Hargreaves Lansdown Review (Payments)

By 
Matt Di Vincere (Chief Editor)
Last Edited Nov 08, 2022

Should I use Hargreaves Lansdown for Money Transfers?

Pros:

  • Dedicated Dealer
  • Market Veteran
  • MPublicly Traded Company
  • 1,200+ Employees
  • Overall Positive Reviews

Cons:

  • Fees on Small Transfers
  • Not Specialising only in Money Transfers
  • Limited Currency Selection
  • Several Hundreds of Complaints Online

Services Offered by Hargreaves Lansdown

Investment Services (Main Offering)  + 3

Official Website:

Hargreaves Lansdown Review: Executive Summary

Hargreaves Lansdown offers a service that enables customers to transfer money between their own accounts and accounts held with other financial institutions. The service is available through the Hargreaves Lansdown website and mobile app and is available to both personal and business customers. Customers can use the Hargreaves Lansdown money transfer service to pay bills, make one-off payments or set up regular payments. With that being said, Hargreaves Lansdown are not a fully-dedicated international payments firm, it is just one (small?) aspect of the service they provide. We are always in favour of competitors who are 100% focused on one aspect of their business.
Overall rating78.6%
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Updated on Nov 08, 2022
Aggregated User Votes
thumbs-up4773
thumbs-down1271

Not Top 10 Ranked

๐Ÿ† 3 Industry Awards (2017-2018)

Where is Hargreaves Lansdown Available?

Our Top Rated Hargreaves Lansdown Alternatives

On Money Transfer Comparison, we have reviewed 80+ money transfer services, 40+ of which could be considered direct Hargreaves Lansdown competitors. View our best rated Hargreaves Lansdown money transfer alternatives which have received higher ratings below:

Currencies Direct
  • Min Transfer: ยฃ/โ‚ฌ/$ 100
  • Currencies Supported: 39
  • Offices : UK, EU, USA, India, South Africa.
  • Our Rating : 97.8%
  • Most Global Offices and Reach

    No Fees from Anywhere and Competitive Rates

    96% Client Satisfaction
TorFX
  • Min Transfer: ยฃ/โ‚ฌ 100
  • Currencies Supported: 40
  • Offices : UK, EU, Singapore, and Australia.
  • Our Rating : 93.4%
  • High Quality Bespoke Service

    MoneyFact's Best Provider Award

    Over 100 Years of FX Experience Across Its Trading Desk
moneycorp
  • Min Transfer: ยฃ/โ‚ฌ/$ 50
  • Currencies Supported: 120
  • Offices : UK, EU, USA, HK, and UAE.
  • Our Rating : 92.8%
  • Business Oriented, Many High Profile Business Customers

    Industry Veteran since 1979

    Diverse Hedging Options and Excellent Guidance

Is Hargreaves Lansdown Safe?

Company size:

Founded in 1981, Hargreaves Lansdown is a publicly-traded financial services company. Initially focused on tax planning, this firm, which describes itself as an โ€˜investments supermarketโ€™, now provides numerous financial products, including of course currecy transfers.

As of 2019, they have 1,200 employees, all of whom work at Hargreaves Lansdownโ€™s sole office in Bristol, UK. They took in ยฃ450 million in revenues in 2018 and turned a profit of just under ยฃ300 million before taxes.

Regulated By:

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)


Awards:

– Britainโ€™s Most Admired Companies โ€“ Management Today (2017 & 2018)

– Best Direct Platform: Digital Experience โ€“ Platforum Awards 2018

– Best Platform for D2C โ€“ Professional Adviser Awards 2018


Conclusion:

Hargreaves Lansdown has come a long way from its humble beginnings. In 1981, co-founders Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown brought on their first client whilst living in a dorm room. Today, their company offers a comprehensive suite of investment products.

From SIPPs to ETFs and ISAs, Hargreaves Lansdown has become one of Britainโ€™s most prominent investment giants. In 2018, they managed ยฃ91.6 billion in investments for more than a million clients.

Hargreaves Lansdown offers currency exchange as an ancillary service. However, like its other offerings, it does appear to be professionally managed, by a well-known and highly respect firm.

Hargreaves Lansdown Customer Reviews

Research:

We found most Hargreaves Lansdown reviews on two sites โ€“ Feefo and Trustpilot. As of April 2019, reviewers left 2,100 comments for Hargreaves Lansdown on Feefo, and 400 on Trustpilot.

