Compare Transfer Rate
UAE has a majority of expat population. Sending and receiving money from home countries happens is huge on a daily basis. As UAE dirham is pegged to the US dollar, 1 USD = AED 3.67. This rate is constant without any fluctuations.
Whereas other currencies keep fluctuating according to the marketing conditions. There are various currency exchange centers in the UAE that help in converting currency along with banks.
We are comparing two most popular online currency exchange centers Currencyfair and Transferwise here
CurrencyFair
CurrencyFair is a peer to peer currency exchange center that has offices in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong regions. It was founded in the year 2009. It enables more than 20 international currency exchanges. They provide both business and personal accounts.
Services Provided
1. Money Transfer
Using CurrencyFair you can transfer your funds to the recipient at low rates. There is a currency exchange fee that ranges from 0.1% to 0.6% of the exchange amount along with the fixed money transfer fee that is €3.
2. Rate Alerts
CurrencyFair provides alerts to individuals. Customers can get daily alerts, weekly alerts which is the summary of the previous weeks’ rates, and also custom alerts through which the user can get notified when the rates are according to their preferred rate.
3. The CurrencyFair wallet
The wallet can be loaded with the amount and transferred at your convenient time
4. Choose own rate
Users can set their own rate and if the rate matches with other customers who are exchanging with the opposite currency the exchange happens.
How does it work?
- Set up an account: Open a free account on the CurrencyFair
- Create transaction: Enter the amount you want to send along with the recipient’s bank account details
- Send: Add your money to the CurrencyFair account
- Transfer: Once the amount is added along with the exchange and transfer fees, your amount will be transferred to the recipient in 1-2 business days
Trustpilot Reviews 
CurrencyFair has around 3990 reviews on the Trustpilot. It is known for its good and user-friendly services. It has an average rating of 4.5
TransferWise
Transferwise is a London based exchange center started in 2011. With 14 offices around the world, they support the conversion of 750 currencies that includes all the major currencies like USD, EUR, GBP, etc. They have a website and also a mobile app.
Services Provided
TransferWise services are available to both individuals and businesses.
1. Money Transfer
They offer money transfer facilities online by charging low fees on the currency exchange.
2. Debit MasterCard
Apart from currency exchange, customers can get a TransferWise Debit MasterCard that can be used anywhere in the world.
- The Debit Card can be used at various places with the currencies available on the account.
- Cash withdrawal at the ATMs for free
- Only currency conversion charges are levied which ranges from 0.35% to 1%
3. Receive money
You can receive money from 30 international locations without being charged any fees.
4. Exchange rate alerts
TransferWise provides notifications on the exchange rate fluctuations. Users can set up a target exchange rate and get notified and transfer when the rate is suitable for them.
How does it work?
The currency exchange and transfer through TransferWise happen in a few simple steps:
- Open an account: Individuals or Businesses can open an account on TransferWise for free. Each account holder can hold up to 40 different currency balances on their accounts for free.
- Enter amount: Enter the amount you want to transfer and you will be provided the details of the exchange fees along with the estimated transfer date which is around 2 working days.
- Enter the receipt bank details
- If the currency exchange amount is huge i.e if it’s between 20,000 and 130,000 GBP then you need to provide identity proofs.
- Complete the payment. Your amount will be transferred.
- Customers can track their transfer details on their accounts.
Trustpilot Reviews
TransferWise has around 84K excellent reviews on Trustpilot for its fast and reliable services. It has an average rating of 4.5