Is Xoom Safe? Full guide

Xoom®¹ lets you send money quickly and conveniently, around the world, to bank accounts, debit cards, and as cash. But is Xoom safe? What Xoom security features can you expect to demonstrate your money is in safe hands?

This guide covers Xoom safety measures, licensing and how to find more about Xoom user experiences so you can check out what existing customers have to say.

Plus, we’ll touch on Wise - a non-bank alternative you can use for fast, cheap and secure payments to 160+ countries globally².

How safe is Xoom for international money transfers?

Xoom is safe to use for international money transfers as long as you take normal common sense security steps.

Xoom is a PayPal® company, which means it’s backed by one of the world’s leading payment service providers. Xoom operates under PayPal licenses³, including US state licenses⁴, and permissions from other jurisdictions and regulators, such as the FCA in the UK.

That means all payments must be made following strict rules - plus Xoom uses encryption and 24/7 fraud monitoring to keep customers safe. They’re so confident that there’s a money back guarantee if your payment doesn’t get to where it should.

Understanding Xoom’s security infrastructure

Xoom was built with security in mind. That means there are various security features built into the way the service was designed and works. Let’s walk through some of the key things to know.

What security features does Xoom have in place to protect user data?

Xoom uses 128-bit data security encryption to protect customer data - and any stored information is protected both physically and electronically behind a firewall, on secure servers5.

Xoom is a VeriSign secured site and uses a VeriSign SSL Certificate to secure customer information when transmitting it electronically. That means your data should be safe whenever it’s held or transmitted by Xoom.

Xoom also has regular checks and audits in place to spot and fix vulnerabilities, and requires all staff to undergo financial and criminal background screening before they start work.

Xoom's user authentication protocols

When you create a Xoom account you’ll need to also set up a secure password which you must not share with anyone, and 2 factor authentication.

2 factor authentication is an extra layer of security which means that only you can get into your Xoom account. When you log into your account you may be asked to enter a secure code.

This code will have been sent to one of your registered contact addresses - your email for example. You’ll need to open your mail and enter the code before you can continue - which means only someone who has login access to both Xoom and your email can get into your account.

Make low cost international transfers with Wise

Another smart option if you’re sending money overseas. Meet Wise.

Register a Wise account online or in the Wise app, and send digital payments from your bank account to 70+ countries, with the mid-market exchange rate and low, transparent fees.

Wise always shows you the amount you’re paying and how much your recipient will get — and you can even compare against other providers on the Wise app or desktop site. If another service is cheaper for your particular payment, you’ll be shown — so you can’t lose.

Send money abroad with Wise

See how Wise compares with international bank transfers in our full guide

Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information

Protecting your transactions: Xoom’s safety features

Xoom also works hard to protect customers from fraud and scams. Unfortunately, criminals do target services like Xoom to try to get money from unsuspecting and vulnerable victims.

To prevent this, Xoom has a range of fraud monitoring protocols and safety features in place.

Fraud prevention and monitoring

To help prevent fraud, Xoom suggests you only send money to or fulfill money requests from people you know and trust, and never send money on behalf of others6.

Xoom operates proprietary compliance and anti-fraud policies and procedures, which are mandated by the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA Patriot Act, and other laws and regulations.

This means that Xoom will monitor transactions to spot suspicious activities, including potentially fraudulent transfers, and any illegal account usage.

Refund and resolution policies

Xoom has a comprehensive refund policy. If your money does not get to the person you were sending to, there’s a refund guarantee. If you’re a victim of fraud, you may also receive a full refund from Xoom.

Bear in mind that refunds will be subject to investigation and may not be issued if you've used your account for activities not covered by the customer agreements, or if you’ve not taken standard steps to secure your own account properly.

Can Xoom transactions be traced and reversed?

Xoom transactions can only be canceled if they’ve not yet reached their destination. As many Xoom transactions take only moments to complete once you’ve hit confirm this means that in practice, they can’t be canceled, traced or reversed.

If you’ve made a Xoom payment and want to cancel, you’ll need to log into your Xoom account and go to the activity list. Find the transaction you want to cancel, and if the cancel icon is visible, click it.

If the cancel icon isn’t visible on screen, the money has already reached its destination and the payment can’t be stopped or reversed⁷.

How does Xoom handle data breaches and security incidents?

If you think someone has used your account without authorization you must report it by email at reportfraud@xoom.com. Xoom will secure your account and investigate what’s happened.

If someone has managed to use your account fraudulently - for example, because they stole your password - Xoom could refund any money you’ve lost.

User experiences and Xoom safety review

Xoom is an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau online reliability program, and in general Xoom expert reviews agree that it’s a safe service to use as long as you stick within the customer agreement and only send money to people you know.

Xoom user experiences can be found on a review site like Trustpilot⁸. On Trustpilot, Xoom has over 22,000 reviews listed. It only scores 2.2 stars out of 5, which isn’t great - but it’s interesting to note that 85% of reviews are actually 5 out of 5 stars. The average is pulled down by the fact that 8% of reviews give only 1 star.

Positive reviews tend to focus on the ease of use and speed of payment delivery.

1 star reviews are often related to security checks that Xoom has had to make which may have slowed down payments, or even meant that a payment couldn’t be processed at all. This is frustrating, but it’s something all financial service providers must do, and an important part of keeping customers and their money safe.

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So there you have it - a full Xoom safety review. The good news is that Xoom is safe for payments within the customer agreement. Send money only to friends and family, and people you know and trust - and you should be OK.

Before you decide to use Xoom, though, compare the prices and exchange rates on offer for your transfer with alternative providers like Wise. Wise offers international payments to be deposited in bank accounts in 160+ countries, with the mid-market rate, and low fees from 0.43%².

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Sources:

1. Xoom
2. Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information
3. Xoom legal
4. PayPal state licenses
5. Online security and privacy at Xoom
6. Xoom - how to send money safely
7. Xoom help - can I cancel my transaction?
8. Trustpilot Xoom

Sources checked on 11.24.2023