Is KnightsbridgeFX legit? Here is how to check for yourself

I am Rahim Madhavji, President of Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. One of the questions I am asked most, in emails, on the phone, and in Reddit threads, is some version of “is Knightsbridge FX legit?” I understand exactly why. You found a company online that says it will beat your bank on currency exchange, and now it is asking you to send it a large amount of money. You have every right to ask that question first. I would do the same if I were you.

Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. is a Canadian currency exchange company headquartered in Toronto but operates all across Canada in all provinces. We convert money between six currencies for Canadians and Canadian businesses: Canadian dollars, US dollars, British pounds, Euros, Australian dollars, and New Zealand dollars. We work bank account to bank account. We are not a bank. We do not hold deposits, and we do not take cash.

Here’s the plain answer, and how to check it without taking my word for it.

Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange at a glance
Legal name	Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc.
Founded	2009, in Toronto
Head office	First Canadian Place, 100 King Street West, Suite 5700, Toronto, Ontario M5H 1H1
FINTRAC registration	Money services business, M09819788
Quebec regulator	Autorité des marchés financiers
Currencies	CAD, USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, NZD
Minimum transaction	$2,000
Pricing	Markup as low as 0.1% and on average 0.5% built into the rate, by amount, as of September 2026. Outgoing wires are free above the minimum.
Clients	More than 150,000
Exchanged	Over $30 billion
Independent ratings	4.9 out of 5 from 153 Trustpilot reviews and 4.8 out of 5 from 626 Google reviews, both read on 16 September 2026. We also have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Deposit insurance	None. We are not a bank, and CDIC does not cover money services businesses. We have set aside $1,000,000 for consumer protection to give peace of mind to our clients.
Phone	Toll-free 1-877-355-5239, Toronto 416-479-0834
President	Rahim Madhavji

So, why do people ask whether KnightsbridgeFX is legit?

Three reasons, and all three are reasonable.

First, we are not a bank. Most Canadians have only ever changed money at the bank they already use, so a company they have not heard of asking for a transfer feels different, even when it is cheaper.

Second, the money moves electronically in one direction before you see the other currency. A gap of a few hours or a day exists when the money has left your account but has not yet arrived. That gap is where the question comes from.

Thirdly, there is the rate itself. When a company offers a better rate than a major bank, the sensible reaction is to ask how, and whether something is being hidden. In our case, our markup is smaller and disclosed before you commit, which I explain further down.

All three point to the same next step: check the public record rather than take anyone’s word for it. Here is how.

What does “registered with FINTRAC” actually mean?

Every business that exchanges or transmits money in Canada must register with FINTRAC, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, before it can operate. Our registration number is M09819788. We have been registered since 2009. You can type that number, or our name, into the public registry search on the FINTRAC website and read the entry yourself: search the FINTRAC MSB registry. In Quebec, we also hold a license from the Autorité des marchés financiers, and that register is public too: search the AMF register.

What is FINTRAC?

FINTRAC, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, is the federal agency that supervises businesses handling money under anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules. It registers money services businesses, sets their record-keeping and reporting obligations, and audits them. It is a supervisor, not a consumer protection body.

What is a money services business?

A money services business (MSB) is a company that exchanges currency, transfers money, or cashes financial instruments without operating as a bank. In Canada, MSBs must register with FINTRAC before operating, verify clients’ identities, maintain records, and report certain large or suspicious transactions. Knightsbridge is a money services business.

So, what does that registration mean? It means the federal regulator knows who we are and requires us to follow strict compliance rules. We must verify our clients’ identities, which is why we ask for identification before you can trade. We keep records and are subject to audits. If a company is willing to exchange money without verification or questions, that should raise concerns.

Just as important is what registration does not mean. FINTRAC registration is not an endorsement or approval of a company’s business practices. It simply confirms that the company is registered, known to the regulator, and operating under Canada’s compliance requirements. It does not indicate whether a company’s exchange rates are competitive or whether its services best fit your needs. Those are things you should evaluate separately.

Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business (registration M09819788) and is regulated by the Autorité des marchés financiers in Quebec. Also, Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange is registered with the Bank of Canada as a payment service provider.

How long has Knightsbridge been operating, and what does the daily work look like?

