Money Transfer

In simple terms, a money transfer is the process of moving funds from one place (e.g., your personal account), to another. This can be, for example, transferring money from a credit card to your current account, or sending money from your account to a family member's account who resides in a different country.

In most cases today, this transfer is done electronically. 'Money transfer' isn't the same as a 'wire transfer' however. A wire transfer is done via a bank and 'money transfer' is done through an intermediary that isn't a bank.

While it may change depending on where you are sending your money from, generally you’ll need the following information:

• The name of the person (payee)
• Name and address of the recipient’s bank
• Bank account number – or the IBAN* of the receiver of the transfer
• The recipient's BIC/SWIFT code**

You could also have to provide:

• National Clearing Code (NNC). You’d need this if the person you are sending money to doesn’t have an IBAN
• A note or reference to go with the transfer. This helps identify the transaction should you need to find it later or if something happens after the transfer starts
• You may need the full address of the recipient

*IBAN stands for International Bank Account Number

*BIC = Business Identifier Code

Funding a transfer is simpler than ever! For a generally better rate, you can use an intermediary (like the brands listed with us). You’ll need the follow the following steps:

1. Sign up for an account with the money transfer provider
2. Select the currency and amount you want to transfer
3. Enter the recipient’s details
4. Money transferred!

In most cases, once money has been transferred, you’ll be able to track the status of the money online. You may get a unique tracking number, or it may show within your account itself automatically.

Another option is to check with the payee themselves. Their bank should show the funds as transferred even if it’s still pending.

It’s always a good idea to track your transfer in the unlikely event it doesn’t reach its intended destination for any reason.

Over the last couple of decades, many governments have gone to great lengths to ensure their financial system – and the international system itself – is as safe as possible.

But of course, there are always bad players lurking who would want to disrupt that by stealing people’s money through fraud and scams. Money Laundering is also a big problem that unfortunately affects most financial products.

This is why we carefully vet the business that we have on our platform to ensure they are legitimate, regulated and have a track record of offering a world-class service.

Some of the things to be careful of when transferring money online:

• Check if the business has a company number or a regulation number you can verify. You can usually find this on the footer of their website
• Don’t share any personal information like passwords – a business would never ask for this
• Check the address bar on your browser, if you’ve been redirected suddenly to a different site – even if it looks the same – immediately close that browser down and report it to the business
• Don’t send money to someone you don’t know. Some scammers pretend to be a friend or relative, so if you get an email or text asking for money to be transferred and you aren’t sure, check with them first.