Currencies Direct

Founded: 1996

Headquarters: London, UK

Offices: United Kingdom, China, France, India, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, United States

Regulated by: FCA, FinCEN

Trading channels: website, mobile app, telephone

Website: www.currenciesdirect.com

Currencies direct is an old global money transfer company based in the UK, and has the highest possible Dun & Bradstreet credit rating. They began operations just over 20 years ago in 1996, becoming the first business outside the banking sector in the UK to offer specialist currency services. To date, Currencies Direct has provided services to over 210,000 personal and business clients. It processes around £4.5 billion in currency transfers each year. This makes it one of the larger European money transfer companies, in terms of the amount of cash processed. However, through its website or app, you’re only allowed to send up to £25,000, which is considerably less than some of its competitors. You can pay for their services via debit card, or by bank transfer. They do not accept credit cards. The good thing is, you can increase the transfer amount by telephone.

Currencies Direct offers pretty good customer support via telephone or e-mail. One advantage it offers is maintaining customers’ money in segregated accounts, something which not all money transfer companies do. A mobile app for your smartphone is a convenience. Trading is conducted online or over the phone.

Overview

>Free transfer fees regardless of currencies and amount

>Low minimum transfer £100, and also low maximum transfer £25,000

>Bank to Bank transfer with Great exchange rate (markup is slightly more than 1%)

>Transfer to China is available, but only in USD

Payment options: International bank transfer, debit card

Delivery options: Bank deposit

Minimum transfer amount: £100

Maximum transfer amount: £25,000. You can send money through their website or mobile app up to £25,000. That said, this amount can be increased if you deal with them by phone.

Currencies available: 

Transfer Fees

Currencies Direct is one of few companies that offer free transfer fees, regardless of currencies and amounts from £100 to £25,000.

Exchange Rate

Like other companies, Currencies Direct provides an exchange rate that is slightly higher than mid-market rate. The average markup on exchange rate tends to be 1.2% which is significantly cheaper than some bigger providers like Western Union and MoneyGram. But the rate varies by transfer amount. In general, the more money you transfer, the better rate you get. For example, if you send GBP to India (INR), the markup on exchange rate for 1,000GPB is 2.1%, and for 10,000GBP is 1.8%.

Delivery Speed

Most transfers can be delivered within 24-48 hours after they’ve received your funds. Arrival time may vary depending on currency, time of transfer, and receiving bank processing. Talk to Currencies Direct to understand how long your funds will take, as they send lots of money and have experience.

User Experience

Besides personal and business accounts, Currencies Direct also offers multi-currency accounts for online sellers. There are few companies that provide such extensive services in the market.

Their customer support is very friendly and helpful, and you can easily reach them by phone or email, shown on their website, although it is not 24/7. The FAQ section is well organized, covering registration and payments, to overseas currencies and rates. If you want to check their exchange rates, you have to become a valid customer first, and then log in. For some clients who want to know the fees and rates in advance, they might need to check currencyfair or TransferWise.

You have as many as 11 language options to access their website. Currencies Direct’s mobile app is convenient to use, and gets 3.9 ratings on Google Play Store and 4 ratings on the App Store.

Pros and Cons

Top 5 Money Transfer Services