Remitly review: services, fees, pros and cons

Remitly is a US-based digital remittance company founded in 2011 in Seattle, Washington, by Matt Oppenheimer, Josh Hug and Shivaas Gulati. The founding idea was straightforward: replace the traditional walk-in remittance counter with an app-only transfer, aimed first at migrant communities sending money home.

The company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in September 2021 under the ticker RELY, which puts its finances and governance under the same public disclosure requirements as any listed US company — a level of transparency that few remittance operators serving Vietnam offer. Remitly reports operating in well over 170 send countries, with local delivery partnerships — bank networks and cash-pickup points — in the receiving markets, Vietnam included.

Remitly has no physical branch or advisory desk in Hanoi: it operates purely through its app and website, alongside the other providers listed in our money transfer directory. That is a deliberate choice — the company competes on speed and price for everyday remittances, not on the high-touch, in-person service a Hanoi property buyer might expect from a private bank or a wealth desk.

For a foreign buyer, moving money is one of the more sensitive steps of a purchase, because Vietnam expects incoming funds to be traceable through the banking system via a formal currency transfer — not cash carried in by hand. Remitly fits naturally into the smaller, earlier payments of a deal: the reservation deposit, a deposit agreement instalment, notary fees, or an agency commission — sums typically in the low thousands of euros, where its app-based transfer, upfront fee disclosure and same-day ‘Express’ option are genuinely convenient.

It is a different story for the balance of the purchase price. Consumer remittance apps, Remitly included, are licensed and built around personal transfer limits that sit well below a typical Hanoi apartment price, and none of them offer an escrow or property-specific payment service. Most buyers we advise end up wiring the bulk of the price — the sum eventually tied to registering the Pink Book in their name under Vietnam's ownership rules for foreign buyers — through their own bank or a specialist FX broker, and reserve Remitly for the smaller, recurring pieces. Remitly also does not offer a mortgage or any lending product, so buyers financing part of the purchase locally will still need a separate Vietnamese bank relationship regardless.