WorldRemit vs PayPal - Which Money Transfer Service is Best?

If you pay using a PayPal bank account or bank account linked to your PayPal account, then you will pay 5% of the funds transferred. A minimum charge of $1 and maximum of $5.

If you pay using a credit, debit or PayPal credit card, you will pay 5% of the funds transferred plus 2.9% plus a fixed fee of generally under $0.50. This fee has no maximum so it can get expensive to send large amounts of money overseas.

WorldRemit transfer fees are generally between $0.99 - $5.99 per bank transfer. Transfer fees between the US and Europe, Canada and Australia start from $3.99 per transaction.

WorldRemit cash pick up and mobile wallets transfer fees are generally between $0.99 - $4.99. Airtime top ups and bill pay is free. Alipay in China starts from $2.99 per transfer. Door to door delivery in Vietnam starts from $2.99 per transfer.

PayPal uses a retail exchange rate, which is less competitive than WorldRemit. PayPal offers an exchange rate that is higher than the mid market rate. It generally starts 4% above the rate you see in Google or Bing.

To find the best indication of the exchange rate and total funds to receive take these steps: 1. login into your PayPal account 2. select 'Wallet' and 3. select 'currency converter'.

WorldRemit offers an exchange rate that is higher than the mid market rate 0.50% - 4.0%. To put these into perspective, the bank's currency exchange rate starts from around 5% above the mid market rate.

PayPal often makes the money available within minutes to the overseas PayPal account. However if you wish to withdraw the money from your bank account instantly, PayPal will charge another 1%. Normally they require at least another working day for the money to be transferred to your bank account.

WorldRemit also offers to send money instantly through cash pickup, mobile wallet and Airtime top up. Cash pickups are available in over 70 countries, mobile wallets are available in over 20 countries and airtime top ups are available in over 80 countries.

WorldRemit offers same day or within 1 working day deliveries for bank transfers for a range of countries including the UK, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Kenya, India, Chile and Columbia.

Deliveries between 1 to 3 days are offered by WorldRemit. WorldRemit offers deliveries between 1 to 3 days for bank transfers to some countries like Australia, Germany, Canada, Brazil and Argentina.

Receive

PayPal currently transfers money to bank accounts or PayPal accounts.

WorldRemit transfers to bank accounts, mobile wallets, cash pickups, Airtime top ups, Bill pay, Alipay and door to door delivery.

Pay

PayPal will accept bank transfers for international payments. They accept cheques through their Cash a Check service on the app. It takes 10 days to process the cheque or you can pay a fee to receive the funds faster.

WorldRemit will accept bank transfers, debit cards, credit card, prepaid card, Poli, Interac, iDEAL, Klarna, Apple Pay and Trustly. Payment methods will vary by country.

With PayPal, you can send or receive as little as 3 cents. If you are a verified customer the limit can be up to $60,000 in local currency, but may be limited to $10,000, in a single transaction. You can lift your sending limit by linking your bank account or credit card to your PayPal account.

WorldRemit allows you to transfer with no minimum transfer amount from the US and a maximum amount of $5,000 to the UK, Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore.

WorldRemit allows you to transfer with no minimum transfer amount from the UK and a maximum amount of £50,000 to the US, Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore.

Both companies are safe and trustworthy to send your money overseas.

PayPal is a much bigger company with a strong record on compliance.

In the US, PayPal is licensed as a money transmitter, on a state-by-state basis.
In Europe it is regulated as a bank by Luxembourg's banking supervisory authority, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF).
In Australia it is regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) as a 'Purchased Payment Facility'.

WorldRemit is legitimate. It is fully regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which means they have to meet strong rules and regulations. It served over 2 million customers last year alone.

In addition, WorldRemit has one of the highest overall review scores on Trustpilot, earning 4.5 out of 5 after 40,000 +reviews. To find out more read our full WorldRemit review.

WorldRemit is a well backed, licensed remittance company operating from the UK. PayPal is one of the largest payment companies in the world and has been the go-to company for receiving payments from credit cards.

Overall WorldRemit wins for international money transfers due to its lower fees, better exchange rates and more ways to receive and pay. In addition, WorldRemit offers more than 100 countries than PayPal to send money.

PayPal is still a good option for money transfers under $300 or £200 due to its percentage based fee structure, but only to a handful of countries.

WorldRemit and PayPal tie for speed of transfer and transfer limits.

Finally, WorldRemit and PayPal are both safe and trustworthy companies to send money overseas.