One of the common challenges Africans face in the diaspora is money transfers.
From limited transaction limits, low exchange rates, and currency conversion fees to high and hidden transaction fees — transferring money to Africa has never been favorable.
It is on this basis that Lemonade Finance was founded to make money transfers easier for Africans in the diaspora.
If you’re looking to sign-up with Lemonade, there are many things you need to know to make an informed decision.
This Lemonade Finance review covers all that the company entails from how it works, to transfer limits, fees, and more.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Who is Lemonade Finance?
Lemonade Finance is a Toronto-based digital money transfer app that was founded in 2020 to allow Africans in the diaspora to send and receive money from Africa.
You can sign up for Lemonade from Canada, the UK, or the US and send money to 10 African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya.
In addition, Lemonade allows you to open multi-currency accounts and save your preferred currencies.
What distinguishes Lemonade Finance from other money transfer services is that it doesn’t charge transaction fees, offers competitive exchange rates, and processes transfers within 10 minutes.
Lemonade is supported by over 100 African banks and is backed by reputable companies such as Leftlane, Microtraction, Y Combinator, and Flucas Ventures.
As of the time of writing, Lemonade has attracted over 10,000 customers since its inception.
The question is — is it worth joining Lemonade’s customer base? Keep reading to find out.
How Does Lemonade Finance Work?
Lemonade works like other money transfer apps out there. Even if you’ve not used a money transfer app before, it’s easy to use Lemonade because of its intuitive interface.
To use Lemonade, you need to download its mobile app which is available on Google Playstore and App Store.
After downloading and installing the app, you will be required to sign-up, verify your details and fund your account.
You can fund your Lemonade wallet using your debit/credit card or bank account. Canadians can also fund their Lemonade wallets using Interac e-Transfer or auto-deposit.
Once you fund your account, you can start making transfers right away on your Lemonade account dashboard.
With the Lemonade app, you can send money from Canada, the UK, or the US to the following African countries:
- Nigeria
- Ghana
- Uganda
- Kenya
- Tanzania
- Senegal
- Cameroon
- Rwanda
- Benin
- Ivory Coast
All you need is to choose the country and currency you are transferring the money to and provide the details of the recipients.
Lemonade will handle the rest by processing the transfer instantly or within 10 minutes.
Note that you can only transfer $5,000 per day, $10,000 per week, and $25,000 per month through the Lemonade Finance app.
How Do I Send Money With Lemonade Finance?
The process of sending money with Lemonade Finance depends on the destination country.
One interesting aspect of Lemonade is that it provides video tutorials on how you can send money to all the supported African countries.
However, the following are the common steps of sending money with Lemonade to the supported African countries:
- Login to your Lemonade app
- Click on “Send money”
- Select the currency you’re sending and the recipient’s currency
- Write a note (optional)
- Click on the send button
- Enter the recipient account details
- Click on “Next” to verify the details
- Click on “Send” to complete the transaction
That’s all. You will see the exchange rate and estimated delivery time when sending money with Lemonade.
While Lemonade claims processing transfers instantly or within 10 minutes to the recipient’s account, it can take up hours for the transfer to reflect on the recipient’s account.
Lemonade Finance Transfer Delay
Several Lemonade customers complained about delays after executing transfers with it even when the transfer status showed “successful”.
While delays are common with other money transfer apps out there, it’s essential to understand the cause of delays with Lemonade Finance.
As noted earlier, Lemonade claimed that it processes transfers instantly or within 10 minutes. So why the delay?
What happens is that Lemonade processes transfers from its desk instantly or within 10 minutes to the recipients’ bank accounts.
That doesn’t guarantee that the transfer will reflect instantly in the recipient’s account.
Each jurisdiction and financial institution processes international remittance differently depending on its operating systems and network signals.
So it’s possible to send money to two people in the same country and one person will receive it earlier than the other.
Sometimes the transfer will even land on the recipient account without SMS or email notification. So asking the recipient to check their account balance will also be helpful.
In most cases, the transfer will not reflect on the recipient account due to any or a combination of the following factors:
- Inactive bank account
- Invalid account number
- Account restriction by the recipient’s financial institution
As you can see, the reason for the delay could result from you, the recipient, or the recipient’s financial institution.
From your end, you need to double-check the recipient details to ensure they’re correct. Else, you have to contact Lemonade to cancel the transfer.
But if the recipient details were correct, you need to confirm from the recipient that their account is in good standing.
If the recipient account is not inactive, invalid or has no restriction, then it’s only a matter of patience.
But if the delay persists, you should contact Lemonade for directions. You can contact them by emailing [emailprotected].
It’s worth noting that Lemonade informs clients if there are delays with their transfers.
How Do You Receive Money From Lemonade Finance?
The process of receiving money from Lemonade Finance depends on the country you reside.
As a Canadian, you can receive money from Lemonade Finance through the following processes:
- Download the Lemonade app on Google Playstore or App Store
- Install the app and create an NGN wallet
- Get a virtual bank account number
- Send the virtual bank account number to the sender/ or transfer money to the virtual account from your Naira bank account
- Transfer the money on the virtual account to CAD using Interac e-Transfer
How Much Does Lemonade Finance Charge?
Lemonade Finance doesn’t charge a fee for sending or receiving money through it. This is rare among most international money transfer apps out there.
