In our latest money transfer company review, we're taking a look at InstaReM.
We'll discuss how the company works, how you use them, what we like about them
and what we don't.
InstaReM is one of the fastest growing money transfer
companies. They launched in Australia in 2015 and in a short time has grown to
operate out of India, Singapore, Hong Kong, the USA, Europe and Malaysia. They work
specifically in remittances and international transfers and they can
help both individuals and businesses. They pride themselves on low fees and
giving you the mid market rate. So let's find out if they're as good as they say.
Firstly, they do offer the exact exchange rate at the time you make your transfer.
Just like TransferWise does. Which is great but it means their fee is percentage
based. So you need to be careful if you're making transfers higher than
about $10,000 because the fee can really add up. Secondly, their website is really
easy to use and full of information about the company, how they work and
transparent content about their fees. This is balanced by poor customer
service a lot of the time though. Which may not be an issue if you're happy
doing everything online but it is if you want to speak to a human. Thirdly,
InstaReM offer bonuses when you make your first transfer and when you refer
new customers. But the activation of your account can take longer than expected
and they limit your first transfer to $2500 Australian dollars. The other thing
we do like is that you can send US dollars or Euros to multiple countries.
For example, you can send US dollars to Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong and you
can send Euros to the UK. This can be really handy for business transfers. Just
make sure the person you're paying has an account that can receive foreign currency.
The first step in making a transfer with InstaReM is going to their website and
signing up. This process is pretty simple. You'll need to provide your name and
email and a number of personal details like your address and reasons for
transferring. Once this is done you will need to provide some identification
documents and wait for your account to be verified. Now this is meant to take no
more than 24 hours but a number of InstaReM customers report that it takes
much longer. So make sure you have time up your sleeve.
To make a transfer with
InstaReM you'll need to go to your customer portal, get a quote and fill in
the details of the person you're paying. InstaReM fees range from 0.25%
to 1% but this all depends on the currencies you're transferring between.
So the best way to find out the cost is to get a direct quote through their site.
In all countries you can pay InstaReM via bank or wire transfer and in some
countries there are other ways you can pay. For example POLi Pay in Australia
and debit card in Europe.
Now safety is really important when we're talking
about international money transfers. On their website, InstaReM speak of their
focus on safety and security. In Australia they are regulated by ASIC
and have an Australian Financial Services license and they take the
protection of your data very seriously. If you have any concerns you can contact
their compliance team via phone or email and you'll find all of their regulatory
information on their website.
All-in-all we think that InstaReM can be a good option for international money
transfers but there are three main things we think you should be careful of.
Firstly, give yourself plenty of time before your transfer to set up an
account in case it takes longer than expected. Secondly, be careful of their
percentage based fee if you're transferring more than $10,000. And
thirdly, make sure you're comfortable doing the transfer entirely online.
Customer service isn't always great with InstaReM.
Comparing the total cost of
your transfer is the best way to find the cheapest deal. You can use The
Currency Shop's website to compare large reputable and secure money transfer
companies in one place.