Western Union vs CurrencyFair: Fees & Reviews Compared

Both Western Union and CurrencyFair are popular international money transfer services. But which one is better?

Below we compare them on their fees and reviews.

Fees

	Western Union	CurrencyFair
Homepage
Transfer Fee	Based on the sender’s location, transfer amount, and payment method. Usually, there’s a fee that’s as low as $0-$15, but some can be as high as $100 if sending to an exotic location or paying by credit card.	£2.50 (UK) €3 (EU) Currency equivalent for other currencies.
Average Exchange Rate Markup	1% – 5%	0.0045
Minimum Transfer Amount	$1	£7 (or currency equivalent)
Maximum Transfer Amount	Depending on the sender’s country: $50,000 if identity verified $3,000 if identity isn’t verified	10,000,000 (same in every available currency).

Reviews

	Western Union	CurrencyFair
Trustpilot Rating	3.9	4.3
Number of Trustpilot Reviews	50,800	6,800
iOS App Rating	4.8	4.4
Number of iOS App Reviews	630,000	80
Android App Rating	4.6	2.6
Number of Android App Reviews	28,000	950

Features

	Western Union	CurrencyFair
App Transfers	Yes	Yes
Online Transfers	Yes	Yes
Phone Transfers	Yes	Yes
In-person Transfers	Yes	No
Available Countries	200	150
Number of Currencies	130	20
Payment Methods	Bank account Debit card Credit card Cash	Bank account
Receiving Methods	Online wallet Bank account Cash pickup Home delivery	Bank account
Cash Pickup Option	Yes	No
Payments Flexibility	Web platform Mobile app Phone In person	Web platform Mobile app Phone
Supported Languages	English, Spanish, French, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish, German, Italian, Russian, Swedish, Chinese, Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Finnish	English, French, and German
Transfer Speed	Within minutes for cash or debit card transfers 1-3 days for transfers between bank accounts	0-5 days
Dedicated Dealer	No	Only for business clients
Instant Custom Quote	Yes	Yes
Business Features	N/A	Spot contracts Forwards contracts Market orders Digital multi-currency wallet Rate alerts API integration
Debit Card	Western Union® Netspend® Prepaid Mastercard	None
Cancellation Policy	Cancellations are possible as long as the money hasn’t been claimed by the recipient.	Only possible as long as the money transfer hasn’t been matched
Suitability	Small money transfers	Small and large money transfers

Company Comparison

	Western Union	CurrencyFair
Year Founded	1851	2009
Headquarters	Denver, CO, United States	Dublin, Ireland
Other Office Locations	Brazil, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea, United Kingdom, etc.	Newcastle (Australia), Nutfield (the United Kingdom), Singapore, and Kwun Tong (Hong Kong)
Annual Trading Volume	$300 billion	$300 million
Number of Employees	10500	156
Number of Clients	150 million	150000
Regulatory Institutions	State licensing in the USA FINTRAC in Canada FCA in the UK AUSTRAC in Australia	FinCEN in the USA FCA in the UK ASIC in Australia Central Bank of Ireland in EU MAS in Singapore CED in Hong Kong
Awards	Digital Edge 25 Awards (2016) Payments Innovation of the Year (2016) Candidate Experience Award (Talent Board, 2017, 2018) “Way to Go” Champion Award (Denver Regional Council of Governments, 2019) Regional Partner Award (Education for Employment, 2019) Humanitarian Logistics Award (American Logistics Aid Network, 2020) Consumer Payments Innovation Award (FinTech Breakthrough Awards, 2021)	Best of Show (Finovate Asia, Singapore, 2012) Most Insightful and Intriguing Internet Innovation (IIA Dot IE Net Visionary, 2013) TNW’s Irish Startups (2013) one of the Best Middleweight Start-ups (Europas, 2013) Excellence in Payments (FinTech Australia, 2017) Top 20 Fintech Companies in Ireland (Irish Tech News, 2017) Fintech Startups in Europe to watch in 2018 (2017) Mozo Experts Choice Awards (Mozo.com.au, 2018) Top 100 Startups to watch in 2018, Silicon Republic (2018) Top 10 Startup Winner for Best Employer (LinkedIn, 2018 and 2019) Spiders Award for Best in Fintech (2019) 5-Star Rating for Outstanding Value International Money Transfers (Canstar, 2019)

Western Union Pros & Cons

Western Union Pros

• Diverse payment methods
• Availability of cash pickup locations
• High rating on Trustpilot
• Excellent mobile application
• An abundant industry experience
• Comprehensive information repository
• Exceptional convenience
• Worldwide service reach
• Robust currency handling
• Rapid fund transfers
• Fee and rate prediction tool
• Beneficial rewards scheme

Western Union Cons

• Not optimal for substantial money transfers
• High transaction fees
• High markups on exchange rates
• Absence of hedging options for businesses

CurrencyFair Pros & Cons

CurrencyFair Pros

• Competitive exchange rates
• Excellent customer service
• Instant personalized quotes
• Impressive Trustpilot score
• Wide-reaching service coverage
• Quick international transfers
• Alerts for exchange rate changes
• Fixed fee for money transfers
• Awards for superb performance in the financial sector
• Can handle both large and small money transfers

CurrencyFair Cons

• Lack of personal account managers for individual users
• Limited options for transfer funding
• No cash pickup service
• Narrow range of supported currencies
• Poor user rating for the Android mobile app

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