Start up gives Western Union a scare

isaac

April 27, 2015 6:33 PM

TransferWise, a UK-based start up alternative to transferring money, has opened for business in America and offers some stiff competition to the popular financial transfer company, Western Union.

Richard Branson

With big name investor Richard Branson injecting $25 million into the start up, there is no doubt that TransferWise has a prosperous future ahead of it.

TransferWise, unlike your typical transfer system, offers an extremely affordable and very transparent way of transferring your money to other countries. By acting as a matchmaker between people looking to transfer money overseas, TransferWise has managed to cut transfer costs to a minimal 1% for U.S customers.

After being launched in the UK in 2011 and only trading in sterling and Euros, TransferWise now offers 292 currency routes which include emerging currencies such as the Indian Rupee and most importantly, the Nigerian Naira.

With global sized goals in mind, it plans to launch a further 300 currency routes in the next year which will certainly challenge the dominance of the established transfer services and banks worldwide.

According to Jordan McKee, a mobile payments analyst, TransferWise poses a serious threat to traditional wire services from which international money transfers remain in a 'glaring area of banking in need of fixing.'

Despite being up against the robust competition of Western Union, Joe Cross, general Manager of the TransferWise’s US operation, stated that he and his team are not bothered by Western Union’s ubiquity and have not tried to mimic their extensive network of bricks-and-mortar storefronts.

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isaac