How to Send Money Through Wave App

Wave money transfer Review: Is it safe? How does it work? What are the rates?

Wave offers money transfers from the UK, the US and Canada to countries in Africa

Wave money transfers can only be made from their mobile app, available on Apple and Android devices

Transfers are made from the sender's bank account directly to the mobile wallet of the beneficiary

Money transfers are very fast, often arriving almost immediately

Our independent review of Wave Money Transfer

Wave is a money transfer provider offering very fast currency exchange services in Africa. Although they only offer a limited range of countries to send from and to, they do not charge fees and provide a simply and easy-to-use mobile app.

Wave only allows you to transfer money via their dedicated smartphone application, available for both Apple and Android phones. Customers in the US, the UK and Canada can send money, and current receiving countries include Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. Although the range of sending and receiving countries is limited, Wave are planning to introduce money transfer services to more countries as the company grows.

Wave does not charge fees to use its money transfer services and instead makes a profit by offering a worse exchange rate than the base rate. This rate varies between being around 1.5 percent and five percent lower. This can make them more expensive than other providers for certain money transfer needs, so it's worth comparing.

You can only send money from a debit card linked to a bank account in the US, the UK, Canada or another country approved by Wave. The mobile application can be used anywhere in the world, as long as the payment comes from a bank account approved by Wave.

You cannot use a credit card, PayPal or a direct bank transfer to fund currency exchanges. We did find a couple of references on the Wave website to sending funds to the beneficiary's bank account, but couldn't find further details. It looks like they mainly offer to transfer funds to the beneficiary's mobile wallet, which would explain why the transfers are so fast.

There are limits to how much money people can send. You can initially transfer a maximum of $999/£750/€750 per day and $2,999/£2,500/€2,500 per month. These limits can be raised to $2,999/£2,500/€2,500 per day and $12,000/£10,000/€10,000 per month if Wave receives proof of identity as part of a photographic ID.

Wave, with a website at www.wave.com (part of a business called Chime Inc.) should not be confused with Wave Money, with a website at www.wavemoney.com.mm — they are separate businesses.

Wave Money Transfer

What we like about Wave Money Transfer

Very fast money transfers, often arriving within 30 seconds
Wave's mobile application is simple and intuitive
Exchange rates for some currency pairs are fairly competitive
No fees apart from a percentage of the exchange rate

What we dislike about Wave Money Transfer

Limited sending availability as you can currently only send from the UK, the US and Canada
Limited receiving availability as beneficiaries must be in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania or Uganda
Exchange rates for some currency pairs are not competitive
Wave money transfer services are only available via the mobile application, there is no website portal or local agent network

Alternatives to Wave Money Transfer

Wave Money Transfer fees & exchange rate

Wave fees

Wave does not charge any fees on money you send, instead they charge a percentage of the exchange rate and make money that way.

About fees levied by banks

Certain fees may be levied by banks when you are transferring money. These fees are outside the control of Wave. Circumstances where banks may charge additional fees include:

Wire transfers into or out of sender or beneficiary accounts
Transfers that are sent via SWIFT or certain other banking protocols
Beneficiary banks charging a fee to receive a transfer
Intermediary banks charging fees to process money in transit

These fees could mean that the beneficiary receives less money than stated by Wave due to circumstances beyond Wave's control. If you want to understand what these extra fees are likely to be, please contact your bank and the beneficiary's bank.

Wave exchange rates

Wave makes money by offering you lower exchange rates than you might get elsewhere. Here's how Wave's money transfer rates compare to the interbank, base exchange rate.

Sending $1,000 USD from America to Ghana

The interbank exchange rate is $1,000 USD to 5,195 Ghanaian Cedi
Wave offers to exchange $1,000 USD to 4,950 Ghanaian Cedi
This means the beneficiary will get 245 Ghanaian Cedi less
The exchange rate offered by Wave is around five percent worse than the base rate
Another provider, like TransferWise, might charge only around one percent in total fees

Sending £1,000 GBP from the UK to Nigeria

The interbank exchange rate is £1,000 GBP to 475,725 Nigerian Naira
Wave offers to exchange £1,000 GBP to 466,000 Nigerian Naira
This means the beneficiary will get 9,725 Nigerian Naira less
The exchange rate offered by Wave is around two percent worse than the base rate
Another provider, like Azimo, might charge only around 1.5 percent in total fees

*The interbank rate is also known as the mid-market or standard exchange rate, which is the midpoint between the buying and the selling prices of the two currencies.

