • Extensive coverage: OFX services 55 currencies in over 190 countries.
  • No maximum transfer amount: OFX can handle your request starting at $1,000.
  • Slow transfer times: OFX doesn’t complete its transfers for 1-2 business days — or even longer in some cases.
  • No cash or credit card funding options: You must use an ACH debit or a wire transfer from your bank to fund your account.
  • Minimum transfer requirement: You’ll have to send at least $1,000 to make a money transfer.
  • Transfer are only available during regular market hours: Although the website is open 24/7, real-time transfers for some currencies, such as the Philippine peso, are only allowed Monday through Friday during regular market hours.

What people are saying about OFX

For the most part, customers seem satisfied with OFX. USForex Inc., which is the wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of OzForex Limited, receives an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, where it has been accredited since Jan. 7, 2013. In the past three years, the company has just two complaints registered on the BBB website.

Around the web, Trustpilot shows 3,443 reviews with a composite rating of four stars out of five. The reviews as of Feb. 12, 2019, were 80% excellent, 10% great, 3% average, 2% poor and 5% bad.

Most reviews are positive in terms of the zero transfer fees and good exchange rates the company offers, while negative comments refer to the slow transfer times and the $1,000 minimum.

The company’s website is, not surprisingly, full of five-star reviews about the “fantastic experience” and speed and reliability of the service.

Alternative money transfer options

Xoom Money Transfer Details
Sending money Fees and penalties
  • Where can you send money? Xoom can transfer money to 30 countries worldwide.
  • How long does a transfer take? Most transfers are nearly instantaneous, although some can take up to a few days. If you send over $10,000 U.S. dollars, tack on an additional 2-3 business days.
  • How much can you send? Xoom has 3 levels of transfer limits, depending on how much documentation you have on file. 24-hour sending limits range from $2,999 to $25,000, while 180-day limits range from $9,999 to $100,000.
  • Fee to send money: Xoom charges a transaction fee on top of an exchange-rate markup that varies depending on the country pairs selected.
  • Extra fees: The cheapest way to send money is from bank account to bank account, which doesn’t incur any additional fees. Paying via debit or credit card, or picking up in cash or via delivery service, adds an additional fee based on a number of factors, typically in the $4.99 to $7.99 range.
  • Calculator:
    https://www.xoom.com/money-transfer

Xoom is an international money transfer firm owned by PayPal, one of the innovators in personal money transfers. Xoom offers extensive choices for both delivery and receipt of money transfers, with varying fees. While in some places, like the United Kingdom, recipients can only have funds delivered to a bank account, in other areas, like the Philippines, money can be delivered in one of three ways: via bank account deposit, cash pickup or door-to-door delivery. Although some transfers via Xoom can take a few days, most are available within minutes.

TransferWise Money Transfer Details
Sending money Fees and penalties
  • Where can you send money? TransferWise operates in 49 countries.
  • How long does a transfer take? The speed of a transfer depends on the countries involved. Most transfers are completed within 24 hours, while some process in 2 hours or less.
  • How much can you send? The limits on private individuals sending U.S. dollars are $50,000 a day and $250,000 a year.
  • Fee to send money: Xoom charges a transaction fee on top of an exchange-rate markup that varies depending on the country pairs selected.
  • Extra fees: Currencies are exchanged at the current exchange rate. There is no markup on top of the transaction fee.
  • Calculator:
    https://transferwise.com/us/

TransferWise is a U.K.-based money transfer service that was founded in 2010. It operates a bit differently than the other money transfer services in that it has specific currency-based accounts in 49 countries. When you make a transfer, you move your money into a TransferWise account in the same currency, while TransferWise deposits an equivalent amount of your desired currency into your destination account. Thus, money never crosses borders using TransferWise, allowing the company to use real-time exchange rates with no markups — only transaction fees.
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