Xoom Canada Money Transfer: Fees, Rates and How To

If you need to send money abroad, you might well be feeling slightly overwhelmed by options. It could seem simplest to use your bank, but in fact that could end up proving more time-consuming and expensive than using another provider altogether. But which one?

There are many specialist international transfer providers out there, but one you might well have heard of is Xoom. Formerly an independent company, it’s now run by PayPal. It used to only send money out of the USA, but it’s slowly been expanding its reach: you can now also send money in Canadian dollars, British pounds, and euros.¹

In this article you can find more information about:

• The fees for an international money transfer with Xoom
• The exchange rate Xoom will use for your transfer
• Where you can send money from and to
• How it works
• If Xoom has a money transfer app

What’s an alternative provider to Xoom for your international money transfer?

Before you make your international transfer with any bank or provider, it’s good to do a bit of research. An alternative to Xoom could be Wise.

Let’s compare Xoom to Wise for a fictive transfer of 500 CAD to be received in GBP in The UK.

The upfront fees for Wise are higher than the ones that Xoom charges, but with Wise you know that they end there, as there’s no markup added to the exchange rate. Your money is always converted with the real mid-market rate. This way you’ll know exactly what your transfer will cost you, and there’s no surprises at the end. Xoom also makes money on the exchange rate, and although they show you the exchange rate upfront they don’t say how high the percentage of the markup is. You can compare the exchange rate yourself, though, by simply Googling your currency pair or by using an online currency converter.

Create your free Wise account, today

So, then, here’s your guide to using Xoom to send money to or from Canada.

What are the fees for an international money transfer with Xoom?

Sending money abroad is all about... well, money. So it makes sense to want to know exactly what it’ll actually cost, and to find your cheapest option.

With Xoom, the main cost is a transaction fee, but that’s not quite the end of the story. Xoom also makes money when it exchanges your money into the foreign currency², as we’ll explain later.

The transfer fee might change depending on how much you’re sending, where you’re sending to and from, as well as how you choose to pay – and how the money is received (into a bank account, by cash pickup or delivery).

There are too many possibilities to share them all with you, but here’s an example: what it currently costs to send CAD 500 from Canada to be received in EUR in France via Xoom.²

If you pay by credit card, there might be an additional fee from your credit card company.

Those fees are just a snapshot. If you vary the transfer amount, you could get a totally different breakdown. Sending CAD 2,000, for instance, a credit or debit card payment will set you back CAD 42.49, but if you use the other payment methods there’s no transfer fee at all.²

What exchange rate do you get with Xoom?

Regardless of the details of your payment, the other thing to bear in mind is the exchange rate. There’s an important disclaimer included in Xoom’s fee calculator, which reads: *Xoom also makes money from currency exchange.*²

That means that Xoom isn’t going to exchange your money at the mid-market exchange rate that financial institutions tend to use when they trade money between themselves. Instead, they’re going to mark that rate up, so that you effectively pay a bit more for your transaction. The difference can quickly mount up to a significant sum, especially when you transfer a high amount.

When you set up the payment, you can see the exchange rate that Xoom will use for your payment in their fee calculator. If you’d like to know how big the difference is with the actual mid-market rate, you can google your currency pair at the same time, or use an online currency converter, for example.

Get the mid-market rate for your payments, with Wise

Where can you send money with Xoom?

As mentioned before, Xoom used to let you send money exclusively from US dollars, but it’s widened its remit in recent years. You can also send money from CAD, EUR and GBP. You should keep the following in mind, though:

• You can send USD only from a US bank account³
• You can send CAD only from a Canadian bank account⁴
• You can send GBP from a bank account in the UK, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey⁵
• You can send EUR from over 30 countries⁶

The number of countries you can send money to, though, is far longer, and there are different ways for your recipient to receive it⁷:

• Bank deposit
• Cash pick up
• Delivery service

Not all 3 delivery methods are supported in each country, so it’s a good idea to check this beforehand.⁷

How does a money transfer with Xoom work?

Here’s a guide to making an online payment with Xoom.⁸

1. Create an account. You’ll need to provide contact information.
2. Set up a payment source – this can be a bank account, credit or debit card or your PayPal account, if you have one. The payment source will be connected to your account once you’ve used it in a transaction.
3. Key in the details of your transfer – where it’s going, how much, payment and delivery methods. Look at the fees and exchange rate, and accept if you’re happy.
4. Pay Xoom the transfer amount.
5. Wait for your money to arrive.

If you’re planning on sending higher amounts Xoom might ask you for additional information or documents, to verify your profile with them.⁹

Does Xoom have a money transfer app?

Xoom also has an app that you can use to transfer money abroad, it’s available for both iOS and Android.¹⁰

If you’re curious about Wise instead, its app is also available from Apple and Google. With the Wise app you can easily set up payments, cancel them if needed, and track their progress.

However you choose to transfer your money, good luck on finding the perfect provider for you, and getting a good deal.

Sources used for this article:
1.Find Xoom send money options, here
2.Fee example for sending money to France
3.Info about sending money from USD
4.Info about sending money from CAD, here
5.Info about sending money from GBP
6.Info about sending money from EUR, here
7.More infoabout transfer locations and their receiving options
8.Xoom basics, here
9.Here you’ll find requirements for sending higher amounts
10.More info about the Xoom app
*All sources last checked on February 26, 2020