How easy is it to send money with Wave Money Transfer

The Wave mobile app is simple, intuitive and easy to use and received positive feedback and reviews on the App Store and the Google Play store. You can quickly add a new beneficiary by adding their name and phone number. You will need to enter identity information and verify your email before you can use Wave to send money overseas.

If you want to use Wave, you must be at least 18 years old and be a resident of the United States, Canada, the UK or another origination country approved by Wave. You must also have an account in your name in that country and be registered with Wave. You will need to provide personal information including your name, address, date of birth, telephone number, email address and other information or documentation for verifying your identity.

Credibility security

Wave started in 2014 and since then it has provided money transfer services for over 100,000 customers. This makes Wave a leading currency exchange provider for East and West Africa.

Wave uses strong encryption and security to protect personal data and payment information, and adhere to industry best practices. They also send money to the beneficiary instantly, so it isn't kept in Wave's bank accounts. Wave are regulated by multiple government agencies across the US, the UK and Canada. They also meet necessary compliance and regulation standards to protect sensitive user and payment information. This includes encoding all data as soon as it is entered in the Wave app and sending it over an encrypted 128-bit connection.

Service & Coverage

You can send money from your US, UK or Canadian debit cards to Ghana, Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania. You can use Wave anywhere in the world, but your bank account must be based in the US, UK or Canada at present.

Customer Satisfaction

We were not able to find any independent customer reviews of Wave on Trustpilot, but users of the app were very positive about the software. Reading through the reviews on the App Store and Google Play store highlighted the following points.

Positive

Customers praised the way that Wave kept them updated about the progress of their transfer
The customer service was praised as being fast, friendly and efficient
People praised Wave for being fast and efficient

Negative

The main complaint was issues with signing up, especially with proving identity before being able to use the app — this is a common complaint with most money transfer providers
There are occasionally some delays when sending money to certain beneficiaries
Some customers wanted Wave to expand their services to other countries and found the limited options to be restrictive

Customer support

US and Canada phone number: +1 888 966 8603
UK phone number: +44 113 320 7935
Email: help@wave.com
US office address: 100 M Street SE, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20003 USA
UK office address: 11 Hanover Road, London, England, NW10 3DJ
Wave on Facebook
Wave on Twitter

How transparent is Wave Money Transfer

Wave keeps you updated on the progress of your money transfer. They will send you an email and update the transaction state to 'Funds Delivered' on the Transactions screen as soon as the funds arrive to the beneficiary's mobile.

The website is only available in English.

null

Wave mobile applications

Wave only offers money transfers via their dedicated smartphone application. You can get the app for both Apple and Android devices.

On Apple's app store, the "Wave - Send Money to Africa" app has received an average of 4.4 out of 5 stars, across more than 1,000 reviews.

On the Google Play store for Android, the "Wave - Send Money to Africa" app has received an average of four out of five stars across more than 3,000 reviews.

Here's how Wave describes their smartphone app:

Instant, no fee transfers from your debit card to mobile money accounts in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ghana
Send money as easily and quickly as a text
Personal support, seven days a week
Realtime updates on the status of your transfer so you always know where your money is

How Wave works

Wave's currency exchange process works as follows:

Download the Wave app for your Apple or Android device
Setup an account through the app—they will need your name, address, contact details, and other details
Decide who you want to send money to
Enter the beneficiary's name and phone number
Enter the amount you want to send and pay for the transfer
Wave will convert the money and send it to the beneficiary's mobile wallet

Where are you sending money to?

Questions you may have

Read our guides on sending money abroad

Why Trust Monito?

You're probably all too familiar with the often outrageous cost of sending money abroad. After facing this frustration themselves back in 2013, co-founders François, Laurent, and Pascal launched a real-time comparison engine to compare the best money transfer services across the globe. Today, Monito's award-winning comparisons, reviews, and guides are trusted by around 8 million people each year and our recommendations are backed by millions of pricing data points and dozens of expert tests — all allowing you to make the savviest decisions with confidence.

Advertiser Disclosure

Instead of banner ads and paywalls, Monito makes money through affiliate links to the various payment service providers featured on our website. While we work hard to scout the market for the best deals, we're unable to consider every possible product available to you. Our extensive range of trusted affiliate partners enables us to make detailed, unbiased, and solution-driven recommendations for all types of consumer questions and problems. This allows us to match our users with the right providers to suit their needs and, in doing so, match our providers with new customers, creating a win-win for everybody involved. However, while some links on Monito may indeed earn us a commission, this fact never impacts the independence and integrity of our opinions, recommendations, and evaluations.

How to Send Money Through Wave App

Source: https://www.monito.com/en/send-money-with/wave-money-transfer