Are you faced with the challenge of choosing a service provider for making international money transfers, supplier payments and salary to overseas staff? If yes, then help is at hand. In this article, we will decode what is involved in such payments. We will also take a look at a few of the service providers and analyze where they stand given the respective benchmarks we are about to introduce to you.
When it comes to international money transfers, the points of reference or ‘benchmarks’ to be noted are:
- Efficiency: the ease of use of the platform (sending or receiving money)
- Cost: the service charges involved in the transaction
- Exchange rates: the currency conversion margins
- Security: safety and security of the money transfer, and
- Timeliness: the time taken to effect the money transfer.
While nearly all international payment platforms will provide you with the same core services, they differ in terms of security, duration of time, the method of transfer, additional services fees (which is most commonly a deducted percentage from the total payout), the method of providing the service (monthly/yearly subscriptions, per transfer rates, flat rates, etc.), and also currency conversion charges. Hence, while comparing different providers, these are the benchmarks you need to consider.
Plooto
Plooto is intended to help small and midsized businesses overcome their challenges in payment processing. The platform is designed to address the issues in paying bills and invoices. Plooto enables you to receive payments from your customers as well as make payments to your vendors. Plooto can be connected to your accounting software to automate transactions with a smooth approval process incorporated into it. Money transfers can be initiated through Plooto by sending an email and requesting for bank details, after which the transfer can be made directly to the bank account. Also, the details are updated in your accounting software. Unlike most alternative providers, Plooto charges a flat fee of $9.99 per transaction, claiming that they are 90% cheaper in international payments.
Having built their business as a payments company for domestic payments in Canada, Plooto is now foraying into international payments. Currency rates and margins charged by Plooto are generally not the cheapest.
Western Union
Western Union is a rather well-known name in the world of international money transfers. One of the most significant advantages they possess is the fact that they have a considerable agent network in which they provide people with the easy cash pick-up option. However, the cash pick-up option may work well for individuals but not for businesses. Businesses prefer payments made and received directly to bank accounts, and Western Union does provide that option as well. A Western Union payment transferred directly to a bank account can take up to 3 working days, with a per transaction service fee. You can also use a debit or credit card to make a payment, with this option however the service fee increases up to $10. The currency markup tends to be lower in case of bank account credit but it still higher than several competitors.
Tipalti
Tipalti has an accounts payable software that transforms mass payments and your payable’s workload. It helps you work smarter and save time in financial operations while simultaneously decreasing your workload by about 80%. With Tipalti, you can handle supplier management, tax and regulatory compliance, invoice processing as well as global remittances to 190 countries. It is secure with over 26,000 built-in banking rules proactively eliminating payment errors. Within that, it provides you options for using ACH, wire transfer, PayPal, Check, and prepaid debit card. The charges for each mode of transaction are anywhere from $1.20 to $25 with foreign exchange rate fees as well.
REMITR
REMITR is a payment service provider that charges a flat fee as opposed to a per transaction fee charged by most providers. REMITR charges only between $1 to a maximum of $10 for the transactions, with international transfers for most countries finally costing only $5.
Bank to bank transfers using REMITR will take you only a maximum of two business days to most of the 150+ countries they support; sometimes, it takes a few hours or less than a business day.
Apart from this, REMITR also complies with all governmental compliance requirements security regulations and also takes the least duration of transferring money to most countries. REMITR also allows you to automate payments by connecting to your systems just like few other providers do. So, when you look at a point to point benchmark comparison, it is evident that REMITR happens to be one of the best, the cheapest, fastest, as well as the safest and most secure option for making international money transfers.
