Sokin Review
Author: Keith Hodges
We only list companies that are trustworthy and appropriately licensed. Our aim is to give you a comprehensive view of the regulated money transfer marketplace.
DisclosureMoneyTransfers aims to help users find the best money transfer provider for their needs. To support our free service, we may earn a commission from some of the providers listed in our search results. The commission may also impact the ordering of the providers shown. Our reviews are independent from this and are based on our editorial policy, research and testing of dozens of remittance providers on the market.
On this page
A new player with 4 local currency account options
Sokin does not come with the reputation behind it like Wise Business does, but it does offer a lot of things to like. The business offering has 4 local accounts and the ability to send and hold across 70 more currencies. It also has one of the highest batch payment limits on the market, with 5,000 transactions, and has no transaction limits.
Sokin overview
Features | Insight |
|---|---|
Monthly Fee | $0 |
Exchange rate | From 0.3% |
Transfer fees | $0 |
Transaction limits | None |
Multi-currency account | 75+ currencies |
Batch payments | ✅ Up to 5,000 payments |
Expense management | ✅ |
Pay invoices | ✅ |
Receive payments | ✅ |
Marketplace integration | ✅ |
API options | ✅ |
Manage Payroll | ✅ |
ATM Access | ❌ |
Forward Contracts | ❌ |
Video summary
Scoring Sokin
Sokin offers a strong product in terms of core accounts and batch payments. However, the lack of forward contracts might put off companies looking for more access to currency risk tools.
- Combination of 4 local currency accounts and over 75 holding currencies makes it one of the stronger options
- Batch payments of up to 5,000 recipients, compared to 1,000 from other companies
- 1.2% transaction fee on incoming ecommerce payments is lower than 2% averages in the industry
- Doesn’t support holding South American currencies other than BRL
- No card spending and ATM support
- Doesn’t offer risk management and hedging support
Analysis of online reviews
Online review software is unreliable because it averages out scoring across a company, for decades at a time. To give a clear view of how Sokin is actually performing now, we analysed online review scores from a number of different sources, specifically for the business offering. This chart shows an average score out of 4.47 out of 5, per month, since the start of 2024, when Sokin started gathering reviews. February drops as there were no reviews of relevance online in that month.
Sokin multi-currency accounts
Sokin offers a newer, lesser known, alternative to international finance. The company offers the ability to hold 75 currencies and utilise local accounts. In fact, they offer more local accounts than Revolut Business.
Provider
Supported local accounts and holding currencies
Similarly to Wise Business, Sokin offers the ability to Send/Receive, hold currencies and have a local account.
The options differ depending on the currency, but this freedom is refreshing alongside the likes of Wise Business who have dominated the personal space for many years and have started moving into the business space more recently.
Local accounts with Sokin
For comparison, Wise Business offers 10 local accounts, Airwallex 12 and Sokin 4.
Established money transfer companies that focus on risk management and transfers specifically (like Moneycorp or XE Business) do not offer multi-currency accounts.
Currency | Account details |
|---|---|
USD | Account number |
CAD | Account number, bank code |
EUR | IBAN |
GBP | Account number, sort code |
Holding currencies
Sokin further benefits from the ability to hold up 75 currencies as well.
This means regular transfers in and out can be managed effectively, without a need for conversion.
As a comparison, Wise Business offers around 40 currencies that can be held.
The currencies that can be held are also particularly widespread and all offer sending and receiving ability as well.
These currencies are:
Africa
AOA, XOF, BWP, XAF, CDF, DJF, EGP, SZL, ETB, GMD, GHS, GNF, KES, LSL, LRD, MGA, MWK, MRU, MUR, MAD, MZN, NAD, NGN, RWF, SLL, ZAR, SSP, TZS, TND, UGX, ZMW, ZWL
Asia
BDT, CNH, HKD, INR, IDR, ILS, JPY, JOD, KWD, LBP, MNT, MMK, NPR, PHP, QAR, SAR, SGD, LKR, THB, AED
Europe
EUR, BGN, HRK, CZK, DKK, GBP, HUF, NOK, PLN, RON, CHF, SEK, TRY
North America
CAD, HTG, MXN, USD
Oceania
AUD, NZD
South America
BRL
Other sending currencies
Africa
SDG
Asia
AFN, AMD, CNY, GEL, IQD, PKR
Europe
ALL, UAH
North America
BZD, XCD, GTQ, HNL, JMD, NIO, PAB
Oceania
SBD, VUV
South America
BOB, CLP, COP, GYD, PYG, PEN, SRD
The global coverage offered by Sokin is fantastic in my opinion. The benefit of business transfer companies like Sokin or Wise Business is that they offer the ability to circumvent bank changes for incoming payments as well. The wide range of supported currencies means the Sokin can really aid a business in accessing specific markets.
