Should I Use Halo Financial?
Pros:
Cons:
Services Offered by Halo
Official Website:
Halo Review: Executive Summary
Halo Financial supplies its clients with one of the smoothest and most streamlined money transfer processes in the industry. Everything about them is highly professional – the staff, the online money transfer platform and the way they conduct their business. If you need a currency broker, Halo is an safe, excellent, choice.”Click here to visit Halo Financial.
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Where is Halo Available?
Is Halo Financial Safe?
Financial Conduct Authority Halo Financial has been distinguishing itself as one of the top rising British currency transfer companies since its origination in 2004. Its founders met during their previous roles at Moneycorp, sharing the belief they could offer an even more bespoke and personalised currency service. With just 50 employees, and trading over 30 currencies, Halo Financial proves its value to customers by providing personalised, jargon-free counsel on all the financial factors that can maximise savings when moving currency. The company boasts £500m in trade volumes per annum.
In an industry which is becoming increasingly automated and driven online, Halo continues to understand the importance of strong client relationships, and clients remain at the centre of everything they do. Whilst Halo recognises the benefits of technology, it does not simply direct its clients to the online platform. Halo collaborates with its clients and recommends a currency strategy which is tailored to them.
When Halo asked its clients what they valued most in their relationship, it was the bespoke and personalised nature of the service. So it’s good to see a broker listen to its customers and resist the temptation to follow many other providers in the market by driving most of its activities online.
Halo Financial has won many awards such as the Best Customer Focus Award in 2016, 2014-2017 Feefo Gold Trusted Service Award and 2018-2022 Platinum Trusted Service Award. It is also a partner of FXStreet, one of the better known online currency magazines. It has a regular feature in London’s City AM newspaper and has featured in many Nationals including The Telegraph, The Times and Yahoo! Finance News.
- Feefo Gold Merchant Status 2014-2017
- Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award 2018-2021
- Best Customer Focus 2016
- Re:Locate Magazine Expat Awards 2014
- OPP Gold Awards Best Supporting Service in 2013 and 2014
Halo Financial is a very credible company with a long track record and almost always positive reviews.It’s won multiple prestigious awards and is deserving our attention as an industry leader in the UK. It has featured in over 400 articles in leading media publications and its currency specialists regularly comment on leading financial television news channels such as CNBC and Bloomberg.
Do Clients Like Halo Financial Money Transfer? Halo Financial Feedback & Reviews
There are over 1,200 reviews on Feefo, with 113 Halo Financial reviews left in the last year, resulting in a 4.8 / 5 Feefo review score. 2 of the 131 reviews left in the last year are complaints. On Google Reviews, Halo receives a 4.8 / 5 score based on 28 reviews – 26 rating it 5*, 1 rating 3* and just the 1 rating of 1*. In addition, there are another 26 reviews on ReviewCentre. With over 3/4 positive, a few negative – overall score 4.1/5. On Facebook they have 38 reviews with a score of 4.75 / 5 stars – a strong performance.
There are quite a few expat forums discussing Halo’s services (example). Most of which are positive.
- Great Service, Helpful Support
- Friendly Team
- Satisfactory Rates
- Easy to Use Online System
DISADVANTAGES
- Trouble Signing Up
- Accounts held in the UK only
Most of the reviews are of satisfied customers thanking Halo Financial for the service they provided them with. They were happy with all elements including service, pricing, and the overall experience seems highly positive.
There are about 10 complaints we have located online overall, which make up less than 2% of the reviews we have found. The most recent case relates to an Australian individual who encountered additional costs when settling a transfer as Halo’s accounts were based in London, England and they were transferring money from Australia. Given Halo is a UK specialist currency broker this is not uncommon, but users based outside of the UK should be aware they’ll need to make an international transfer in order to settle their trades. Multinational providers, such as Currencies Direct & OFX hold a number of settlement accounts around the world, allowing customers to settle their transfers locally and removing expensive payment fees.
Overall it seems like clients love doing business with Halo.
