Panda Remit Review

About Author: Hi, I’m Quinn Askeland. In 2014, I started Transumo after experiencing expensive, slow, and frustrating international money transfers and payments through banks. Once I discovered how to manage my own international currencies much better, I became driven to help others improve their transfers and payments. Fortunately, today, there are many excellent options. See My Full Bio.

Panda Remit is a fast and affordable way to send money to 40+ countries, especially in Asia and Europe. Using their service is easy and the fees are low. It’s a good option for international transfers. However, Panda Remit also has some limitations in coverage, fees, and transfer amounts.

In this Panda Remit review, I will help you decide if Panda Remit is right for you. I will explain its advantages and disadvantages, fees, security, and customer feedback. I will also examine the negative reviews and what they reveal.

Let’s begin!

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1. Panda Remit Review Quick Take

On Trustpilot, Panda Remit is rated 4.0/5 with over 426 reviews, which is considered “Great. Of these reviews 85% are 5-star reviews with 12% as one star reviews. Analysis of the reviews shows Panda Remit is loved for its low fees, ease of use and fast transfers.

What’s Panda Remit’s edge?

Fast transfers – nearly in minutes to Asian and European countries at affordable rates. Check out their calculator here and the first transfer is often fee free!

2. When Panda Remit Works (and When it Doesn’t)

2.1 When Panda Remit Works

Personal transfers for expats and immigrants

Live or work overseas and want to send money to friends and family in Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and some North American countries (the US, Canada, and Mexico)? 

Panda Remit is a good option for fast card-to-bank transfers or slower (and more affordable) bank-to-bank transfers. 

Sending money to most Asian or European countries

Panda Remit supports fast and affordable transfers to most Asian and European countries from the UK, US, Australia, etc. 

However, they have limited support for transfers to North and South America, Africa, and the Middle East. 

Send small amounts in card or bank transfers

Currently, Panda Remit only supports bank-to-bank and card-to-bank transfers in small amounts (the maximum you can send is €3,000 GBP or equivalent).

2.1 When Panda Remit Doesn’t Work

Sending cash or large transfers $ 7000 USD (£4500 GBP/€4500 EU/$9500 CAD AUD) and above

Currently, Panda Remit doesn’t support cash payouts or transfers of large amounts locally or internationally. 

Want to send cash abroad or large amounts over $7000 USD and above? We’ve got you covered. Check out “Panda Remit Alternatives” below.

Sending business payments

Panda Remit doesn’t support business payments to its supported locations – however, we have tried and tested options you can consider (see below). 

Sending money abroad to North and South America, Africa, or the Middle East

Currently, Panda Remit has limited support for countries in these regions and they’re largely focusing on transfers in Asia and Europe. 

Keep reading to learn more about affordable transfers to more regions and more supported currencies (since Panda Remit only supports 20 at the moment).

3. Real Fees (including Hidden Fees)

If you’re wondering whether Panda Remit is free for international transfers, you’re not alone. 

Currently, Panda Remit is running a marketing promotion where they’re waiving the service fees on your first transfer. But all other charges apply. 

Typically, Panda Remit charges the following fees:

1. A service fee
2. A margin on the exchange rate
3. Other miscellaneous fees

1. Service Fee

We’ve thoroughly tested their calculator, and we have compiled a list of fees they charged for the following currencies based on the results.

This fee is waived for the first transfer and does not change as the amount changes.

This is competitive for larger transfers but is relatively expensive for small transfers of less than a few hundred USD.

2. Margin on the exchange rate

According to their fee calculator, Panda Remit offers a rate very close to the mid-market or the interbank rate.  

The good news is: Panda Remit’s margin on the exchange rate is very low – typically around 0.1% to 2% of the amount.

3. Other miscellaneous fees

These include sending and receiving fees charged by banks at either end or debit card fees (usually up to 3% of the amount – varies by location) in case of card-to-bank transfers.

Overall, Panda Remit’s fees are reasonable. But it’s hard to understand what you’re really going to pay for your transfers because they don’t currently offer a fee breakdown on their website – even on their fee calculator. 

Want to send money affordably while making sure you know exactly how much money will arrive? Check out Wise (review). 

They offer transfers at the mid-market rate and no markup on the exchange rate.

4. How Fast is Panda Remit?

Panda Remit offers two types of transfers:

• Card-to-bank 
• Bank-to-bank

Typically, card-to-bank transfers are faster (but more expensive) and can be completed within minutes or at least a few hours. 

Bank-to-bank transfers are slower (but also more affordable) and can take anywhere between 2-5 days. 

This is because bank-to-bank transfers account for the time taken for the money to move from one intermediary bank to another (your account to Panda Remit’s bank account to the recipient’s bank account in another country), including the banking hours in different countries. 

Please note that the transfer can be delayed if you set it up over a weekend or public holiday since banks are closed during this time.

5. Panda Remit Alternatives

6. What do Panda Remit Customers Say (including Negative Reviews)?

Panda Remit is rated 4/5 with over 426 reviews since they’re pretty new (founded in 2018). 

Of these, 89% of reviews are positive (4- and 5-star reviews), while 10% are negative. 

We went through most of these real user reviews to give you a balanced view of the service.

Understanding the negatives

Transfer delays

Usually, Panda Remit is quick to process their transfers, but sometimes there can be delays. 

If it’s your first transfer, the identity verification process can take longer, which leads to delays. Delays can also be caused if you’re trying to send a large amount – Panda Remit will flag and pause this transfer because you can only send up to €3,000 GBP or equivalent. 

Delays can also be caused if you’ve set up your bank-to-bank transfer over the weekend or on a public holiday. 

Customer service

Panda Remit’s customer service can be a hit and a miss. Officially, they’re available 24×7 on Whatsapp. However, their customer service representatives may be busy at times, which can lead to longer response times. 

Panda Remit has responded to their negative feedback on Trustpilot stating that users can also email them in case the chat is unavailable.

7. Is Panda Remit Safe?

Short answer: yes. 

Panda Remit is regulated by the financial authorities in many countries. 

For example, it’s regulated and registered by 

• Austrac in Australia
• MAS in Singapore

Other compliance can be found here

It also has a PCI DSS to protect those card-to-bank transfers and its online data encryption services are provided by Symantec, a leader in online data security that’s also trusted by hundreds of high street banks. 

Additionally, Panda Remit is financially backed by Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Partners. Sequoia is also known for backing fin-tech giants like Apple and Google – which gives confidence, Panda Remit is a safe and trustworthy money transfer company.

Verdict

Panda Remit is relatively new but it is emerging as a great option for expats and immigrants who live and work abroad and want to send money home (small bank-to-bank transfers) to friends and family, especially in Asia or Europe. 

Based on their strong Trustpilot score and the fact they are backed by Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Partners gives us a lot of confidence.

Their fees are pretty low and you can often get the first transfer fee free with a very competitive exchange rate.

Panda Remit doesn’t support cash or large transfers right now, but that may change in the future.

For now, we recommend services like WorldRemit (review) and Remitly (review) for cash transfers and OFX (review) and TorFX (review) /CurrenciesDirect (review) for large bank transfers.

Panda Remit Review (Uncovered) → 7 Things You Must Knows

Panda Remit review: A good option for sending money abroad with a 4/5 Trustpilot ratings. However, it has cons on coverage and fees.

Editor's Rating:
4