Higlobe.com Alternatives: Seeking Ethical Financial Solutions

Given the ethical concerns surrounding Higlobe.com, particularly its explicit interest-bearing “Higlobe Earn” feature, it becomes imperative to explore alternative platforms that offer similar functionalities without compromising Islamic financial principles.

Read more about higlobe.com:
Higlobe.com Review & First Look
Higlobe.com: A Closer Look at its Operational Model
Higlobe.com’s Features: What It Brings to the Table
Higlobe.com Pros & Cons: An Ethical Perspective

The goal is to identify services that facilitate international transfers and payments based on legitimate fees for service, without engaging in interest (riba) or excessive uncertainty (gharar).

Why Alternatives are Crucial for Ethical Finance

The principle of avoiding riba is fundamental in Islam.

Riba is seen as an unjust and exploitative practice that creates wealth without genuine risk-sharing or productive activity.

Therefore, any platform that explicitly offers or inherently involves interest-based earnings is problematic.

• Adherence to Sharia: Alternatives must prioritize compliance with Islamic financial law, ensuring that all transactions are permissible.
• No Interest: The core requirement is the absence of interest on deposits, loans, or investments facilitated by the platform.
• Fee-Based Models: Permissible alternatives typically operate on transparent fee-for-service models, where users pay a clear charge for the transfer or payment processing.
• Transparency: Clarity on how fees are charged, exchange rates are determined, and how the platform itself earns revenue is important.

Categories of Ethical Alternatives

Alternatives can generally fall into different categories, each with its own focus:

1. Peer-to-Peer Transfer Services: Primarily focused on international money transfers for individuals and businesses, charging clear fees.
2. Payment Processors: Designed for businesses to accept payments online from customers worldwide, typically charging per-transaction fees.
3. Specialized Islamic Fintechs: A growing sector of companies explicitly built on Sharia-compliant principles, though these are less common for general purpose global transfers and more for investments or specific financing.

Top Ethical Alternatives (Focusing on Core Transfer Functionality):

The following platforms are generally considered permissible because their core business model for transfers is based on transparent fees, not interest on deposits.

Users should always verify specific terms and conditions to ensure full compliance for their particular use case.

• Wise (formerly TransferWise)

  • Core Model: Charges upfront, transparent fees for international money transfers based on the mid-market exchange rate. They do not offer interest on balances.
  • Key Features: Multi-currency accounts (though balances typically don’t earn interest), debit cards, business accounts, API for integrations.
  • Suitability: Excellent for freelancers, small businesses, and individuals needing to send or receive money internationally without riba.
  • Consideration: While Wise’s primary service is fee-based, individuals holding large idle balances in their multi-currency accounts might want to confirm that Wise does not generate interest on these pooled funds in a way that is passed back to them. However, Wise itself does not pay interest to users.

• Payoneer

  • Core Model: Generates revenue primarily through fees for receiving payments, withdrawals, and currency conversions. Does not pay interest on user balances.
  • Key Features: Global payment solutions for freelancers and businesses, virtual receiving accounts (USD, EUR, GBP, etc.), mass payout services, Payoneer Mastercard.
  • Suitability: Widely used by freelancers and businesses working with international clients or platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.
  • Consideration: While fee-based, users should review all fees carefully to ensure transparency and avoid hidden costs.

• Stripe

  • Core Model: A payment processing platform that charges a percentage and fixed fee per successful transaction. It does not hold user balances in an interest-bearing manner for the user.
  • Key Features: Accepts global payments, robust APIs for developers, recurring billing, fraud prevention tools, localized payment methods.
  • Suitability: Ideal for businesses that need to accept online payments from customers worldwide. Not a direct competitor for individual transfers like Higlobe, but essential for the payment receiving side of a business.
  • Consideration: This is a business-centric payment gateway, not a personal remittance service.

• Veem Higlobe.com Pros & Cons: An Ethical Perspective

  • Core Model: A global payments network for businesses that aims to reduce international wire fees by using its own network. It primarily operates on a transaction-fee model.
  • Key Features: Send and receive payments in over 100 countries, integrate with accounting software, payment tracking.
  • Suitability: Good for small to medium-sized businesses managing international vendor payments or receiving client payments.
  • Consideration: While often fee-free for certain bank transfers, some services or expedited transfers may incur fees.

• OFX

  • Core Model: Focuses on competitive exchange rates for larger transfers, typically incorporating their margin into the exchange rate rather than charging explicit transfer fees. No interest paid on balances.
  • Key Features: Personal and business international money transfers, forward contracts (use with caution for Sharia compliance – stick to spot transfers), 24/7 customer service.
  • Suitability: Better for larger transfer amounts, offering more personalized support.
  • Consideration: May have minimum transfer amounts, which might not suit very small payments.

• Atlantic Money

  • Core Model: Offers a flat fee for international transfers, regardless of the amount (up to a certain limit). Their model is built on low fixed costs.
  • Key Features: Fixed fee for transfers, mid-market exchange rates.
  • Suitability: Excellent for larger transfers where a flat fee can save significant amounts compared to percentage-based fees.
  • Consideration: Service availability might be limited to certain corridors compared to more established players.

Importance of Continuous Vigilance

Even with these alternatives, users must remain vigilant.

Always read the terms and conditions, and if in doubt, consult with a knowledgeable scholar of Islamic finance.

The principle is to ensure that all financial transactions are based on legitimate trade, service fees, and risk-sharing, completely free from interest.