5 Best Money Transfer App To Africa (Reliable)
The best money transfer apps make it simple and easy to send money to friends or family, or pay for goods/services through your smartphone or other mobile device.
Banks were slow to embrace the internet, allowing a number of third-parties to develop tools to make transferring money between people easy and painless. Even though banks have now made money transfers online easier, not least through apps, international payments are still difficult to make without a third-party money transfer provider.
This is where money transfer apps really excel, which have blossomed in much the way way as personal finance software. Transfer apps offer the ability to send money across the world using different currencies in a way that is simple, easy, and pain-free. There is usually a charge associated with such transfers, so make sure you check the fees, but the best services usually offer reasonable rates that are worth the cost of convenience.
Security remains a key provision with money transfer apps, ensuring that your transactions are protected through a combination of features to keep them safe, which should include strong encryption between devices.
Best Money Transfer App To Africa
Here then are the best money transfer apps that are currently available.
1. WorldRemit
WorldRemit lets you transfer money using a service that is based solely online and finds favour thanks to its competitive rates and solid options for moving money around via an iOS or Android app.
The money transfer service is certainly flexible thanks to the way it offers an array of different methods for moving cash. These include debit, credit and prepaid options, along with bank transfer, Poli, Interac, iDEAL, Klarna, Apple Pay and Trustly too. However, WorldRemit no longer accepts Google Pay.
While its rates might be seen as competitive what you pay depends on where you’re going to be sending the funds. Costs will vary depending on the type of transfer method and also the currency.
There is plenty of scope for transfers though, with WorldRemit offering the ability to send cash from over 50 countries to in excess of 150. Easing the transfer process is the way WorldRemit has partnered with the likes of M-Pesa, EcoCash, MTN, Metrobank and other localised finance operations.
Transfers can be received as bank deposits and swiftly at that, in under 10 minutes in some cases. Alternatively, recipients can use a cash pickup, select mobile money or even an airtime top-up. WorldRemit sends an SMS to you and the recipient on completion of the transfer. There’s also the backup of FCA approval and full licensing for the operation.
2. Azimo
Azimo boasts a crisp and clean operation that offers quick and easy transfers, with instant or one-hour options available to a wealth of different countries. There’s also the benefit of 24/7 delivery to selected countries, without any of the usual delays incurred at weekends. First-time users also get the benefit of two transfers free-free.
Azimo has been around less than a decade, but its online service now covers over 200 countries. There are around 80 different currencies on offer from the service, and customers can choose from a variety of methods to transfer funds. These include bank deposits and mobile wallets, or even cash, although the coronavirus pandemic has lessened the desire for transfers using physical cash.
Another recent development for Azimo has been the addition of its Azimo Business feature, which is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses who can benefit from transfers that are often more competitive than their bank.
Currently, Azimo claims that it can offer savings of up to 90% compared to rivals. It’s easy to stay on top of changes to currency values and get a constant update on best rates using the alerts within the Azimo app. As is usual, overall fees are largely dependent on where money is being sent from, and its destination along with the preferred delivery method.
3. Venmo
Venmo is popular with both individual users and businesses thanks to its money transfer app, which benefits from having the muscle of parent company PayPal behind it. Most appealing to consumers is its social edge, with Venmo having the option of being able to share updates about purchases to other users in your social group.
The service acts much like a digital wallet and allows quick and easy peer-to-peer transfers, which is undeniably useful if you need to send some money to friends. Sharing the cost of a meal maybe? Venmo is perfect for making sure everyone pays their dues. Better still, there’s no monthly or annual fee, although credit cards do attract a 3% fee if you don’t have anything else to hand.
Setting it up and using Venmo couldn’t be easier, with payments being made via a bank account or debit card linked to your account. Money can also be directly transferred if you’ve got enough funds stored in your Venmo wallet. There’s a 1% charge if you move money out of your Venmo account and into a bank account if you can’t wait for its one to three-day payment schedule.
Everyday money management is similarly straightforward, with a range of settings allowing you to use it as needed, with Public, Friends and Private options proving handy for different payment situations. Venmo also boasts the option of making payments using QR codes, which is perfect for fast, efficient and accurate transfers that are sure to go to the right recipient.
4. PayPal
We weren’t exactly going to leave PayPal out of a conversation about money transfers, were we? The service has become ubiquitous in ecommerce but the company’s acquisition of the aforementioned Venmo suggested it had work to do to establish itself as a popular app for peer-to-peer transfers.
With Vemno clearly pitching itself at the younger market, PayPal’s app maintains the more corporate look and feel. Its tight security measures – making you enter your password every time you open the app, for example – further emphasizes the business heritage. While this may feel like a slight inconvenience, it’s surely a wise security measure.
PayPal’s mobile transfers match the rest of the field in terms of speed, but you do get charged on debit card transactions, a rarity when it comes to domestic transfers.
The simplicity of entering just an email address or phone number to direct your payment will always carry appeal on PayPal’s platform, but if quick peer-to-peer transfers are more important to you than international transactions, those debit card fees may push you towards its cool little sibling, Vemno.
5. MoneyGram
MoneyGram is another instantly recognisable name in the money transfer sector and is one of the longest-running operations too. Due to its scale and the size of the operation it’s therefore possible to send funds to pretty much anywhere, although charges are therefore dependent on where cash is headed.
The same goes for fees too, with a tier-based charging system giving you an idea of what to expect cost-wise. Moving money via the bank option is generally the cheaper way to do it, compared to using a credit or debit card. Similarly, making money available in a bank account at the destination, rather than having someone pick up physical cash is another way to save costs.
Overheads also include exchange rate fluctuations, although on the upside MoneyGram does have a rewards system that gives you a percentage off transactions you make in the future. The other bonus with MoneyGram is its sheer volume of outlets around the world, which is frequently the appeal for many recipients of cash transfers.
However, MoneyGram has also moved with the times and offers an array of transfer options, with traditional bank accounts proving popular along with mobile wallets for many cell phone aficionados. Currently, it’s possible to make transfers to well over 200 countries, with the choice of around 50 different currencies.