What is WorldFirst? WorldFirst Review

WorldFirst is a foreign exchange company that focuses on providing international payment services to cross-border trading companies and individual sellers.

About WorldFirst

1. WorldFirst was founded by Stockwell Jonathan Quin and Nick Robinson in April 2004 and is headquartered in London, UK;

2. The main business is divided into three parts: international remittance, foreign exchange options trading, and international e-commerce platform collection and settlement;

3. WorldFirst entered China in 2010 and currently serves more than 20,000 Chinese cross-border e-commerce sellers, has more than 100,000 active customers worldwide, and has annual transaction flows exceeding US$1 billion.

Function

1. Applicable to e-commerce customers:

·Open GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, AUD, NZD and JPY receiving accounts;

Collecting overseas sales payments from e-commerce platforms;

·Transfer sales proceeds to domestic bank accounts;

2. Applicable to B2B users:

World Account helps B2B companies open local offshore accounts;

· Assist companies to collect offshore payments from B2B buyers;

Pay suppliers and bring funds back to China in an exceptionally fast and easy way.

Supported platforms

Amazon USA, Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Australia, eBay (PayPal), Walmart.com, Rakuten Japan, Lazada, Opensky, Newegg, Cdiscount, PriceMinister and other 71 global e-commerce platforms also support European VAT payments.

Rates

Customers who have successfully registered a WorldFirst account on or before May 31, 2018, and who use WorldFirst to convert US dollars, British pounds or euros into RMB, and whose transfer amount is no less than US$250 or the equivalent in other currencies, can enjoy the WorldFirst exclusive rate capped at 1%, without any monthly fees, handling fees or other fees.

The balance in the WorldFirst account can be used directly to pay VAT to the UK tax authorities, improving the efficiency of fund utilization and reducing tax payment costs, with only a 1% handling fee charged for each transaction.

Cooperative Bank

World First's five major partner banks are Citibank in the United States, Canada and Australia, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Barclays Bank and Mizuho Bank in Europe.

Development History

-In 2008, after being authorized by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA), WorldFirst became the first foreign exchange company in the UK to sell foreign exchange options.

-Starting from January 2015, Amazon's payment account WorldFirst began to support direct transfers to its linked bank cards in RMB.

-In October 2015, ESG Group (E-Services Group), a global cross-border e-commerce solution service provider, announced a strategic partnership with WorldFirst, an international payment service provider.

-In March 2016, Newegg announced its official partnership with WorldFirst.

-In May 2016, WorldFirst and Cdiscount established a comprehensive strategic partnership.

-On May 3, 2016, WorldFirst officially launched the Japanese Yen Collection Account

-In 2016, World First officially announced on December 12 that it had established a partnership with Japanese e-commerce platform Rakuten to provide foreign exchange services to Rakuten's e-commerce sellers.

-In February 2017, WorldFirst's fee rate was capped at 1%. At the end of March, WF began to support payments from Lazada. In April, WorldFirst relaxed the requirements for proof of address. In September, WF opened applications for Canadian dollar accounts. In November, WF established a subsidiary in Shanghai - Yuefan Business Information Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., and officially launched Australian dollar payment services on November 24.

-On November 24, 2017, WorldFirst officially launched the Australian dollar payment service, helping e-commerce sellers to receive Australian dollar payments directly from Amazon Australia and other platforms

-At the beginning of 2018, WorldFirst realized the same-day cash withdrawal in RMB.

Stop US site operations

In January 2019, WorldFirst issued a notice to its users stating that its shareholders had decided to terminate all operations at the US site, a decision that would take effect on January 29, 2019. The notice stated that all US users would no longer be able to use WorldFirst to enter or book new transactions, but that would not affect pending transactions or payments to be made. In addition, no new transactions or deposits would be accepted. Services for WorldFirst users outside the United States (including Canada) will not be affected by the closure of the US site, and customers can continue to receive and send payments to the United States. In addition, Worldfirst US will be renamed Omega and will subsequently operate independently of the World First Group. The Worldfirst online platform will no longer be available.

At the same time, WorldFirst also stated that the funds in the US accounts used by users are safe, and will assist users with account balance issues. Until 5 pm on January 30, 2019, users with balances in their accounts can still use the balances in their online accounts to make payments as usual.

Industry insiders said that WorldFirs’ decision to terminate all operations at its U.S. site may be related to Ant Financial’s $700 million acquisition of WorldFirst.

FAQ

Q: How to register a WorldFirst payment account/World Account?

A: You can register directly through the official website of WorldFirst. Please make sure you fill in all the required information and click "Submit" on the last page. If you exit the page halfway, WorldFirst will not receive any information and you will need to register again (you need to register with a new username).

Q: Can my friends or customers transfer money directly to my WorldFirst account?

A: WorldFirst does not accept third-party transfers for the time being. It can only receive funds remitted from designated authorized e-commerce platforms and cannot be used for other purposes.

Q: How long does it take for the funds to arrive?

A: As long as the seller submits a transfer application between 00:00 and 12:00 noon on each working day, they can enjoy the RMB same-day arrival service, but it is only applicable to the RMB arrival service for US dollars, British pounds, euros, Canadian dollars and Australian dollars. The arrival time may be affected by the receiving currency and/or bank holidays in various regions. The actual situation shall prevail, and the final right of interpretation belongs to WorldFirst. Withdrawals of other currencies will be arranged on the earliest interest date that the bank can provide.

For more frequently asked questions, please visit WorldFirst’s official website.