OFX is a part of the OzForex company; a re-branding of the more commonly known Canadian alias, CanadianForex.
First established in 1998 as an Australian based foreign exchange, OFX steadily expanded its network across borders and now has 6 major offices around the world.
Through consistent business practices and successful currency conversion services, OFX managed to transact over $150 billion to this day.
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Given OFX’s successful integration of both physical/online currency exchange services, they have developed a good reputation for service quality.
Throughout this guide we will evaluate what OFX does best and the areas where their services lack in comparison to others.
Based on their fee structures and exchange rate offerings, you could get a good deal with OFX in certain circumstances (specifically in transactions exceeding $10,000). If saving money on small to medium sized transactions is your goal (competitive fees and exchange rates) there are better options available.
OFX delivers a wide variety of both common and uncommonly traded currencies to their clients.
Since the company was founded, OFX has worked on its reputation as a popular cost-saving money transfer service. At the end of the day their services are definitely not “one size fits all,” there are certainly areas where they perform better than others.
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In order to give you a more in-depth view of the FX marketplace, we’ve compiled some public information about OFX. With so many potential foreign exchange opportunities on the market, it’s crucial to be able to distinguish between alternatives.*
*Please be advised: this review is intended to be purely informational. KnightsbridgeFX and OFX are not in an affiliate relationship or partnership.
STEP 1: Access their website online and sign up for free/check physical office locations.
STEP 2: Register by sharing your personal identification information. Follow up by answering either a phone call or an email with OFX.
STEP 3: Set up your international money transfer. Input a recipient, desired type of currency, recipient’s location, and lock in the exchange rate plus any associated fees.
STEP 4: Decide on the payment funding method (electronic bank transfer, wire transfer, ACH, or debit funding).
The best way to get the most accurate quotes/rates from OFX is to contact them directly, either through their website or customer support line.
It’s important to realize that your recipient’s financial institution may charge an inbound processing fee. Speaking plainly, this fee is usually out of OFX’s control – and as a result you may see a lower value in your recipient account than what was initially quoted.
Of course this fee is entirely dependent on the third parties/intermediaries involved in your money transfer.
As a general rule, all transactions valued under $10,000 at OFX come with a fixed fee of $15. This fee coupled with their exchange rate mark-ups can eliminate any cost-saving possibilities on small sized transfers.
The company also has a strict minimum transfer size ladder that depends on the transaction method, and the range is quite large.
Spot rate transfers require a minimum of $250 Australian dollars whereas online limit orders require a minimum of $30,000 Australian dollars per transaction.
OFX does not have completely transparent rates, in other words you cannot directly find them without requesting a quote. Due to this fact it is hard to determine the exact weight of their exchange rate mark-ups.
One advantage to OFX’s exchange rate offering over a lot of the competition is their transaction value to cost ratio. If you’re willing to book a substantial transaction size with OFX (well over $10,000) you’ll get closer to the mid-market rate than any major bank.
Speaking plainly, the more money you wish to convert with OFX the better deal you’ll get – extremely large transfer amounts will net you the best rates.
One of the most sure-fire ways to educate yourself on the quality of a service – before you use it – is to read up on customer reviews. Due to individuals having complete anonymity online, legitimate reviews are typically honest.
The company has historically offered quality customer service and attention to detail. Their reviews on TrustPilot are mostly positive.
Since OFX allows you to transfer vast transaction amounts at once (capped at a whopping $2 billion USD per transfer) their currency conversion security needs to be top notch.
Any transfer delays that occur as a result of large-sized transaction amounts is a result of personal document verification and re-verification to lower their risk of fraud.
You may also find comfort in the fact OFX is a public traded company on the Australian stock exchange (ASX) that undergoes both mandated and in-house audits regularly.
All funds that are stored within your account are kept separate from the business’ operational funding. OFX deposits your money in a different bank file to minimize your risk of losses in the unlikely event of company-wide insolvency.
The company also implements other types of account protection services to keep your funds secured. For example, OFX utilizes a SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption which develops a safe online instance to protect your identity when registering.
Through more than 20 years of successful foreign exchange business, OFX has received fairly good customer feedback.
OFX has roughly 4000 public reviews on TrustPilot, and an overwhelming amount of the reviews consist of high praise. The cumulative scoring of these reviews has averaged the company to a 4.3 out of 5 stars rating.
OFX’s foreign exchange system includes a good amount of variety in its service offering. We’ll go over the different features and transaction types that are currently available.
These types of transactions are usually done “on the spot” and also referred to as single money transfers.
With OFX, you can lock-in the current exchange rate for a money transfer – this way, even if your order takes several days to arrive at the recipient, it’ll only be subject to the rate you’ve locked in at the start.
Recurring transfers allow clients to create scheduled transfer times with scheduled payments, regularly. Typically customers should use this method if they need to make periodic foreign bill payments (like overseas education cost and mortgages).
It’s important to note that scheduling timely payments won’t get you the best rate guaranteed each time.
OFX allows users to set limit orders on their international money transfers. Generally, this is a good tool to use if you feel like the current exchange rate is unfavourable. You could set a desired exchange rate, and if the target is hit in the near future, your order will be filled.
A great benefit of using limit orders is in its automatic processing – as long as your recipient can wait to receive funds, the transaction will complete even if you “set and forget.”
Otherwise known as CanadianForex, OFX is a long-running foreign exchange business that first established its roots in Sydney, Australia. The company specializes in international currency conversion and moving money across borders for both individuals and businesses.
The company’s founder Matthew Gilmour created the parent company, OzForex, which was rebranded to represent the various territories that their foreign exchange services impacted. Popular subsidiaries include CanadianForex, UKForex, USForex, and NZForex.
As of 2017, the newly appointed CEO became John Alexander Malcolm to take the company in a new strategic direction.
All in all, OFX is a respectable money transfer service with many wholesome reviews on TrustPilot. However, no foreign exchange company can substitute as an “all in one” service, given that they all specialize in different areas.
It’s important to find the deal that’s right for you, and that involves considering: your propensity to save money, your recipient’s location/bank, speed of the transfer, quality of service, and overall reliability.
While OFX certainly offers better rates than banks, that does not mean they offer the best money-saving exchanges on the market.
For instance, OFX promises free transactions on transfers exceeding $10,000 while KnightsbridgeFX will give you a free transaction over $2000!
KnightsbridgeFX can help save you hundreds of dollars on foreign exchange depending on your transaction amount. We take pride in our competitive exchange rates (which feature very low mark-ups from the live market rate) and our ability to provide free wire transfers on transaction amounts exceeding $2000.
By choosing KnightsbridgeFX you’ll receive a transparent rate that is guaranteed to beat the big banks, with absolutely no hidden fees involved. Signing up and booking a transaction is fast and simple!
Call us today learn more about our services or request a quote at: 1-877-355-5239
Check out our reviews of HiFX and WorldFirst here to learn about other currency exchange alternatives.
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KnightsbridgeFx is registered with FINTRAC, under the MSB registration number M09819788. Like most financial institutions, we are required to validate the identity of all clients. We have strict measures in place to protect your privacy.
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