Transferring money to a remote party can be a stressful process because there’s always the concern that the funds could be lost in transition. While the chances of that happening are low, and most popular money transfer services are fairly safe, there are still certain features and attributes that you’ll want to compare before choosing a platform to facilitate your money transfer. With that said, here are the three most important features to look for when choosing a method for sending and receiving money online:
1. Speed and Convenience
Of course, whenever you’re sending money to someone you want them to get the funds as quickly as possible without any unnecessary delays. You also want to know that the process for sending the money is quick and easy. To see an example of a user -friendly money transfer interface, check out how Ria lets you send money online by filling out a few forms. Overall, the process should take no more than 5 minutes and the money should be available to your recipient the same day. Any process that takes 1-2 business days for the funds to clear – such as an ACH or bank transfer – is not an ideal money transfer service if speed is important.
2. Location Availability
If you’re going to be using money transfer services multiple times in the future, you never want to doubt whether they have a location near the recipient. Choose a service that is known for having an extensive network of agent locations. Using the previous example as a reference, Ria has more than 377,000 locations worldwide in 149 countries. Widespread distribution of agent locations ensures that you probably won’t have to search for another transfer service when sending to a new recipient in a different area.
3. Customer Service
Trying out the customer service of a money transfer company is a wise step to take just to confirm that you’ll be able to receive helpful and responsive support in the event of an issue. If you run into a problem where the recipient is unable to pick up the funds that you’ve sent, you won’t want to be waiting on hold for hours to speak to someone or dealing with a gauntlet of automated prompts before you can get an actual agent on the line. Thus, giving their customer service hotline a call is a recommended preliminary step to take before you make your selection.
Only Deal with Reputable Money Transfer Services
In closing, it’s best to avoid new services and stick to the tried and trusted providers when it comes to sending money. There are plenty of apps and virtual card services that are making the process of sending money online easier, but none of them have the kind of track record that big companies like Western Union have built. In fact, many of these new services don’t even have phone support and will make you wait 1-2 days for an email response if you encounter a problem that needs to be addressed.