Halo Exchange Rate & Fees
Fees: Though Halo’s “normal” fees are expensive for low-value transfers (£15 for transfers below £5,000 and free for transfers over £5,000), our readers are eligible for a fee-free transfer as long as they transfer more than £1,000, which is similar to other top rated companies like Currencies Direct and Moneycorp.
Exchange Rates: Just as with other traditional currency brokers, you can’t tell what exchange rate you’ll get before you come with your specific requirements and ask for a quote. Halo is no different in that perspective. The difference is that they have hundreds of reviews from clients attesting to savings up to 4% in comparison with banks.
Limits: The minimum transfer amount is £250 for regular transfers. The minimum for one-off transfers is £1,000. There are no maximum payment limits whatsoever. Limits are the same whether trading online or over the phone.
A £15 payment fee for transfers below £5,000 is very expensive, in fact it gives the impression Halo is purposely looking to discourage smaller transfers, which given the personalised nature of the service, makes sense. Readers of MoneyTransferComparison, however, are eligible for no fees providing international transfers of at least £1,000 are being sent.
Despite the high payment fees for low transfers, the seemingly very good exchange rates as witnessed by client reviews, suggests Halo Financial is doing well on this aspect.
Global Reach & Service
UK Ways to approach: Email, Telephone (sign up is available online).
Translations: No.
Accepts Clients: Worldwide.
Currencies Handled: Most.
Client Reviews: 98% positive.
Halo’s service must be very good as clients love them and stick with Halo as their primary currency partner for many years and even decades. We also know that the sales/dealer training happening at Halo is extremely professional in nature. This is the primary reason why Halo have got themselves such a good name in the industry.
The main disadvantage is that Halo is perhaps too UK-centric. For non UK clients, the lack of offices outside the UK, the lack of website translations and the lack of bank accounts held outside the UK are likely to prove a hindrance, causing delays to transfers and higher payment fees. We would recommend international business clients or those transferring large amounts frequently to seek out more internationalised firms like Currencies Direct.
Additional Functionalities
Rate Watch.
Limit & Stop loss Orders.
Forward Contracts.
Regular Transfers
Combinations of the above
Guidance on Emigration and overseas property purchases – including several unique 15+ pages Free guides.
Risk management service for businesses.
Daily updates on the market.
Regularly updated blog covering Industry news, Emigration, Overseas Property and more
Quarterly white papers on the major currency pairings such as GBPEUR, GBPUSD, GBPAUD
Uniquely, Halo also offers a free business FX audit for companies, which is a personalised and meticulous service. A Halo account manager will take a deep dive into a company’s financials, international currency exposure and previous FX trades. Providing a reliable estimate as to what fees and FX spreads a company is already being charged. Otherwise it is a pretty standard hedging offering for businesses, but all the basics are provided and we know for certain the level of professionalism is higher than the industry standard. Their white papers help to differentiate them from other competitors in the market and show that they are experts in the FX market and are always looking to improve and develop.
The Halo Website is already fully responsive and mobile-friendly. They don’t have an App and given what its customers value most, it’s unlikely that technology enhancement is at the core of Halo’s priorities. Ensuring it retains a team of highly-qualified individuals in the FX sector is sure to be its primary focus.
If you want a good app, be sure to check our list of international money transfer apps.
A good business value proposition with a free currency audit service and now with a fully functional online trading platform too. A huge amount of FX material is produced by resident experts in the field of foreign exchange and they even provide information on emigration for individuals too. As examples, Halo has held recent webinars for individuals looking to emigrate to New Zealand and Europe.
Halo Financial Scoreboard
- Credibility Score - 90%90%
- Client Feedback Score - 90%90%
- Fees, Exchange Rates Score - 85%85%
- Global Reach, Availability, Service Score - 85%85%
- Added Values Score - 92%92%
Halo Financial Review Summary
Halo is a safe and trusted provider for FX transfers. The company has been on the top of their game for 18+ years, and client reviews from across the internet prove it. The website is friendly, the offering is clear, and Halo exchange rates are good. Arguably, their strongest point of all though, is the level of service provided by its small and knowledgeable team. They’re always happy to listen to clients and provide a bespoke service that best suits each client’s individual currency transfer requirements. We recommend you test the offering by signing and receiving a free quote, using the button below: