Factors to check before choosing a remittances platform to use

Igbokwe Ifeanyi
Afriexapp
Published in
3 min readJul 19, 2022

When it comes to sending money abroad, the choice of a remittance platform could mean a smooth transfer of funds, or missing a life-altering deadline. Here are some of the things you much check before choosing you hand your money over to.

Exchange Rates

One of the main considerations is the exchange rate a brand offers. Different brands have different rates, and while some may favour the sender, others may not.

The first thing that must be checked is the exchange rate abrand offers. This may seem rather simple on the surface, but several remittance companies have been found to be in the habit of telling you just about enough to get you to try out their services and then hit you with hidden charges when you least expect it.

Reputation

These days, all you have to know about what the public thinks about a brand is a Google search. In this case, a search of the brand name on twitter will give you all you need to know. If all you find are complaints upon complaints, then you may want to be careful. Of course, once in a while, there may be issues, but if the vast majority of the mentions a brand has on a platform such as Twitter paints it as evil, you may well be wary.

Customer Support

When it comes to sending money abroad, in most cases, several payment gateways and partners are involved and therefore, it is not uncommon for there to be momentary delays once in a while. When this happens, the last thing you want to do is have customer support leave your complaints unattended for days on end. At the same time, you don’t want to be left at the mercy of a customer support team that is utterly unhelpful or rude.

A quick way to test how responsive and helpful a remittance brand’s customer support team is, is to mention them on Twitter. If it takes an eternity and a half for them to respond, you may have to be careful.

Speed

Gone are the days when you send money abroad and then sit around waiting for it to be delivered. Technology has advanced to the point where money transfers are secure, reliable and very fast. Brands such as Afriex even promise to have the funds delivered in minutes, having built its foundational philosophy on the understanding that sending money abroad should be as simple and fast as sending an SMS.

Security

When it comes to money, security is no joke. For context, on most platforms, you first input your card details from which you fund your wallet before sending the money to the recipient. Essentially, using the average remittances platform doesn’t just expose you to risk in terms of losing the money you’re sending, your bank details also risks being exposed too and the last thing you want to happen is watch that get in the wrong hands because of how insecure a remittance platform is.

Afriex for example is PCI DSS Compliant; this means it has bank grade security, thereby providing the necessary secure platform for transactions without fears.

If you’d like to download the Afriex app, click here to know more

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Igbokwe Ifeanyi
Afriexapp

Contributor at HuffPost, Tech enthusiast and believer