2021 Azimo Money Transfer Review

Azimo is one of the seemingly infinite number of dedicated online international money transfer companies out there, in addition to high street banks, picking the best one for you or your business can sometimes be a hassle. They are by no means the largest money transfer provider in today's market. Still, they do have a vast and extensive network, meaning you can send money to almost anywhere in the world.

Furthermore, Azimo offers flexibility when receiving and sending funds. Your recipient can receive the money directly to their bank account, opt for a cash pick-up, or simply in the Azimo app.

In this review, we will share everything you need to know about Azimo, including:

The pros and cons of using Azimo services
Azimo fees
And which alternatives you may also consider.

The Benefits of Using Azimo

Azimo should be considered an attractive option for people looking to send or receive money. Here's why

Speedy Transfers

Payment times vary quite widely from country to country when using Azimo, but they can be as fast as a few hours. Bear in mind that fees for transactions are typically higher than standard money transfers, which may take up to three days to reach your recipient, depending on the end location. Most transfers within Europe, however, arrive fairly promptly.

Around 95% of transfers by Azimo reach the recipient within 24 hours, while cash delivery can be done instantly from Europe to more than 50 countries.

Comprehensive Coverage

With Azimo, you can send money to almost any country in the world. They allow customers to remit funds to over 195 countries, the likes of the Philippines, Bangladesh, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Moreover, you can exchange over 80 currencies when sending money abroad via Azimo.

Azimo has partnered with thousands of banks, so you can remit money to a bank account that belongs to one of over 20,000 banks (both global and local banks and banking associations.) Alternatively, if your recipient prefers an old-school cash pick-up, you can send the money to one of almost 300,000 cash pick-up locations all over the globe.

Azimo's impressive and comprehensive network is worth considering if you're looking to send funds to a remote or obscure country. Or if you want to use one payment provider to regularly remit funds to various locations scattered all over the world, Azimo may be the best solution for you.

Multi-lingual Platform

Azimo's website and apps are available in ten languages to make their service more accessible and easy to use for those who aren't proficient in English or other popular languages.

This multi-lingual approach goes hand in hand with Azimo's strategy of striving to be the leading international currency transfer provider and goes well with its impressive network.

Regulation and Trust

Azimo is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the DNB in the Netherlands, and other financial regulators for their respective countries. As per FCA rules, they have to segregate clients' funds, ensuring protection to customers while their money is in transit.

Online transfers made by Azimo are encrypted, as our customers' personal data, and anti-fraud technology is also utilized throughout the process to ensure security. Azimo has won and been nominated for several industry awards, including winning the Best Start-Up Award at Payexpo in 2013 and being a finalist at Innotribe 2013. Over one million people per year use them.

Sign-Up Bonuses

Azimo offers separate sign-up promotions for business and personal customers. For example, business customers are given five fee-free international transfers by Azimo after signing up. New business customers can also take advantage of better exchange rates on certain remits, as an additional sign-up bonus.

Meanwhile, new personal customers get their first two transactions free of any transfer fees. However, they are still charged a spread.

Competitive Fees

Azimo's fees and fee structure vary extensively. Depending on the currency of your transaction, the country you're sending funds to, and your payment method, you'll either be charged a flat rate or a fee which is a percentage of your transaction amount.

Azimo is by no means the cheapest option out there. Still, their rates are reasonably competitive and represent excellent value for money, especially when all the benefits mentioned above are considered.

Range of Payment Options

Customers of Azimo are afforded a great deal of flexibility when funding their transfers. You can pay via your bank account, credit card, debit, e-wallet, or other online payment methods. This will be more of a bonus to some than others, but more flexibility is always a good thing.

The Drawbacks of Using Azimo

Azimo is certainly a great way to send money abroad, but as with anything, it has its cons.

Limited Availability

Although you can send money to almost any country in the world, their service is restricted to European nationals. This effectively means that most countries they serve can only receive funds, not also remit them.

So, if you don't live in a European country, Azimo may not be the right global payment provider for you, unless you just want to receive money.

However, if you do live in a European country, this isn't a drawback at all. You'll be able to send money even if you're traveling abroad, assuming you've already opened an account with Azimo.

Not the Cheapest Option Out There

As mentioned earlier in this review, Azimo's fees are reasonable and quite competitive. Still, there are quite a few cheaper alternatives.

It's important to work out the actual cost of your transfer when making comparisons. To do this, you should see how much each company charges you on the specific amount you want to send, to the specific country you want to send it to, and also add on the "spread" you are charged.