Expense management
Expense management is listed as an offering by Sokin, but this is more just in the actual payments - which could be for anything.
One of the downsides to an account that offers a lot, is the lack of card use.
Historically, in around 2021, Sokin did seem to offer cards as there are card fees and limit schedules (for Euro in particular). These are no longer active.
Sending and receiving payments
Sokin’s payment platform is simple to navigate, and API integration allows switching between a traditional accounting platform.
This is similar to other fintech’s like Wise Business or Airwallex - although both of these it should be noted are much further in their evolution than Sokin.
That’s not to say it is not useful, but there is an element of work in progress with any new company that should be expected.
Sending mass or batch payments
Batch payment limit | 5,000 |
Sending batch payments through Sokin offers more scope than most money transfer platforms. As leaders in the business space, Payoneer, Wise Business and Airwallex offer 1,000 transactions per batch payment - Sokin offers 5,000.
This is significantly more when considering the number of international employees or payments could run into the thousands, or even tens of thousands, each month.
With this, recipients can also be added in bulk and tagged appropriately as well.
These bulk payments can also be multi-currency.
All-in-all, Sokin’s workflow for bulk payments is easy to use and great to master.
Sending through an integration
Sokin offers an API to connect to accounting software, although documentation on this is lacking.
Receiving money
Incoming business transfers into a Sokin account can happen in a couple of ways.
Into an account
Any of the multi-currency business accounts on offer can receive money into them.
If this is one of the currencies that can be held it will remain in the account. If this is one of the currencies which needs to be converted, this will happen upon receipt.
Via a payment gateway
Specific to those selling products, Sokin offers a payment solution. This is similar to something like Stripe and falls into the realm of cross border payments more than money transfers.
Because of the eradication of international card fees, the cost for vendors is 1.2% per transaction. For comparison, the Airwallex fee for international card transactions is 3.15% + $0.20.
This gateway can be added to a site and payments in all receiving options offered by Sokin can be accepted. These funds are then transferred to the accessible multi-currency accounts.
This gateway is supported by Open Banking.
Interest on balances
Standard interest on balances with Sokin is 1% in USD, EUR, and GBP accounts. This is anything Sokin users put into a Premium Wallet.
For 60 day periods on these accounts customers can increase this to 3%. This can be renewed every 60 days. This is anything users put into a Boost Wallet.
The difference here is the difference between a standard wallet or boost wallet. The Premium Wallet can be accessed any time, anything in a Boost Wallet only becomes available once the 60 days are up.
As such, businesses should be careful to not lock finances into a Boost Wallet that may be needed.
Account options
Within Sokin there are not any account options. There are no setup fees and no monthly costs either.
Sokin will make its money through exchange rates on top of a transfer.
The simplicity of the offering is a decent feature. The biggest difference is the Premium Wallet and Boost Wallet. The former offers 1% interest and the latter 3% for 60 days.
Feature | Business |
|---|---|
Access to 100+ currencies | ✅ |
Access to local accounts | ✅ |
Earn interest on balances | ✅ |
Multiple user logins | ✅ |
Make batch payments | ✅ |
Receive payments from marketplaces | ✅ |
API access | ✅ |
Accounting software integration | ✅ |
Setup fees | None |
Compare Business Multi-Currency Business Accounts
Selecting a multi-currency account for business can feel a little tricky with different options, local accounts and features. We've broken down the top accounts across the industry at the moment.
Fees and rates when using Sokin
Sokin is fee-free for most things, and uses the exchange rate offered as its core financial income.
Provider
Interestingly, the terms and conditions for Sokin are missing the link for fees - I have contacted them about updating this for users. :
https://sokin.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Plata-Capital-Terms-and-Conditions.pdf
4.1 You agree to pay the Fees as detailed in the Fee Addendum in addition to any
applicable supplementary Fees as detailed on the Sokin website which can be found
at [Link].
Service | Sokin |
|---|---|
Domestic Transfers | Fee free |
International Transfers | Fee free |
Currency Conversion Fee | From 0.3% |
Receiving Fee | 1.2% |
Holding currencies | $0 |
Card Payments | Not possible |
Monthly Fee | $0 |
Setup Fee | $0 |
Payment Tracking | $0 |
Mass Payout | $0 (currency conversion applies) |
Accounting Integrations | $0 |
Additional Fees | Not applicable |
Transfer speeds with Sokin
Provider
Sokin service and account management
Customer service options
Support with Sokin feels lacking in comparison to other providers and the site is very much driven to attract new customers only.
