Is TransferGo Safe?

Company size:

Founded in 2012, TransferGo is an online money transfer service which is rapidly growing in the UK and Eastern Europe. With roughly 50 employees in 2015, the firm is now estimated to have around 200 employees in 2021 between five offices in the United Kingdom and Europe.

TransferGo was founded by a leadership team originating from Lithuania, who originally intended to launch an import/export business, but saw first hand the sort of challenges faced when it came to sending money internationally. Transfers were slow, fees were high and there was zero customer service. Wanting change, they switched their focus and decided to launch an international payment business instead. TransferGo was thus formed, with superior customer service and fast payments at the core of its principles.

From difficult beginnings, when regulatory approval took six months to attain and finding a primary banking partner proved near-impossible, TransferGo now works with over 30 leading financial institutions in 2021 to successfully deliver its payment processing capabilities throughout Europe.

As TransferGo has grown, so too has the funding it has received. In total, TransferGo has now attracted $77 million in venture funding. Early growth capital was injected by angel investors and equity crowdfunding campaigns, with three formal funding rounds following. Series B funding in 2018 saw $17.6 million raised and a series C funding round, recently completed in September 2021, saw a whopping $50 million raised. CEO and founder of TransferGo Daumantas Dvilinskas has explained, “With the additional funding, our next chapter of growth will see us in an even stronger position to keep innovating and developing our product offering, for hardworking migrants all across Europe”.

From 2020 to 2021, the firm posted 80% year-on-year growth. It has now serviced over 2.5 million customers to date and processed 13.5 million payments with a combined transaction value of around $6 billion. The niche focus on European migrants (for example an individual sending money from the UK to Poland) has been a significant driver of TransferGo’s success. With many providers in a race to open new markets across the globe, TransferGo decided first to focus on solving the difficulties that millions of European migrants encountered simply from working abroad within Europe.

Regulated By:

Financial Conduct Authority (UK)

Bank of Lithuania (Europe)

Awards:

Most Innovative Business, Danish Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania (2013)

Silver and Bronze Awards, BalticBest Festival of Creativity (2014)

MNominee, Money Transfer Provider of the Year, MoneyAge Awards (2017)

Nominee, Fastest Rising Startup of the Year, TechCrunch Europa Awards (2018)

Five hottest UK start-ups, TNW Awards (2019)

Conclusion:

Now operating for nine years, Transfergo has attracted an impressive 2.5 million customers to date, receiving glowing praise from clients and press outlets alike. The recent opening of offices in Germany, Turkey and Poland makes it apparent TransferGo is a legitimate money transfer company with bold ambitions.

To offer services throughout Europe, TransferGo is regulated by the Central Bank of Lithuania. This is a perfectly acceptable solution, as once you meet the regulatory requirements in one EU member state, EU financial passporting rules state payment firms can offer their services throughout all EU member states. It should be noted however, the EU does not have a standardised regulatory framework for payment firms so the approval framework in Lithuania will differ to the approval framework in Netherlands, for example. The Central Bank of Ireland and the Central Bank of Netherlands are perhaps the most experienced in dealing with payment processors and are the preferred destinations that we like to see European payment firms located. Saying that, having been founded by Lithuanian owners, we can certainly understand TransferGo’s decision to be based out of Lithuania in Europe. The firm is also regulated by arguably the most prominent regulator in the world as well – the FCA in the UK.

TransferGo Customer reviews

Research:

TransferGo has been reviewed over 22,500 times on Trustpilot, more reviews than industry veterans like Moneycorp, on a prominent independent review site. It has achieved a site rating of 4.8/5 (Excellent), which is amongst the highest in the industry. Client reviews are uniformly positive – a stunning 96% had a great or excellent experience with TransferGo. Only 4% had an average, poor, or bad experience.

Conclusion:

Now operating for nine years, Transfergo has attracted an impressive 2.5 million customers to date, receiving glowing praise from clients and press outlets alike. The recent opening of offices in Germany, Turkey and Poland makes it apparent TransferGo is a legitimate money transfer company with bold ambitions.

To offer services throughout Europe, TransferGo is regulated by the Central Bank of Lithuania. This is a perfectly acceptable solution, as once you meet the regulatory requirements in one EU member state, EU financial passporting rules state payment firms can offer their services throughout all EU member states. It should be noted however, the EU does not have a standardised regulatory framework for payment firms so the approval framework in Lithuania will differ to the approval framework in Netherlands, for example. The Central Bank of Ireland and the Central Bank of Netherlands are perhaps the most experienced in dealing with payment processors and are the preferred destinations that we like to see European payment firms located. Saying that, having been founded by Lithuanian owners, we can certainly understand TransferGo’s decision to be based out of Lithuania in Europe. The firm is also regulated by arguably the most prominent regulator in the world as well – the FCA in the UK.

TransferGo Exchange Rates & Fees

Fees:

TransferGo fees, as explained in their FAQs, are as follows:

For payments to Europe, the common fee structure is this:

• Free next day delivery
• £0.99 for same-day delivery
• £2.99 for delivery within 30 minutes

Payments will be sent via Standard SEPA Credit Transfer (Next Day) or Instant SEPA Credit Transfer (Same Day). Given that Instant SEPA Credit Transfers process in a matter of seconds, we guess the extra fee for delivery within 30 minutes is to jump to the top of TransferGo’s own payment queue, so compliance and settlement checks will be prioritised.