Since 2009. I worked in mergers and acquisitions at RBC Capital Markets, then in private equity at TorQuest Partners. I founded this company in 2009 after spending years watching how money moves between institutions, and I wanted to do the same thing for ordinary Canadians and businesses at a fair price.

Our office is at First Canadian Place, 100 King Street West, Suite 5700 in Toronto. You can contact the desk toll-free at 1-877-355-5239 or in Toronto at 416-479-0834. The address and both numbers are on the public record. You can call before you ever open an account.

Since 2009, our trading desk has done nothing else. Snowbirds buying US dollars for the winter, families bringing home the proceeds of a Florida sale, small businesses paying a US supplier, students paying tuition. Each one is deciding whether to trust us with a number that matters. A bank teller handles a foreign exchange request now and then. Our desk handles them all day, and after this many years the questions that used to take thought are instinct: which documents clear compliance quickly, which transfer method lands the same day, when to tell someone to wait.

To be safe, some of those conversations end with us saying no. We do not accept cash, cheques or bank drafts. We do not offer forward contracts to personal clients. If a transaction does not pass our compliance checks, it does not happen, no matter how large it is. That is part of the job, and it is part of why the registration means something.

What do clients say, including the unhappy ones?

Rather than relying on what we say about ourselves, take a look at the sources we don’t control. You can find us on Trustpilot, the Better Business Bureau Toronto, Google Reviews, and in discussions on the Personal Finance Canada subreddit started by other people.

Here is where those stand as of the last check, 16 September 2026. On Trustpilot, we hold 4.9 out of 5 from 153 reviews, on a profile we have claimed since May 2019. On Google, we hold 4.8 out of 5 from 626 reviews. This is just one of our GMB locations, and that number is in 1000s if you consider our other city reviews from Google. Ratings and counts move, so treat those as a snapshot with a date on it and open the pages yourself:

• Our Trustpilot profile
• Our Better Business Bureau profile, Toronto
• Our Google Business Profile

What I can tell you is the pattern, because it is the same pattern I see in our own inbox. Most people write about the rate and the speed. When the criticism comes, it is almost always one of two things. The first account setup took longer than the client expected, usually because compliance was waiting on a document. Or a fee appeared that we did not charge, because the receiving bank charged it.

Neither of those is a reason to dismiss the complaint. The setup is our problem to make faster. The bank fee is not ours, but explaining it clearly before the transfer is. Where a review is critical, read any reply beside it and decide for yourself.

Is my money insured if something goes wrong?

No. It’s important to understand that before you make a transaction.

Knightsbridge is not a bank, so the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) does not insure funds involved in a currency exchange. The same applies to many other currency exchange companies and money services businesses in Canada. FINTRAC registration doesn’t provide insurance or protection for customer funds either. Its role is to regulate compliance with anti-money laundering rules, not to guarantee transactions or recover money on a customer’s behalf.

When a transaction is in progress, we typically convert and send out funds the day we get them and don’t hold client funds unnecessarily. Those funds are used only for the purpose of your transaction and are not available for general business use. We maintain detailed records of every transaction and work through established Canadian banking channels to ensure funds can be tracked from start to finish.

What protects you is the process’s transparency and traceability. Every trade receives a written confirmation, every payment is assigned a confirmation number, and every wire transfer can be tracked through the banking system.

No matter which provider you choose, I recommend two simple precautions when making a large amount of money. First, verify payment instructions by calling a phone number you obtained independently, not one included in the email containing the instructions. Second, start with a smaller transaction. There is no reason to send your entire amount on day one before you’re comfortable with the process.

Does Knightsbridge have complaints, and how are they handled?

Yes. Any company that has been exchanging money since 2009 has complaints, and ours are on the public record at the Better Business Bureau, where anyone can read them. I would be more worried about a currency company with none.

If something goes wrong with your transaction, here is the order I would use. Call the desk first at 1-877-355-5239 and ask for a manager, because most of what gets called a complaint is a timing question that one phone call can resolve. If that does not settle it, put it in writing so we have a record.

One thing worth knowing, because people assume otherwise. FINTRAC is not a complaints body. It supervises us for anti-money-laundering compliance. It does not arbitrate a dispute between you and us, and it cannot recover your funds.

What is on the public record?