There’s not a huge amount of help for things like rates or queries ahead of sign ups. With this, there are no phone numbers and no email addresses either.
The only support options widely available on the site is a contact form.
Phone support
Availability | Not available |
|---|---|
Response time | N/A |
Languages | N/A |
Whilst there isn’t a clear email support option, it is possible to contact Sokin through a form and have them come back to you. We tested this with a few queries on opening accounts.
Availability | 24/7 |
|---|---|
Response time | 2 days |
Using Sokin
Using Sokin
We testing the following for ease of use
Invoicing
Integrations
Adding multi-user access for employees, roles and permissions
Paying-in and withdrawing funds
For each option the process was simple and easy to follow, Wise is very much a platform where you can see within one or two actions, how to achieve what you need to achieve.
Eligibility and sign up
The sign process for Sokin doesn’t throw up any unexpected hurdles, but you need to expect to have to provide details for KYC and await verification on the account.
Initially, just register to sign up on the site.
Registering with Sokin is pretty simple and easy, you will need the basics like the main point of contact, business registration etc.
Determine local accounts
For now this can just be the base account. Additional accounts can be added later.
Wait for verification
Sokin will carry out some basics in KYC and verift the account. If any additional requests are needed, they will be made by Sokin.
Safety and regulation
Provider
Sokin is the trading name of Plata Capital Ltd.
Its registered office is at Plata Capital Limited c/o Mishcon De Reya, Africa House, 70 Kingsway, London, United Kingdom, WC2B 6AH. Registered Number 10958599.
The company is registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Department of the Treasury as a Money Service Business (MSB) with the registration number 31000186536142.
There are also different types of regulated in place in Europe, the UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore, India, Brazil and Mexico.
Safety measures
Sokin has some security measures in place, notably around fraud prevention. These include regular audits of accounts and looking for changing trends and patterns on accounts.
Not keen on Sokin?
If you are unsure of whether Sokin is for you, here's some alternatives.
Bancoli Review
Before you choose whether to transfer funds overseas with Bancoli, here’s a quick summary of benefits and drawbacks.
Equals Money
Before going into more details, here’s a quick summary of the benefits and drawbacks of Equals Money.
WorldFirst
Before going into more detail, here’s a quick summary of the benefits and drawbacks of WorldFirst.
IFX Payments Review
Their flagship product, ibanq, provides multi-currency virtual IBAN accounts, enabling businesses to receive, hold, and send funds across borders, giving companies greater control over their global cash flow. Their mass payment functionality simplifies payroll and supplier payments, even across multiple currencies, ensuring businesses can process international payments in bulk without opening local currency accounts.
Wise Business Review
Our key measures when testing Wise Business for international business transfers were the product offering, cost, speed, safety and customer satisfaction. We've covered the key points in the table below and each element in more detail throughout the review.
Moneycorp Business
Historically, Moneycorp is considered one of the biggest money transfer providers in the world. The company has over 45 years of history and launch in the USA in 2018. The company is headquartered in the UK but with offices in USA, Ireland, France, Romania, UAE, Hong Kong, Australia and Brazil.
OFX Business
Our key measures when testing OFX Business for international business transfers were the strength of the product offering, cost of service and transfers, speed, safety and customer satisfaction.
Revolut Business
Like their personal offering, the Revolut Business offering is tiered - giving more access to features, the more you pay.
Xe Business
Xe Business offers strong all-round support for international business transfers. As part of our scoring process we have looked at product offering, cost, speed of transfers, safety and customer satisfaction.
Multipass
Multipass offers a strong selection of multi-currency option. A setup fee and higher monthly fees than elsewhere are a little offputting when you consider exchange rates are higher than Airwallex, Wise Buiness and Revolut Business.
Payoneer
Globally Payoneer serves around 190 countries, gives access to local accounts in 9 and supports 70 currencies. Features within the account allow you to take advantage of payments, invoicing and bulk options in each location. Where Payoneer is stronger than the likes of Revolut Business or Wise Business, is that it is built for international companies - as opposed to being an offshoot of a personal offering. This sets them apart from other providers, alongside the likes of Airwallex, by offering a full international business solution.
Airwallex
When scoring Airwallex as an international business provider we factored in the product offering, speed of sending money, cost, safety measures in place and customer satisfaction.
User feedback of Sokin
Provider
Customer feedback and user reviews
Sokin is one of the newer providers of business transfer services on the market and the number of TrustPilot reviews available highlight this (17 in total). This being said, these are largely positive.
Sokin user feedback
Would you recommend Sokin?
Anonymous
Still a charge for international transfer of money.
Contributors
Please share your experience with …