Free or low-fee charges offer massive savings versus the bank, and even same-day delivery charges are competitive with leading money transfer companies. Considering this, you can put TransferGo near the top rated companies like Currencies Direct and TorFX (plus WorldFirst for business transfers).

Exchange Rates:

TransferGo charges an FX spread somewhere between 0 – 2.2%. Meaning the exchange rate achieved with TransferGo will be somewhere between 0 – 2.2% worse than the interbank rate, which is the rate banks trade at with each other.

Our only issue here is that it’s not clear on any given payment exactly what spread will be charged between the range of 0 – 2.2%. So whilst TransferGo is highly transparent about payment fees, they’re a little less transparent around the FX spread they charge. Certainly less transparent than the variable payment fee charged by Wise, which is clearly displayed prior to making a payment, alongside the fixed payment fee. As these things often work, we assume smaller payments and payments to more exotic currencies are likely to be at the top end of this range, whilst larger transfers and payments to GBP, EUR & USD should be at the lower end.

Limits:

Transfergo has no minimum or maximum transfer limits. However, certain amounts require client verification – ID is requested if your first transaction exceeds £900, proof of address for £15,000 or more, and proof of funds when the transfer is  £6,500 or more.

Conclusion:

A very reasonable and clearly set out structure for payment fees. Having the option to pay a small premium (£2.99) for transfers within 30 minutes is also a big bonus. By comparative standards, some firms charge more for standard delivery payments.

With spreads between 0 – 2.2% this is clearly better than using a bank for most migrants but if transfers are towards the top end of this then it has to be said it’s more expensive than both Wise and Currencyfair, which are both available throughout Europe. Arguably, the quality of customer support provided by TransferGo (phones open 07:00 – 18:00 GMT) is worth paying more through the FX spread.

TransferGo Global Reach & Service

Research:

• Dedicated Dealer: No.
• Offices: UK, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Turkey
• Ways to approach: E-mail, telephone
• Translations: Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Russian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Spanish, French, German
• Accepts clients: UK & Europe
• Currencies Handled: 60+
• Client reviews: 96% positive, 4.8/5 TrustScore per TrustPilot.com

Some sections of the TransferGo website suggest payments can now be made to over 160 countries but for now, the TransferGo help centre details the country payment capabilities in a convulted way.

Conclusion:

Despite only being in business since 2012, TransferGo now has offices in five countries. Given these offices are all in Europe (particularly Eastern Europe) it’s clear that this is the major focus of the firm. As the founders originate from Lithuania themselves, we like the fact they’re tackling issues faced in their home and neighbouring countries first. More often than not, money transfer companies seek to expand to the US, Asia and Oceania as soon as possible but TransferGo is clearly enjoying a lot of success in Europe with 2.5 million customers to date.

Capability to send money to 63 countries is not bad at all and TransferGo is constantly adding to the list of currencies that payments can be sent in. Not long ago, the firm offered just 22 currencies but now payments can be made in 60+.

One down side is the limited number of currencies that payments can be sent from. At the moment payments have to be sent from GBP, EUR, USD, PLN, SEK, NOK or RON. Given that most payments are sent by European migrants, it’s likely that these currencies suffice. However, if you do need to send money from a different currency, larger currency brokers such as OFX will allow transfers from any number of currencies.

11 website translations is certainly impressive, more than virtually all other providers on the market. Customer support is advertised as being in English but, to our understanding, TransferGo can also provide support in a further eight languages. A quick look at the career opportunities with TransferGo and they are advertising for customer support staff with multilingual capabilities including English, Lithuanian, Russian and Ukrainian.

Additional Functionalities

Remittances make up the bulk of TransferGo’s business, but they also offer B2B transfers. Costs are similar to their remittance rates, with potentially no fees to some destinations and £2.99 for priority 30 minute transfers. FX spreads are again somewhere between 0 – 2.2% for business customers. Slightly more functionality is available to business clients, including batch payments, which allows for payments to up to 50 suppliers or salaries in one go, and reach multiple countries with a single local payment.

TransferGo also offers a referral program. It offers £20 for every person who signs up with Transfergo through a provided link. By placing it on their social feeds, customers can make side money promoting this service.

TransferGo App

The TransferGo App is well reviewed on the Apple App store (4.5 / 5) though this is based on just 32 reviews. The app receives a not so good rating on the Google Play Store (4.0 / 5) and this is based on a significantly greater number of TransferGo reviews – over 17,000.

All of the functionality available through the online platform is available through the app but it appears a recent update has left a few customers disgruntled. Bug issues are causing registration failures and a continual loop for existing customers which is asking for the app to be updated even when it just has.

Conclusion:

TransferGo is a remittance-based service which provides simple spot transfers for its largely private client user base. This is not uncommon, as by keeping the product offering minimal, costs are reduced. Any cost savings can thus be passed onto the customer. It does however mean that added value products are limited. TransferGo does not offer forward contracts and provides no hedging capabilities.

Businesses can batch process up to 50 payments at a time but even this would be limited for larger companies. Some FX providers allow batch payments into the hundreds or even thousands.