In 2019, I pitched Knightsbridge on CBC’s Dragons’ Den and received a $1 million on-air offer from Arlene Dickinson and Michele Romanow, and here is the URL for that air to confirm on your own. The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business named us one of Canada’s Top Growing Companies in 2019, 2020, and 2021. We were on the PROFIT 500 in 2017 at number 164 and on the Growth 500 from 2018 to 2020.

I appear regularly on BNN Bloomberg and CTV News to talk about the Canadian dollar; I have been quoted in the Globe and Mail and by CBC, and I was a member of the Forbes Finance Council. I have also written four books on cross-border money. And here is the most recent one.

None of that is a promise about your transaction. A television appearance does not move money safely. A compliance process and a bank relationship do. But a company that has been on national television and in national rankings for years can be found, named and held to account. That’s why I list all this: to put your mind at ease about your money transactions.

How does Knightsbridge compare with Wise and a bank?

People asking whether we are legitimate are usually also weighing us against Wise or against staying with their bank. Here is the honest shape of that choice. Which one is right depends on what you are optimizing for.

	Knightsbridge	Wise	Canadian bank
FINTRAC registration	Yes, M09819788	Yes, registered as a money services business	Regulated as a bank by OSFI, not as a money services business
CDIC deposit insurance	No. However, we have set aside $1,000,000 for consumer protection.	N/A	Yes, on eligible deposits up to $100,000 per category
Pricing	Markup as low as 0.1% and averaging 0.5% built into the rate, by amount, quoted before you commit	Amounts shown include a fee, but the fee is excluded from the exchange rate shown, therefore the exchange rate is not indicative of what you actually get, only the amounts are	A spread built into the rate, typically wider
How you deal with them	Online account or a person on the phone	App, self-service	Branch, phone or online
Typical fit	Larger CAD and USD transactions	Frequent smaller transfers, multi-currency balances	Keeping the money on deposit

If you want the longer version, we wrote it: Wise vs KnightsbridgeFX.

What a registration cannot tell you

I will be upfront with the limit of everything above. No registration, award, or review count can tell you whether our rate is right for your amount on the day you need it. Only a quote can do that.

Our markup ranges from as low as 0.1% and averages 0.5% of the amount exchanged, depending on the transaction size, as of September 2026. Larger amounts sit at the lower end. Our minimum is $2,000. Outgoing wires are free above that minimum, but the receiving bank may charge a fee to receive one; that fee is theirs, not ours. Transfers by direct deposit within Canada typically have no receiving fee. We quote you a rate that includes our markup before you commit to anything, and you are free to compare it with your bank’s rate for the same amount on the same day.

The registration tells you where to start looking. The quote tells you whether to book.

How to check us yourself before you send a dollar

This is the same list I would run on any currency provider, including a competitor.

1. Search the FINTRAC registry for M09819788 or for Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. Confirm it is registered and that the address matches the one on our contact page.
2. Read the Trustpilot, Google, and Better Business Bureau pages linked above, including the critical reviews, and read our replies.
3. Search our name on the Personal Finance Canada subreddit and read what clients say when we are not in the room.
4. Call us on 1-877-355-5239 and ask for a quote on your actual amount. Then call your bank and ask for theirs.
5. Start small. Nothing stops you from testing us with the minimum before you move the amount that matters.

The bottom line

If you are asking whether KnightsbridgeFX is legitimate, the answer is 100% YES. Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. has operated from Toronto since 2009, is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business under M09819788, is regulated by the Autorité des marchés financiers in Quebec, has an office and a phone number anyone can call, and has a public record of awards, rankings and national media going back more than a decade.

What that does not tell you is whether we are the right choice for your transaction. We are not covered by deposit insurance; we have a $2,000 minimum; we do not take cash, and we do not offer forward contracts to personal clients. Check the registry, read the reviews we do not control, compare our quote with your bank’s on the same day for the same amount, and start small. That is what I would do, and it is what I would tell you to do with any provider, including this one.

Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business (registration M09819788) and is regulated by the Autorité des marchés financiers in Quebec.

Read next: How KnightsbridgeFX works · Wise vs KnightsbridgeFX · Our Dragons’ Den pitch.

Disclosure: This article is written by the President of Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc. and describes the company’s own registrations, record and reviews. Read it with that interest in mind, and check every claim in the registries and review sites linked above. It is not financial advice. Rates and fees change, and every figure above carries the date it was checked. Confirm any registration in the regulator’s own registry before relying on it.