Should I Use Send Payments?
Is Send Payments Safe to Use?
Official Website:
Services Offered by Send
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4Current Rates?
Where is Send Payments Available?
Send Payments Review: Executive Summary
Is Send Payments Safe?
Send (formerly SendFX) was established by co-founders Paul Billing and Ian Cragg. Before Send, both Paul and Ian worked at the highly respected TorFX. Ian for ten years, first with TorFX in its UK office and then with TorFX Australia since 2013. Paul for seven years, progressing to the position of Managing Director, TorFX Australia. So it’s fair to say the two of them have good pedigree in the international payment industry. However, with both holding front office roles for the majority of their careers, we can only assume appointing the right team for compliance, technology and payment operations has been vital.
Having only been incorporated in January 2019, Send remains a relatively new fintech to have hit the international payment scene. The company raised AUD $750,000 in startup financing and set up its first office in Queensland in March, agreed on multiple referral programs in April, and by May it had its banking and payment networks established. May 2019 also marked the date that Send’s first ever customer made a transaction.
In January 2022 Send completed a Series A funding round, raising $5m with Kelly Partners (ASX: KPG) and Polymorphic Capital as key investors. Send CEO Paul Billing had this to say on the move “We are thrilled and somewhat overwhelmed by the response from investors, who have shown so much interest and support in our business and vision for the payments markets,”
The company story is quite interesting as it points to Paul & Ian having a background in working with referral partners and wanting to create a better experience for the brands who trusted them enough to pass on clients with a requirement to send money abroad. With over 200 referral partners launched with Send to date, it’s clear this is a primary growth strategy for the firm.
Despite having only been in existence for a few years, Send has already been through a major rebrand in 2021. It definitely gives users more of a ‘fintech’ feel and leaves Send with one of the most aesthetically pleasing interfaces in the entire FX industry.
Regulated By:
Send Payments is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
It holds an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) and a licence with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).
It is also a authorised by the AFCA – Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
Send can onboard clients outside of Australia through a partnership with Currencycloud.
Mozo Experts Choice 2020 – International Money Transfer
Most promising for 2022 – MoneyTransferComparison
At the moment Send Payments (registered name Send FX Limited / AFSL no. 509635) is still a relatively new company. For this reason, it’s difficult to make comparisons with a company like Moneycorp who has been operating with a licence for 40+ years, but Send is certainly a legitimate provider that’s regulated by ASIC. The firm has brought on a number of respected investors and already helped thousands of clients send money abroad.
The co-founders have plenty of experience in the industry, having both worked at TorFX prior to launching Send. Though with this being in front office roles for them both, we’re sure they are continually learning about the extensive technology and compliance requirements that come with operating a modern international payment firm.
Send adheres to all of the necessary licensing in Australia and, in its short time in operation, has built a solid reputation in the market. International clients are onboarded through an arrangement with Currencycloud – one of the most respected B2B FX providers in this space.
Do Clients Like Send? Send Payments Feedback & Reviews
We found Send reviews on Trustpilot, in which 112 customers have left a review of Send Payments. The feedback is overwhelmingly positive, with just four negative reviews (one being from a client who hasn’t even used the service and one of these in fact complimenting the firm so we can only assume they accidentally rated it 1*). The remaining 108 reviews rated the company positively – 106 clients rating 5/5 “excellent” and 2 clients rating 4/5 “great”
The bad news is that there are only 112 reviews, which is not a large sample. Given the age of the company this is perfectly understandable but it does lack behind the likes of TorFX who have over 4,000 and the money transfer fintech giant Wise who have hundreds of thousands. Send provides only one service, so at least we know we’re not seeing reviews for a different aspect of the company. Read the Send reviews in detail and you can weigh up your options.Positive:
- Strong customer support over the telephone
- Quick transfers
- Fast onboarding process
- Excellent exchange rates
Negative:
The two out of four negative reviews which appear to be genuine, mention:
- Payment with Send incurred more intermediary bank fees compared to Wise (who likely processed the payment on their own ledger)
- UK resident had to take call in middle of night to speak with Australian customer service team
Conclusion:
Virtually all of the Send reviews we could find online are glowingly positive and rate the service 5 / 5. The caveat is that with just over 100 reviews, it’s still a rather small sample size at this stage. One thing that does stand out is that those who switched from their bank to Send Payments are very happy to have done so. And despite such a strong focus on tech, with a planned rollout of digital bank accounts and an international currency card, there remains a strong focus on customer support and helping clients through transactions over the phone. The only criticism of the customer support is that it’s only available in Australian hours for now – Send is still new to the space so we expect this to expand as the firm grows. For readers outside of Australia, there are more internationally focused money transfer companies, such as OFX, who offer near 24/7 support through international customer service teams in Australia, the UK and the US.
