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TransferWise announces $280M investment

techcrunch.com

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Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#151

Post by hkmurakami »

Fizzer wrote: post #141
hkmurakami wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use transferwise and didn't give them my bank credentials. Question: which country are you in and which country were you sending to? I imagine this sorry of thing is both country specific and possibly bank specific. The pain was figuring out the exact recipient bank account name in Japan but that's mainly Japan's fault.

In the US, sending to Cyprus.

I really wonder why they arranged for your bank credentials. I've always been able to just wire transfer wise in the states and they wore in the recipient country. Pertussis there's some regulation in Cyprus about transfers?

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#152

Post by phillc73 »

yladiz wrote: post #145
phillc73 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about a choice of Google Play Store or direct download, for "Advanced" users? That's all I'm asking, just a tiny little 8pt font link to directly download the APK.

Why would a business host a APK directly when they can just utilize Google's infrastructure for free? Likely you would have a lot of users mistakingly download the APK if they saw the link and get confused as to why it's not working like all their other apps, whereas downloading from Google Play Store works seamlessly.

Then host the APK on GitHub. They don't have to host source there as well. And I'm sure they can design a page in such a way that only the more technical potential customers go for the direct download.

It's also rather ridiculous that these services are accessible/usable/activated only via an installed app on my phone or tablet. Just make the service available via my web browser and the issue is resolved.

In the end I just don't bother with these services - N26, Monzo and now Revolut. I'll just stick with TransferWise.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#153

Post by ndr »

phillc73 wrote: post #114
thenomad wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they'd have to talk users through allowing direct APK installs, complete with all the scary warnings. That's going to reduce the number of customers they get a lot more than a redirect to the Play Store.

How about a choice of Google Play Store or direct download, for "Advanced" users? That's all I'm asking, just a tiny little 8pt font link to directly download the APK.

How would you deal with updates?

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#154

Post by calvinv »

acomms wrote: post #148
Fizzer wrote: post #132

I recently had a client ask me to pay them with Transferwise. It was a horrible experience. After weeks of trying to get it to work, even with the help of support, we eventually gave up and used bitcoin instead. The Transferwise website was horrible. It gave error messages and kept telling me to fill out some field that didn't exist. After sending screenshots to their support team, they just sent me back links that d…

That's really surprising. I've had only great experiences using it between Europe and North America. Maybe an issue with sending to Cyprus?

I've sent money with them a few times from UK to South Africa and had no problems.

The biggest issue with this remitters is they have hidden vetting processes and can't tell you why you don't meet their criteria because any smart fraudster would adapt accordingly. Unfortunately too many people get accidentally caught in those systems

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#155

Post by Improvotter »

Fizzer wrote: post #132

I recently had a client ask me to pay them with Transferwise. It was a horrible experience. After weeks of trying to get it to work, even with the help of support, we eventually gave up and used bitcoin instead. The Transferwise website was horrible. It gave error messages and kept telling me to fill out some field that didn't exist. After sending screenshots to their support team, they just sent me back links that d…

Username and password for you bank account? Ough, what a big no no.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#156

Post by bwilliams18 »

hkmurakami wrote: post #151
Fizzer wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, sending to Cyprus.

I really wonder why they arranged for your bank credentials. I've always been able to just wire transfer wise in the states and they wore in the recipient country. Pertussis there's some regulation in Cyprus about transfers?

I'd guess it's US AML regulations about sending money to Cyprus.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#157

Post by noselasd »

graniter wrote: post #82
dboreham wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would correlate strongly with people trying to evade taxes and/or launder money. PayPal doesn't like to facilitate illegal activity. I'm not theorizing about this -- I have first hand knowledge.

Ok I am not trying to be dense. I really am curious. Maybe it correlates strongly, but there's nothing dishonest or illegal about it that I can tell. PayPal has all your personal info. They have your bank account info on both sides. People transfer money between. So maybe it's a pattern that money launderers use, but so do regular people. What am I missing?

Paypal can't know that you're not doing money laundry even if they have the bank info on both sides. Paypal will err on the side of caution and will often block your transfers, no matter how many documents you can produce that claims what you are doing is legal.

I think you are assuming that paypal operates on reason, but it rarely does.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#158

Post by makomk »

ido wrote: post #110
kreetx wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are right, but the Poland corridor was probably the key to proving the model though.

Why would either be lucrative? AFAIK within the EU bank transfers are free of fees.

Within the Eurozone bank transfers are generally free of fees, but banks still like to rip people off on exchange rates between different currencies and the EU doesn't seem interested in doing anything about that.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#159

Post by Deathmax »

mcjiggerlog wrote: post #27
andy_ppp wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They actually plan to start charging for this because ATMs charge them: £200 free allowance per month, 3% charge for withdrawals thereafter everywhere outside the UK From here: https://monzo.com/blog/2017/09/13/atm-fees-abroad/ I would have just transparently passed on whatever the ATM charges rather than this weird 3% fee.

I'm a Monzo user and really unhappy to find this out. I spend most of my time in mainland Europe and the free transactions and no ATM fees are the only reason I am a user. Can anyone comment on how Revolut compares? One pain point is that I always get asked if I want to pay in GBP or EUR, or even the cashier selects without asking me, in which case I get massively ripped off if they select GBP. With Revolut will the…

For overseas ATM withdrawals:

Monzo (After 18th December): £200/month, 3% thereafter (https://monzo.com/blog/2017/10/17/atm-limits-announcement/)

Revolut: £200/month (£400 with Premium), 2% thereafter

Starling: No charge

Not sure about any of the other challenger banks, I've only used Monzo on a regular basis.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#160

Post by ivm »

mcjiggerlog wrote: post #28
seanalltogether wrote: post #7

Transferwise has been a godsend for me the past couple years as I've been moving my life to the UK from the US. XE was bought out awhile ago and hiked their fees up, while banks like HSBC have always had high rates to begin with. Although I'm wondering if jumping on a bitcoin exchange like GDAX to go from USD -> bitcoin -> GBP would be even cheaper these days?

Same here whilst moving from the UK to Spain. Also, their borderless accounts are a lifesaver when working with international clients.

US -> Chile is also amazing despite the $3000/mo limit. Chilean banks are dinosaurs, especially when it comes to international transfers or freelancing.
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