Feefo respondents were generally satisfied, leaving an average score of 4.6/5. Trustpilot users were not as impressed, offering a grade of 3.9/10.

It’s important to mention the vast majority of these reviews on the two platforms hardly ever specify usage of the HL money transfer service. These are general opinions of the company’s service by its customers, not necessarily related to transferring money internationally through their service.


Positive:

Those satisfied with Hargreaves Lansdown had the following to say:

– Straightforward and easy-to-understand platform

– Customer service was responsive

– Great mobile functionality

Negative:

Those dissatisfied with HL money transfers had the following to say:

– Fees were too high

– Transactions were slow

– Customer service was indifferent to concerns


Conclusion:

HL Money transfer has overall good reviews by its customers but on TrustPilot there are hundreds of serious complaints to be found. We haven’t seen many comments relate specifically to its international currency services.

Hargreaves Lansdown Exchange Rates & Fees

Fees: ยฃ5 for online orders under ยฃ3,500, ยฃ10 for telephone orders under ยฃ7,500, and ยฃ7 for direct debits for orders under ยฃ500. However, Hargreaves Lansdown charges no fees for orders above the aforementioned thresholds.

Exchange Rates: Hargreaves Lansdown does not publicly disclose their exchange rates. However, they did provide a recent comparison between them and a โ€˜typical High Street bankโ€™. As of 1 April 2019, they claimed to offer 11,499 EUR for 10,000 GBP. This transaction equates to a rate of 1.1499. That day, the interbank rate for GBP/EUR was 1.1602 โ€“ this means Hargreaves Lansdown had a margin of 0.8% in this example.

Limits: Direct debits are subject to a ยฃ250 minimum. Online and telephone-initiated currency transfers have no minimum threshold. Hargreaves Lansdown has no stated maximum limit for the currency transfer services they offer.


Conclusion:

Hargreaves Lansdown is an excellent option for sending large amounts of money abroad. However, better options exist for those looking to send amounts smaller than ยฃ3,500. They are a particularly poor choice for smaller businesses โ€“ unless you send direct debits consistently higher than ยฃ500, fees can add up quickly.

Hargreaves Lansdown Global Reach & Service

Research:

  • Dedicated Dealer: Yes
  • Offices: Bristol, UK
  • Ways to approach: Phone, e-mail, physical mail
  • Translations: English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish
  • Accepts clients: Accepts domestic and international clients. Restrictions, if any, are not specified.
  • Currencies Handled: 21
  • Client reviews: 4.6/5 on Feefo (2,100 reviews), 3.9/10 on Trustpilot (200 reviews)

Conclusion:

Hargreaves Lansdown only have one office (Bristol), and they accept clients from the UK and Europe, and their currency exchange business focuses on major world currencies, hence presenting a limited selection.

At present, representatives are proficient in five languages: English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish which is a nice advantage but a firm can hardly be considered international with one office in the UK and as little as 21 currencies handled.

Additional Functionalities

Currency exchange is just one of many financial services that Hargreaves Lansdown provides. This corporation also offers clients:

  • ISAs
  • Various pension structures (SIPP, annuities, drawdowns)
  • Numerous investment vehicles (everything from ETFs to Spread Betting)
  • Savings accounts

Conclusion:

This company grew to the behemoth it is today by offering investment services. If you need to move cash but want to get involved in trading, Hargreaves Lansdown is worth a look.ย Similarly if youโ€™re already using Hargreaves Lansdown for some of their other financial services then using HL money transfer could be a good fit for you too.

HL Money Transfer Review Summary
79%
79 of 100 1 review
  • Credibility Score - 92%
    92%
  • Client Feedback - 70%
    70%
  • Fees, Exchange Rates - 81%
    81%
  • Global Reach, Availability, Service - 70%
    70%
  • Added Values - 80%
    80%

Bottom Line

HL money transfer is a solid option for anyone transferring more than ยฃ3,500 (below that, fixed fees will make the transfer necessarily expensive). Hargreaves Lansdown is a well recognised, publicly traded FTSE100 firm, boasting professional staff and overall positive reviews from across the internet. With that being said HL money transfer is not a specialist dedicated specifically for international money transfers like Currencies Direct or Moneycorp (who even took down their travel money business to focus exclusively on international bank transfers). We don’t see any major advantage to using HL Money Transfer over any of its specialist competitors.