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 SMEs.

Agility Forex 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 runs its own proprietary FX trading platform and partners with reputable payment providers like Currencycloud to successfully deliver payments across the globe. This reassures us of the credibility of Agility Forex as Currencycloud is 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).

In recent years, over 100 credit unions in Canada have integrated Agility Forex’s proprietary platform to offer international transfers to their customers.

Regulated by:

Regulated and registered through FINTRAC.

Awards:

None.

Conclusion:

While no one claims Agility Forex to be a major player, the company manages to punch above its weight. With a great base of customers, Agility Forex is still operating from 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.

Agility Forex Customer Reviews

Research:

There is a modest but fairly quickly growing number of Agility Forex reviews on Trustpilot. With a total of 609 reviews as of July 2023, the firm scores an impressive 4.9 / 5. There is just one bad review which was left in December 2022. The other reviews that knock  down the score are either ‘average’ (of which there are only a handful) or ‘great’ instead of ‘excellent’. It’s certainly quality over quantity in this instance, but based on the relatively small sample  of reviews as things stand, everything appears to be operating smoothly. It seems staying relatively small suits the firm – Agility Forex 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 review score on Trustpilot, it looks like Agility Forex is enjoyed by the overwhelming 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. The most concerning review was left in 2022 when it appears Agility Forex incorrectly debited a customer’s account, leaving them overdrawn over the weekend. However, it appears Agility Forex returned the money and covered any charges the customer incurred.

Overall, there is only one review which really criticises the firm and we’d say the only real drawback is the relatively modest number of reviews for now. 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 regularly transferring 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 Forex against other providers and seeing which nets you the best deal.

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

Conclusion:

Overall, Agility Forex seems to be competitive on exchange rates and payment fees. When generating a quote, customers are clearly displayed both the interbank rate and the exchange rate margin applied by Agility Forex.

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:

Agility Forex has all of the common functionality you would expect from a specialist currency broker. 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.

The main drawback is that Agility Forex is strictly limited to Canadian clients. It excels with its payment infrastructure in Canada and the Americas but it uses a number of payment partners in order to process transfers to other parts of the world. This includes the previously mentioned partnership with Currencycloud, in order to deliver money to Europe and APAC. There are certain advantages that global companies like OFX can provide, such as 24/7 customer support, and a network of international bank accounts that allow for local settlement, which companies like Agility Forex cannot provide. The number of 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 Forex does the basics very well: 256-bit encryption for security, 24/7 access to online 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 Forex possesses ample functionality to remain competitive, as mentioned earlier. However, it does have certain limitations, such as the absence of its own mobile app, which would enhance accessibility, and the lack of customised payment integrations for businesses. Nevertheless, the transparency it offers arguably compensates for these shortcomings alone.