However, depending on where you are sending the money from, you may be charged an international fund transfer fee after making the transfer.
Overall, the free access to Lemonade services makes the app a low-cost international money transfer service for Africans in the diaspora.
Is Lemonade Finance Legit and Safe?
Lemonade Finance is legit and safe. The fintech company offers legit money transfer services that have attracted over 10,000 clients from 2020 to date.
The app is regulated by reputable bodies in all the countries it operates. In Canada, Lemonade is regulated by the Financial Transactions and Report Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).
In the UK, the company is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and by the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in the US.
Lemonade is supported by over 100 banks in Africa and is backed by Leftlane, Microtraction, Y Combinator, Flucas Ventures and other reputable companies.
As a PCI DSS Level 1 certified, Lemonade protects the card details of its clients in line with the industry’s best practices.
The company also has a security team that helps protect your information on its platform by conducting frequent security scanning.
Pros and Cons of Lemonade Finance
Now that we discussed what Lemonade entails, let’s evaluate its pros and cons.
Pros
- Free transactions: Lemonade allows you to send and receive money for free without worrying about transaction fees, monthly fees or fx fees.
- Competitive rates: The app has one of the best exchange rates out there despite charging no fees.
- Ease of use: Lemonade has an intuitive mobile app that is easy to use by anyone that can operate a smartphone.
- No minimum balance: There’s no minimum balance required on your Lemonade wallet.
- Free global account: You can save your funds for free with Lemonade in a Canadian Dollar, US Dollar, United Kingdom Pound or Nigerian Naira account.
- Multifunctionality: Besides allowing you to send and receive money, the Lemonade app also gives you the opportunity to buy airtime and pay bills in one dashboard.
- Peer-to-peer transfers: You can also request money from your family and friends across 20+ currencies through Lemonade. The app also allows you to distribute your payment link to family and friends.
- Generous referral program: Lemonade has a generous referral program that rewards you when you invite others to join it using your referral link or code. You will get $30 (CAD) or £10 for each person you refer to Lemonade after the person transfers at least £100 to an eligible African country.
Cons
- Low limit: Lemonade has relatively lower transaction limits despite increasing the daily limit from $2000 to $5000, weekly limits from $5000 to $10,000, and monthly limits from $20000 to $25,000. This may not be a problem for people that make lesser transfers.
- Delivery delays: While Lemonade company claims that it processes money to recipients’ accounts instantly or within 10 minutes, sometimes the delays can be longer but they tend to communicate with their customers.
- Limited coverage: Africans in the diaspora can only sign-up on Lemonade if they reside in Canada, the US, or the UK. Africans in the diaspora can only send money to 10 African countries at the moment. However, the app is gradually expanding its country coverage and you can join the waiting list to get notified when your country is covered.
How to Open a Lemonade Finance Account
Opening a Lemonade Finance account is a simple task that takes just a few minutes.
Below are the simple steps on how to open a Lemonade Finance account:
- Download the Lemonade app on Google Playstore or App Store
- Install the app
- Sign-up on the app
- Verify your information with a government-issued ID (such as a residence permit, passport, driver’s license, and provincial card)
Lemonade will review your verification within 24 hours of receiving the request. Once your account is validated, you will be notified by email.
You can contact Lemonade customer service at [emailprotected] if you need more clarification or require quick verification.
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Verdict
Lemonade is a pacesetter in the global money transfer space, especially for international remittances in Africa.
The app competes significantly with some of the major payment networks out there such as Wise, Remitly, Western Union, and Sendwave.
With no transaction fees and competitive exchange rates, Lemonade serves as a worthy alternative for money transfers to Africa.
That’s not to say that the app doesn’t need improvement.
Lemonade will perform better by improving its customer service, expanding its country coverage transaction limit, speeding processing time, and eliminating hidden fees.
Notwithstanding, the unique experience of Lemonade is worth the try.
Check these out:
- Join our coaching community for one-on-one guidance on your financial journey.
FAQs on Lemonade Finance Reviews
Who owns Lemonade Finance?
Lemonade Finance is not owned by a single individual or organization. The app is owned by 8 investors including Leftlane, Microtraction, Y Combinator and Flucas Ventures, Kube VC and Ventures Platform.
Who is the CEO of Lemonade Finance?
Olalere Ridwan is the CEO of Lemonade, He was a Senior Director of Operations at OPay and the founder of forloop Africa.
Where is Lemonade Finance located?
Lemonade Finance is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. However, the app allows Africans in Canada, the UK, and the US to send money to 10 African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya.
Does Lemonade Finance work in Canada?
Sure! You can send and receive money with Lemonade Finance in Canada.
Can I send money from Nigeria to Canada using Lemonade?
Absolutely! You can send money from Nigeria to Canada using Lemonade through the following steps:
- Download the Lemonade app on Google Playstore or App Store
- Install the app and create an NGN wallet
- Get a virtual bank account number
- Transfer money to the virtual account from your Naira bank account
How long does it take Lemonade to send money?
Lemonade processes transfer instantly or within 10 minutes. However, it can take longer for a successful transfer with Lemonade to reflect on the recipient account depending on the account standing and other factors.
How can I contact Lemonade Finance?
To contact Lemonade Finance, you need to email [emailprotected] or [emailprotected]. Once you email them, they will respond and call you without delay.
