Is Agility Forex Safe?

Company size:

Launched in Canada in 2013, Agility Forex was co-founded by Andrew MacGuire and his former colleague Iain Thomson. As is often the case, it was Andrew’s own experiences with his bank in Canada that led him to launch Agility Forex. When transferring money to the UK, Andrew was offered terrible exchange rates and a lengthy timeframe to complete the transaction.

Using their years of experience in global financial markets and investment banking, from previous roles at Merrill Lynch and Royal Bank of Scotland, Andrew and Iain sought to simplify the FX process for individuals and small and midsize businesses.

Agility Forex then was introduced with a simple idea in mind – to be a simpler, faster way to transfer funds across borders with excellent exchange rates, no commission and no hidden charges. It’s the same model adopted by all of the best UK currency brokers, but with a specific focus on the Canadian market.

In 2018, in a part-partnership and part-equity taking move, British Columbia-based financial institution Central 1 took a 28% equity in Agility Forex. Echoing the need for this type of FX service in Canada, Central 1 CEO Mark Blucher commented “We believe that the type of disintermediation that’s occurring in Europe will find its way to Canada and ultimately we’ll start to have a much more competitive market here.”

Given the poor service and expensive rates offered by banks, there’s certainly no reason why Canada can’t follow suit and it appears Agility Forex is at the forefront of this movement.

Still with under 10 employees and only one office (Vancouver), Agility Forex remains a small company given their popularity. We don’t mind this though – it ensures the firm runs a tight ship and you’re less likely to encounter a customer service representative who lacks the knowledge to help you.

Agility Forex partners with Currencycloud to provide its FX services. In fact, when you pay through the Agility Forex online platform you are actually using a white-lablled version of Currencycloud Direct. As one of the leading currency SaaS providers on a B2B basis (currencycloud also powers Spartan FX, DynaPay, Sokin, CurrencyWave and many other online money transfer providers) Agility Forex have made a solid choice for their software and FX partner.

Regulated by:

Regulated and registered through FINTRAC.

Awards:

None.

Conclusion:

Whilst no one is claiming Agility Forex to be a big hitter, the company somewhat punches above its weight. With a great base of customers, Agility is still operating in a single office in Vancouver with a small, but knowledgeable team. Canadian-owned and operated, and governed by the laws of Canada, Agility Forex specialises in all-things Canadian Dollar and aims to provide the best service and best pricing on all Loonie trades.

Given the recent partnership with Central 1, we may start to see Agility offerings its services to credit unions as well as directly to individuals and businesses.

Agility Forex Customer Reviews

Research:

There are a relatively small number of Agility Forex reviews on Trustpilot – just 343. However, the existing reviews are impressive. The overall score of 4.9 / 5 is very good and, interestingly, there are 0 ‘bad’ or ‘poor’ Agility Forex reviews. The only ones knocking down the score are ‘average’ (of which there are only a handful) and ‘great’ instead of ‘excellent’. Really remarkable feedback – it’s certainly quality over quantity in this instance. Overall, it would seem staying relatively small suits the firm – it can ensure it provides a consistent level of high service. Should the firm grow, only then may we see some growing pains.

Conclusion:

With a near perfect client score on Trustpilot, it looks like Agility Forex is enjoyed by the absolute majority of its users. The company seems to get praised a lot for their convenient and helpful customer service as well as ensuring the majority of its payments are processed promptly and bug free.

There was some constructive feedback, either about the onboarding process being a bit rigorous, or the majority which were about transfer delays (particularly for a clients first transaction) but the issues were not significant enough for customers to leave bad reviews. In any case, it would appear that most of the delays were caused by a customer’s bank when settling a trade as opposed to Agility Forex themselves. It’s also worth noting Agility Forex takes the time to respond to feedback, with a firm but fair response on the reasons for transfers being held up. Taking accountability when they should and pointing out when it was an error by the customer’s bank. Of course, the only real drawback is the relatively modest number of reviews. If you would rather consider a giant of the money transfer space with thousands of positive reviews and offering a comparable service in Canada, then OFX is worth a mention.

Agility Forex Exchange Rates & Fees

Research:

Fees: 

No fee when sending a foreign currency to the respective foreign country (i.e Euros to Europe). There is a $15 fee when sending, for example, CAD to Europe. 95% of Agility’s transfers are delivered in local currency, meaning most customers experience zero commissions or fees.

Agility Forex doesn’t specify a specific price, but they do say that if a customer is making regular transfers under $500 they will look to implement a payment fee, though it will be agreed with the customer before they make the payment. We think this is perfectly reasonable – a lot of money transfer companies simply don’t process payments if thay fall below a certain threshold.

Exchange rates:

The exact exchange rates you get are not a fixed margin, meaning the higher your payments are the lower your margin will be. This can be a bad sign but only if the firm exploits this – based on customer feedback 99% of customers seem happy with the rate they achieved. Still though it’s always worth doing your research and comparing the FX spreads from Agility against other providers and seeing which nets you the best deal.

It’s also worth pointing out the rate guarantee – find a better rate elsewhere and they promise to beat it (margin and payment fees combined).

With access to an FX juggernaut in Currencycloud, the firm can in theory offer razor-sharp margin and positive reviews support this theory.

Conclusion:

Overall, Agility seem to be competitive on the exchange rate, but its transfer fees are obsolete and archaic.

Agility Forex Global Reach & Service

Research:

•  Dedicated Dealer: Yes
•  Offices: Vancouver (Canada)
•  Ways to approach: Phone, Email, website Live Chat
•  Translations: None
• Accepted Clients: Canada
• Currencies Handled: 20
• Client reviews: 4.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot

Conclusion:

All of the common functionality you would expect from a specialist currency broker, Agility Forex has. It’s not clear if clients are appointed with a dedicated account manager but given the small nature of the team it’s likely that you’re going to be able to build a relationship and they’ll get familiar with your requirements.

One concern, is the fact Agility Forex uses a white-labelled trading platform, which means they have no control over platform functionality and the layout as it stands – so if users think there are too many steps in the payment journey or there are certain aspects of the online functionality they awkward – all Agility Forex can do is pass this feedback on to Currencycloud. They aren’t able to make changes to the online platform themselves. Plans are afoot, however, for Agility Forex to link with Currencycloud via API, meaning they can completely tailor their own online platform exactly as they wish and then call Currencycloud’s APIs for the important aspects of FX trading, such as adding new beneficiaries and making payments.

Agility doesn’t have a huge global reach in terms of its offices, and the trading software is powered by Currencycloud – a leading FX provider with great credibility but offering certain drawbacks to really make a proposition your own. The currencies offered are somewhat standard (20), but nevertheless is enough to make the company useful to many Canadian customers – loonie trades are their speciality.

Additional Functionalities

Agility does the basics very well: 256-bit encryption for security, 24/7 access to trading as well as great in-chat and over the telephone support. They have some functionality beyond international spot payments too, such as a good variety of hedging tools (forwards, options, limit orders, stop loss etc) as well as dedicated analysis on the FX markets every day. You can also set up rate alerts by email, and make your transfers via phone if you’re traditional like that.

App:

None.

Conclusion:

Agility has more than enough functionality to be competitive, as stated above. It is limited however in a few ways, such as not having its own mobile app, which would better accessibility, and it doesn’t have very bespoke payment integrations for businesses. However, the transparency arguably makes up for this alone.