Remittance Apps: CR Testing Finds Hidden Costs and Privacy Concerns
Remittance Apps: CR Testing Finds Hidden Costs and Privacy Concerns
Publish Date: 2026-05-05 10:58:00
Source Domain: www.consumerreports.org
Another core finding of CR’s evaluation is that all five apps collect and share large amounts of customer data for general business and marketing purposes, while offering users limited control over how that information can be used.
Privacy is particularly important in this context because the apps handle a large range of sensitive personal and financial information.
Abigail Kunkler, a law fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, says the data people provide to these services can be extensive: Beyond basic details like name, address, and phone number, it can include copies of IDs, geolocation data, biometrics, and records showing where money is sent and to whom. Taken together, she says, this data can be used to “construct a pretty comprehensive view of someone’s life.”
CR evaluated each app on privacy based on a few key factors. This included whether the apps collect, use, and share data only as needed to provide their services. It also looked at whether they make money by selling user data, and whether users can access their data, see who it’s shared with, and delete it.
Wise, Xoom, and Remitly scored the highest on privacy, while MoneyGram ranked the lowest. (As noted, MoneyGram did not respond to CR’s request for comment.)
CR also found that none of companies’ privacy policies include strong enough safeguards limiting how user information may be shared in response to broad government or law enforcement requests.
That said, Wise, Western Union, and Remitly scored the best for having meaningful privacy policies (a subcriterion in the broader safety evaluation process). Each says it may share user data to comply with laws or government requests but specifies that this would require some proof of legal authority, such as a court order, warrant, or subpoena.
MoneyGram again received the lowest score. Its policy uses relatively vague language, saying it may share user information if it has to comply with “any court…