Send Payments Exchange Rates & Fees
Fees:
Every transaction, no matter to what currency or how big or small, is fee-free. This is Send Payments’s key selling point. Zero payment fees at all. What is particularly impressive is that this applies to both private and business clients. Most providers offer fee-free international payments to individuals (as they often make less frequent transfers) but almost always charge a payment fee to businesses who often send tens or hundreds of payments a month. As far as we can see, Send is the only international payment provider to offer fee-free international wires.
Exchange Rates: Send adds a margin to the mid-market rate before selling a currency. Send Payments does not publicly disclose the margin they add but we know they’ll have to be taking a sufficient margin to cover their own payment fees and other direct/indirect costs that come with providing an international payment service.
Limits: There is a minimum $250 that you must send when performing a transaction according to their FAQs. The firm mentions handling payments of $250 to $25 million with ease, though it doesn’t quite specify if this is a hard maximum limit.
The major plus point here is fee-free international transfers, even for business clients. It’s certainly unique as no other money transfer company we have reviewed on MoneyTransferComparison offers this to business customers. We don’t have enough information about the FX margins that Send applies to each deal but considering the firms’ relatively small size we assume they would have difficulties getting to ultra sharp margins like Wise’s 0.35%+ margins offered to private individuals. The fact Send Payments, formerly SendFX, does not mention the spreads they apply, we can only assume they are wider, otherwise we believe they would be used as a key selling point. We certainly don’t know this for sure though so it’s worth checking with Send Payments what spread will be applied before entering into an agreement. On larger transfers, private and business customers should be able to negotiate a better rate.
Global Reach & Service
- Dedicated Dealer: Yes
- Offices: Queensland, Australia
- Ways to approach: Phone, e-mail, online
- Translations: English
- Accepts clients: Accepts both domestic and international clients
- Currencies Handled: 37
- Client reviews: 4.5 /5 on Trustpilot (112 reviews)
According to Send, it already has clients in over 100 locations and facilitates transfers to 200 countries in 37 different currencies. The service is provided by a team of 52 individuals in three different continents. The majority of staff, however, are based in Australia and, as things stand, the personal account managers are only available during Australia hours. Regardless of where a client is located, they’ll be designated an Aussie-based account manager.
Through a partnership with the B2B fintech market leader Currencycloud, the firm can also onboard clients in the UK, Europe and USA. After testing the registration process (from the UK) it certainly seems like clients from other countries can proceed with setting up an account. However, given that customer support is only available in the Australian timezone, we’d only recommend the service for Australian & New Zealand clients for now.
Additional Functionalities
Send Payments offers both limit orders and forward contracts (referred to as ‘delayed contracts’ by Send), which is certainly useful for those looking to hedge their currency exposure. Whilst these are by no means unique features, it’s very much welcomed as companies such as Wise still do not offer it.
The company is planning to launch a digital wallet, allowing users to hold balances in a number of different currencies. At this stage it’s suggested that many of these accounts will be in-country to their respective currency as Send are promoting ‘local banking in nearly 40 countries’. If this is the case then it would be genuinely impressive as it’s quite the banking network to establish such a local product.
A Send Visa card is also in the pipeline which will allow users to spend their balances wherever a visa card is accepted.
We can expect the digital wallet to launch when the app is released. As and when we hear more we’ll be sure to update our Send review.
[/mtc32_text_block]Send is still a new company, meaning much of its functionalities are yet to come. They have a few things lined up currently, such as cash back on all transfers, loyalty points for exclusive perks and a referral system that will gain you access to “even more benefits”. As of now – Send offers everything one would expect from a traditional money transfer company but stands out from its competitors by combining a dedicated account management team with one of the slickest online products on the market. Generally, firms go one way or the other – if they have a dedicated account management team they tend to have an outdated online platform, if they have a cutting-edge online platform, they don’t tend to provide account managers. By combining the two, we think this presents a huge growth opportunity for Send.
The company is yet to establish a mobile app (or accumulate a large pool of reviews). So whilst it’s certainly safe to make transfers with Send (thoroughly regulated), it’s one to watch for the future.
Send Payments Review Summary
- Credibility Score - 86%86%
- Client Feedback Score - 88%88%
- Fees, Exchange Rates Score - 91%91%
- Global Reach, Availability, Service Score - 94%94%
- Added Values Score - 92%92%
Bottom Line
Send Payments is already a safe and established money transfer provider that appears to have huge upside potential for the future. The Australia-focused company is already finding ways to make its service unique by offering no fixed fees on transfers (even for business clients) and the rare combination of slick online tech coupled with dedicated foreign exchange dealers, topped by the freshest website in the industry. So far, the vast majority of online reviews have been glowingly positive. On the downside, the young nature of the company means it has yet to gain the same reputation as a large money transfer company like Moneycorp (operating for 40 years) and its account managers are only available during Australian hours.
Send Payments is already a great option for Aussie residents and SMEs but international clients may prefer Currencies Direct.