This "spread" charge stems from the fact that banks and most payment providers take a small margin when exchanging your money into another currency. This is another fee, in addition to the explicit charges.

However, some global remit companies, such as Transferwise, don't charge you a spread, so you should bear this in mind when comparing their fees to their rivals.

For example, if you send EUR1,000 to a European nation with Azimo, you'll be charged a transfer fee of £11.99, and your recipient will get EUR1,169.88 after the spread has been charged. If you use Transferwise for the same transaction, your recipient would receive EUR1,189.81 so your fees are about EUR20 higher with Azimo.

However, if you sent the money via MoneyGram, your recipient would just pick up EUR1,157.59. So Azimo's fees are around EUR12 lower for this particular transaction than MoneyGram's.

Credit Card Fees

Azimo offers an impressive array of options to fund your transactions, but some incur additional charges. Funding your payment by credit card results in an additional 2.99 percent charge. This may not sound like a huge amount, but it can prove quite costly if you're transferring a large amount or are regularly making payments abroad.

When added to the transfer fees and the exchange rate spread, this 2.99 percent credit card fee makes Azimo less expensive to use than some of its rivals.

It is therefore advisable to avoid using your credit card to fund your Azimo transfers unless it's an emergency or a one-off.

No Telephone Transfers

As mentioned, Azimo allows customers to transfer funds from their app or website both of which are intuitive and easy to use. While this may be good for most people, some may prefer to send or receive money via telephone transfer either because they're not tech-savvy, or they feel more comfortable interacting with a person (particularly if it's a significant amount).

Azimo does not currently offer telephone transfers, and it's hard to imagine them incorporating it into their services in the future, as it would be against the trend of automation and digitalization.

Azimo Alternatives

There are hundreds of global money transfer companies out there, so there is no shortage of competition to Azimo and alternatives for you to pick from. Depending on your location and preferences, Azimo may or may not be better suited to your needs.

Transferwise

Transferwise is a dedicated global money transfer service. They believe in low, transparent fees, so customers' funds are exchanged at the true mid-market rate in the FOREX market, so you'll never be charged a spread with them.

Like Azimo, they are regulated by the FCA in the UK and several other financial regulators all over the world, so they are trustworthy and safe to use.

When it comes to coverage, however, Azimo is far superior, and very few competitors can match its near-comprehensive global coverage.

PayPal

PayPal is another alternative to Azimo, but its fees are higher, and it can take quite a long time for the funds to reach your recipient if you're paying by e-cheque. However, in most cases, transfers are immediate, and you can take advantage of PayPal's impressive reach to send money to almost any country in the world.

MoneyGram

MoneyGram, the world's second-largest money transfer provider, also has a great global reach. Although MoneyGram's fees are higher than Azimo's in some cases, you're likely to find MoneyGram to be cheaper if you're remitting large sums of money abroad. However, some customers have reported difficulties using MoneyGram's platform, and it has just an overall one-star rating on Yelp.

Banks

High street banks also offer global money transfer solutions, and some of them have fees on par with Azimo's. There's a lot of variation from bank to bank in terms of fees, delivery times, and flexibility. So it's always best to check the specifics with yours and see how it stacks up against the alternatives.

It should be noted that almost every bank charges its customers a spread on currency exchanges.

What Azimo's customers say...

Azimo customers have left over 35,000 reviews on TrustPilot as of the time of writing. Seventy-eight percent rated the company's services "excellent," 14 percent "great," and four percent "average." One percent of customers rated them "poor," while three percent gave them a "bad" rating.

Verified reviewers on TrustPilot described their service as "very quick" and "reliable." At the same time, one said their app is "very easy to use."

Quick Summary - Azimo International Payment and Money Transfer

Azimo is a medium-sized international payment transfer company, with over one million customers per year.
They are regulated by the FCA in the UK and the DNB in the Netherlands, so they adhere to strict segregation and customer protection rules.
Azimo boasts an impressive, near-comprehensive global network. You can remit funds to over 195 countries and exchange between 80 currencies, but you can only send money from within Europe.
They offer speedy payments and flexible options to fund your transfers, though paying by credit card incurs additional fees.
They offer sign-up bonuses in the form of a few fee-free transactions for new personal and business customers.
Their fees are lower than many of their rivals, but there are cheaper alternatives out there, like Transferwise.
Seventy-eight percent of customers rated Azimo's services "excellent," while just three percent gave them a "bad" rating.
Reviewers have described Azimo as highly reliable and were impressed by their app.