A few years ago I wrote about money remittance services like Transferwise and WeSwap. I recently came across another remittance service called WorldRemit and I decided to do a quick review and explore further:

1. How did WorldRemit come to my attention? – At a recent public session with a senior strategy person at Travelex, we talked about the marketplace for money transfer and currency exchange services. In this conversation, WorldRemit came up as a key player in the market for money transfers.
2. My quick summary of WorldRemit (before using it) – I expect a service that enables people to transfer money abroad, at a favourable exchange rate and in the most transparent and easy way possible.
3. How does WorldRemit explain itself in the first minute? – WorldRemit’s strapline on its homepage is as simple as it’s clear: “Send Money Online, Anytime, Anywhere.” Underneath this strapline there’s a simple “I want to send to / select country” call to action (see Fig. 1 below).
4. Getting started, what’s the process like (1)? – Not hard at all. After I’ve selected the country and clicked on “get started”, I can enter an amount that I would like to send or receive. As soon as I then click on “send”, the amount I’m sending is automatically listed in British pounds. The only, minor, thing which threw me somewhat was that I thought I could select another service instead just of “bank transfer” because of the dropdown next to it. However, when I click on the dropdown, I just see “Select a service” and there aren’t other options to choose from.
5. Getting started, what’s the process like (2)? – The bit about getting started with WorldRemit that I really liked is that when pressing “send” a popup appears to confirm critical info such as fees and the amount the recipient (see Fig. 2 below). It’s this kind of simple transparency that truly ‘delights.’
6. How does WorldRemit compare to similar services? – When I think of competitors to WorldRemit, I think of the likes of Azimo, MoneyGram and Western Union. My initial perception that the main differentiators between these services are threefold. Firstly, the number of markets these services operate in. WorldRemit previously claimed to operate in twice the number of markets compared to Western Union and MoneyGram. Secondly, the overall experience and the ease with which people can transfer money is a key differentiator in my view. Azimo and WorldRemit feel quite similar in that respect, whereas Western Union and MoneyGram come across as two business who aren’t digital first (see Fig. 3-5 below).
7. Did the app deliver on my expectations? – Yes. The process felt easy, intuitive and I felt I got a good rate. I really liked the experience and I’m excited about how remittance services like WorldRemit are disrupting the market and giving established companies like Western Union a run for their money.

Fig. 1 – Screenshot of WorldRemit’s “Send Money Online Anytime, Anywhere” call to action on its homepage

Fig. 2 – Screenshot of WorldRemit transaction form and confirmation 

Fig. 3 – Screenshot of the Azimo homepage

Fig. 4 – Screenshot of Western Union’s homepage

Fig. 5 – Screenshot of MoneyGram’s homepage