Eventually, at least once in our lives, many of us will probably become involved in a situation that requires us to send money abroad or receive money from abroad. We’d have to choose a money transfer service.
Because all sorts of things can go wrong, and because no one likes to play with their hard-earned money; the thought of sending money abroad, or receiving money from abroad can be anxiety-inducing.
What are the top five things to look out for when deciding on a money transfer service? What sort of knowledge should you arm yourself with? What are the pitfalls to avoid when sending money abroad? What are the hidden money transfer charges that you only find in the small print?
If you’re looking for a quick recommendation, here it is: download Barter by Flutterwave and you can easily make free, instant transfers to anyone anywhere in the world.
If you’d like more information, keep reading.
If you want to send money abroad or receive money from abroad, you want to make sure that the service you choose checks the boxes on all the following requirements:
Convenience
When choosing an online money transfer service, choose one that is convenient for both you and the recipient, and that makes it super easy to send money and easy to receive money. The service you choose should allow both the sender and recipient to easily and quickly create an account.
You shouldn’t have to provide a hen’s teeth and your grandma’s birth certificate in order to send or receive your money. With Barter, convenience is a top priority. You can sign up and start sending and receiving money in less than three minutes, and you even send money to people who are not using the app!
Price
The problem with banks, as well as most money transfer services, is that they are greedy. First, they force you to send your money at exchange rates that strip huge amounts of your money! Then they charge you a ridiculous upfront fee to send your money. You’re basically paying them to make money off you.
But what if you could send money for free? With Barter, you get free transfers to anyone anywhere in the world, and some of the best conversion rates available on this planet, period! That is the freedom that Barter gives you.
Speed
Speed typically refers to how fast the service you choose can get the money from the sender to the recipient. But we think it should also refer to how fast the recipient can take possession of their money.
Some money transfer services are so slow that it is often better to put your money in an envelope and post it to the recipient.
If you choose to use a money transfer service that makes you pay for faster transfers, you should only pay for a fast transfer if you actually need it.
But why pay for transfers anywhere else when you can get free instant transfers with Barter? And by instant, we mean as soon as you tap the transfer button, the money becomes available for the recipient to spend. And did we mention that it’s free to make instant cross-border money transfers on Barter?
Security
Of course, you don’t want your hard-earned money to be lost in transit so this goes without saying. When it comes to security, the more people are involved in the money transfer process, the more the chances of something going wrong.
You want to make sure that whichever money transfer service you choose is regulated by reputable financial authorities and follows best international practice. You want to be sure they have a decent reputation, and you want to make sure that your data is protected and your personal information will not end up on the dark web, being hawked for pennies.
When it comes to security, Barter runs on Flutterwave’s core payments infrastructure, employing the same security measures that have been implemented for Flutterwave. We’re talking both PCI-DSS Level 1 and ISO 27001 and 22301 certifications here.
What all those fancy characters mean is that Flutterwave, and by extension Barter, have been recognized as having the highest standard of safety when it comes to processing your payment information. You can read more about Barter by Flutterwave’s security credentials by following this link.
Customer Support
We have saved this for last because, well, in spite of your best-laid plans, things sometimes happen. But when those things happen, you want the full and swift support of the service you’re using.
Sometimes it could be a technology issue or a misdirected transfer. In some cases, it might even be that your transaction has been flagged for some reason. Choose a service that assures you of their full support at any point in time if anything goes wrong.
At Barter, we like to assure our users of what we call the Flutterwave Guarantee, which means that we will return your money, no questions asked if somehow, anything should go wrong. That is our promise to you, and you can take that to the bank. But why would you want to go to the bank, when you can get free, secure, instant cross-border money transfers with Barter by Flutterwave?