Should I use Afex for FX?
Pros:
Cons:
Services Offered by Afex
Official Website:
Afex Review: Executive Summary
Afex Money Transfer is a foreign exchange and international payments company that offers a range of services to individuals and businesses. The company has been in operation for over 30 years and is headquartered in the United Kingdom. The service offers a variety of features, including the ability to track transfers, set up recurring payments, and receive notifications when money is sent or received. The only downside is their lack of transparency on the fee structure and the low numbers of reviews from customers online.
577
12Not Top 10 Ranked
Where is Afex Available?
Recommended Afex Alternatives:
Afex competitors are presented in the table below. You should consider the following alternatives before moving and know that there are companies out there that are like Afex in terms of offering and have even more glowing reviews online. From same-size companies to smaller brokerages and start-ups, there are a lot of Afex competitors.
The below companies can accept clients internationally:
Currencies Direct: Best Overall for International Money Transfers
- 96% Positive Feedback from Customers, Since 1996
- Service Oriented - Specialising in Large Transfers - Friendly Dealers
- Very Competitive Rates, No Wire Fees
moneycorp: Oldest and Most Reputable Foreign Exchange Service
- Providing FX Services since 1979
- Very Recognisable Brand with Excellent Reputation - £36.9in Transfers Annually with Offices in Every Continent
- Business Specialists
OFX: The Publicly-Traded Money Transfer Company from Down Under
- Traded Publicly in Australia
- £20bn Turnover per Year
- Ultra Professional
Wise (Previously TransferWise): Valued at £10bn
- Largest Money Transfer Provider of its Kind
- Fully-Online Journey
- Transparent Pricing
This review for the Afex money transfer company is intended to explain the pros and cons of using it for your money transfer needs. We focus on the important aspects like fees and exchange rates, the quality of the online trading platform, and the level of service provided. To view other posts like this Afex review, check our top 10 money transfer companies list.
Is Afex Safe?
Company Size:
Associated Foreign Exchange, Inc. is an outlier in the currency exchange industry. Founded in California in 1979, AFEX has multiple offices around the United States, Europe, and Australia, with plans to expand into Asia and beyond. The company also has dozens of physical locations in metropolitan areas like New York City, where people can walk in off the street and trade dozens of currencies instantly.
AFEX also serves corporate and even international treasury clients. AFEX is on the cutting edge of making international currencies increasingly fluid, for every financial purpose. The company trades more than $15 billion each year and employs hundreds of people all around the world.
On the other hand, there’s little evidence to the quality of their retail money transfer services. There are very few reviews in general about the company, which makes us believe they specialise in corporate FX, and cash currency exchanges. The only objective information we got on the company is from Glass door reviews like this one, discussing about how archaic and non-agile the company is.
Regulated By:
IRS, New York State Banking Department, California Department of Financial Institutions (US); FCA (UK); VQF (Switzerland); ASIC and AUSTRAC (Australia); MiFID (EU)
Awards:
Deutsche Bank “Straight Through Processing Award”, five years in a row
Conclusion:
AFEX is a large and varied currency transfer company. Afex is also one of the safest options to handle foreign exchange. They work at every level of finance, but mostly on currency exchanges and national treasuries FX. One of the largest companies in the world in their niche.
On the other hand, there are some negative opinions about the company by former employees, and absolutely no client reviews attesting for the quality of service they provide retail customers.
Afex Customer Reviews
Research:
For many years all the reviews we could find about Afex foreign exchange were sporadic. Nothing more than a few old Afex customer reviews on Yelp . In recent years, Afex started using TrustPilot for its customer reviews and they are quite positive with an average of 4.6 stars out 5, with more than 600 reviews to date. That represents 95% satisfaction.
While this is a good start, it’s a far cry from companies like Moneycorp who have been accumulated customer reviews for years now and have more than 7,000 of those available online. Even more difficult to compare against more retail-customer clientele like Wise that has hundreds of thousands of reviews.
Update: One negative review on our website.
Conclusion:
The button line is that Afex reviews are generally pretty good and most disgruntled customers complain about the currency delivery services provided by Afex (as opposed to international money transfer service or business FX). With that being said, 600 customer reviews for a company at the scale of Afex is not sufficient enough, and there are a few negative customer reviews on this website too in the comment section.
Afex Exchange Rates & Fees
Research:
Fees: Nothing is stated on the site, but we have found information (that we need to verify) that there are no fees above the $5,000 mark, and $10 per transfer below it.
Exchange Rates: We’re using our intuitive knowledge of the industry to assume Afex has the potential of offering anyone with superb rates. A company of this size, with $15Bn exchanged every year, working with national treasuries, banks, and multinational corporations, have very wide flexibility. With clients this size, they are presumably able to profit from even ultra-tight margins.
Limits: Unknown but we assume they would deal with any size of the transfer.
Conclusion:
Has the potential to be the cheapest bar none for very large transfers, but we have not enough client feedback to testify for that.
Afex Offices and Local Presence
Research:
- Dedicated Dealer: Yes.
- Offices: Australia, Canada, Channel Islands, Indonesia, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States
- Ways to approach: Email, Telephone (local in most countries), Callback form.
- Translations:German, French, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Indonesian.
- Accepts clients: Internationally
- Currencies Handled: 78.
- Client reviews: No feedback
Conclusion:
One of the most global companies, with most translations, local service numbers, and local offices. Service online and via dedicated dealers. Again had the potential to get a straight 100% score if there were client reviews to attest for its service.
Additional Functionalities
Afex has one of the most complete offering when it comes to business foreign exchange.
- Spot FX
- Forwards
- Rate Orders
- FX options
- Risk management consultancy
- Full-on treasury management
- Integrated payment solutions system through a seamless API
- Live FX News
- Charting
- Dedicated dealers
Afex Money Transfer Review Summary
- Credibility Score - 95%95%
- Client Feedback - 82%82%
- Assistance & Service - 80%80%
- Global Reach - 90%90%
- Added Values - 95%95%
Bottom Line
Afex is a significant player in the foreign exchange business. This multi-national U.S-based fx specialists works with an impressive array of large corporate clients, and even national treasuries. The offering in terms of business FX is as complete as they come, and the overall impression of the company’s website is highly professional. With that being said there is not enough testimony or information online for how Afex deals with small businesses or retail customers – they are off to a good start with their first 600 reviews but it’s still hard to compare Afex with other foreign exchange specialists who have much wider presence online.