Curexe money transfer review — Fees, rates and transfer times

Curexe was founded by entrepreneur Jonathan Holland in 2014 and offers money transfer services to a range of businesses. Its website says that it helps businesses expand into international markets, offering certain services which are not well covered by conventional banks. It claims to offer lower fees than other providers — we’ll talk later about what you’ll pay for using Curexe. ¹

As always when thinking about choosing a service to handle your finances, it’s important to spend a little time checking the fine print and the current details. It could be that another service, such as Wise, would be an alternative option for your needs. In this article, we’ll give you all the information you need to decide whether Curexe offers the right balance of fees and features for you.

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How does an international transfer with Curexe work?

Curexe partners with third parties for some services. These include online invoice funding platform FundThrough and small business loan provider Lending Loop.² It’s important to check the latest details in the terms and conditions, as the identity of partners can change from time to time.

Before you can transfer money with Curexe, you’ll need to set up an account. You can do this online, and you’ll need to upload a copy of your personal ID and a business ID.³ This lets Curexe check that you’re who you say you are. The signup process should only take a few minutes.

Once your account has been approved, you can send money straight away. This is a totally online process. Be careful when you’re entering the name of the recipient, as making an error can lead to problems. If the names don’t match up, the receiving bank may even decline the transaction, which can mean delays.⁴

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Since everyone will have different needs, it’s always a good idea to spend some time researching possible alternative providers. One of these worth checking out is Wise, a new alternative to conventional banks that aims to make international transactions simple. Compared with traditional bank transfers, sending money with Wise can work out a whole lot cheaper, since you won’t get hit with markups on the exchange rate, or have to pay fees from intermediary banks along the way. With a free Wise borderless account, you can hold funds in over 40 currencies, stop worrying about paying a pile of different fees, and get paid in some of the world’s most popular currencies — including US dollars and euros — just as if you had a bank account in those countries.

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What are the fees when you want to transfer money overseas with Curexe?

Something that’s always worth bearing in mind when you send money is that there are likely to be fees and charges to add on to the total amount you’re sending. These can range from foreign transaction fees to charges for using certain currencies. One of the good things about Curexe’s service is that its fee structure is really simple, since they include any fees charged by banks in their main transfer fee.

Fee type	Amount
Transfer fee	1% of total converted currency ³
Currency exchange fee	None
Exchange rate markup	None — uses mid-market rate (see below)

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What are the currencies that Curexe supports?

Curexe allows you to transfer money in a number of currencies. The exact range available can change from time to time, so it’s always a good idea to check the latest situation. You can find the details on Curexe’s website. Currently, you can make payments in the following currencies: ³

• Canadian dollars
• US dollars
• Euros
• British pounds
• Singapore dollars
• Japanese yen
• Swiss francs

There are a small number of countries which you won’t be able to send money to with Curexe, which we’ve listed below. You’ll see that most of these are unlikely to affect the vast majority of Canadian businesses — but a few more common destinations, such as India and Russia, are not available. Again, check the latest details on Curexe’s site before you sign up.³

• Belarus
• Burma
• Central African Republic
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Eritrea
• India
• Iran
• Iraq
• Lebanon
• Liberia
• Libya
• North Korea
• Russia
• Somalia
• South Sudan
• Sudan
• Syria
• Tunisia
• Ukraine
• Yemen
• Zimbabwe

If you want to transfer money in a currency that Curexe doesn’t offer, it may well be worth looking at alternative providers. One of these is Wise, where an account will let you hold and manage money in over 40 currencies worldwide. This may end up saving you money when exchange rates change.

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What is the exchange rate you get with Curexe?

Unlike some other providers, Curexe offers the mid-market rate. This is the number you’ll see when you check an exchange rate with a service like Google or Yahoo. That’s a really nice feature, and one which can save you quite a bit of money over conventional banks, since you won’t be hit for the extra costs incurred by a markup. It’s not quite as simple as that, though, as Curexe adds a flat rate of 1% on all transfers. Make sure you bear that in mind when you’re comparing your options.⁴

You may want to take a look at Wise, too. As with Curexe, you’ll get the benefit of the mid-market rate, meaning no extra charges from exchange rate markup. With Wise, you’ll also get benefits such as easy online setup and zero fees for receiving money in some of the most popular currencies, including US dollars, euros and pounds sterling.

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Are there any limits to the amount you can transfer with Curexe?

One thing you’ll need to check before choosing a provider for money transfers is whether they have limits on how much you can send. If your business regularly needs to send large amounts, then there’s no point in picking a provider that has a low upper limit. Similarly, if you often need to make small transactions, you won’t want to choose a service which doesn’t allow this or piles on extra fees for the privilege.

Curexe’s rules on this are pretty simple. You’ll need to transfer a minimum of $5,000 every time you make a transaction. Given what we said a minute ago, you’ll need to consider whether that lower limit is going to work for you. There’s no upper limit at all, so very large transfers won’t be a problem. The good news is that these limits apply across the board, with no differences for specific currencies.⁴

If you’re looking for a money transfer with lower limits, one possible alternative is a Wise business multi-currency account, which we’ve mentioned. With no sign-up fees, it’s definitely worth a try. You’ll get access to over 40 currencies and your own Eurozone, US, Australia, New Zealand, and UK bank details to get paid like a local.

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How long does an international transfer with Curexe take?

One of the most important things you’ll want to know with any money transfer is how long it’s going to take. With Curexe, this can vary a little according to which of two methods you’re using to send the money.

If you choose to send using wire transfer, this will take between one and three business days. Although this is potentially the quicker method, it may be slowed down because you’ll need to go through your bank and that may cause additional delays.

Curexe says that a fully online transfer using a Pre-Authorized Debit will take a total of two to four business days. This can be done without visiting your bank in person.

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How can you contact Curexe?

Curexe’s website offers three ways of getting in touch. Since they don’t have bricks-and-mortar locations, none of these involve going into a branch. Instead, you can contact Curexe in any of the following ways:³

• By using the form on their website to ask a question
• By calling them on +1 (888) 928 7393
• By sending an email to support@curexe.com

Curexe’s money transfer service has some nice features, such as a simple fee structure and its use of the mid-market rate for transferring between currencies. At the time of writing it offers transactions in a range of currencies, that may not be enough for some businesses.The minimum transaction limit is another reason, why Curexe maynot be the right solution for everyone. Think about your business needs and compare other providers before you make a final decision. With a bit of research you’ll be sure to find the best solution for you and your business.

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Sources:

1. Curexe - About us 9 July 2019
2. Curexe - Partners 10 July 2019
3. Curexe - Support 10 July 2019
4. Curexe - Terms of use 10 July 2019