Transparency
How we rank providers
Ranked by real cost, not commission. Here is exactly how the default order is built.
The order
Real cost first
By default, Payn ranks providers by real cost — lowest total cost first. The order is built fresh on each page load from the cost metrics each offer exposes. You can re-sort by speed or other options at any time, but the order you land on leads with cost. Country is a filter you choose, not a factor that pushes any provider up the list.
You pick a country
1Country is a filter, not a ranking weight. We hide any provider that doesn't serve the market you selected, so everything you see is something you can actually use. Filtering by country never moves a provider up or down the order — it only decides who appears at all.
We rank by real cost
2The default order leads with the lowest real cost first. For each offer we read the cost metrics it exposes — fees, annual or monthly fees, exchange-rate spread, FX markup, conversion fees — and sort cheapest to most expensive. This is the order you see before you change anything.
Missing-cost offers go last
3An offer with no parseable cost figure can never win on cost, so it sorts to the bottom of the default view rather than the top. "No data" doesn't get a free pass to the front of the list.
Ties break on a disclosed tie-breaker
4When two offers come out at the same real cost — or when neither exposes a parseable cost — we break the tie with a disclosed affiliate-priority score. It only ever decides order between otherwise-equal results; it cannot move a more expensive offer above a cheaper one.
You stay in control
The real-cost order is the starting point, not a cage. Change the country filter, search, narrow by provider or feature, or switch the sort to speed — the list re-ranks live. The default just makes sure the first thing you see is the cheapest, not the best-paying.
No pay-to-rank
Providers cannot pay to appear higher in rankings. Ranking is decoupled from commission, with one disclosed exception: partners carry an affiliatePriorityScore that breaks ties only between otherwise-equal results. It cannot lift a more expensive offer above a cheaper one.
Live data
For transfers and currency exchange, we fetch a live mid-market rate and calculate exactly how much the recipient would receive after each provider's fees and spread, so the cost you compare reflects current market conditions.
What we don't score
Customer support quality, app store ratings, and brand reputation are not part of the score. We focus on measurable, objective data points that can be verified and updated regularly.
Data sources
Where the data comes from
Provider metrics are sourced from official pricing pages, provider APIs, and periodic manual reviews. We update catalogue data at minimum monthly. If you spot an error or outdated figure, please contact us — we will investigate and correct it within 48 hours.