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TransferWise changes name to Wise

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Re: TransferWise changes name to Wise

#191

Post by ricardobayes »

mschuster91 wrote: post #156
jeofken wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’d be surprised how rich a society can be with a high IQ demographics, low taxes (I.e. barriers), and free enterprise. In Europe, landlocked no-oil Switzerland is a good example of this.

Switzerland has the unique advantage of having staid neutral since somewhat 500 years which means their wealth never got plundered or destroyed in one of the way too many wars that have plagued Europe since then. Their neutrality status, combined with a long tradition of utmost banking secrecy, also made Switzerland a perfect "safe harbor" for lots of foreign dark money of all kinds - from kingdoms, warlords and othe…

Valid point, but Spain is also neutral but isn't exactly bursting at the seams with pots of gold. They used to be the wealthiest out there, but I guess they took a few bad turns. Just saying staying neutral doesn't automatically make a country (stay) wealthy.

Re: TransferWise changes name to Wise

#192

Post by jarek83 »

scrollaway wrote: post #147
colincooke wrote: post #12

I love transferwise, depend on it often. I don't get the rebrand, their old name was descriptive, easy to google, and from all perspectives really good. The rebrand won't change me using it, but I really can't see the positive in this.

Prediction: zero negative will come out of the name change or redesign, and three years from now they'll be bigger than ever. I'm long on them and they haven't even IPO'd yet. Can't wait for them, and Stripe. Seriously, have you ever seen a rebrand negatively affect a product? Rebrands have to be thought about retrospectively: you need to think whether it would make sense to go from the new to the old. Number26 for e…

> Seriously, have you ever seen a rebrand negatively affect a product?

I think there is an example in Europe. myTaxi has been rebranded to FREE NOW. The change has been dictated to free the brand from just the taxi business connection. But I believe it was unfortunate, at least for their taxi business. I don't have hard numbers, but the new name and logo seems to be random, completely unrelated to taxis, so when you see a car with it, you have no idea that the driver is a taxi driver. It's 2 years now with new name, but they iOS app is still named: FREE NOW (mytaxi). Me and my friends always have to ask someone "how mytaxi is called now?" because the app is no longer under M in the phone.

Worse for the company is that, since myTaxi was extremely catchy, there came a competitor called iTaxi, and many believe it might had take over some of the clients just because people trying to find myTaxi installed iTaxi instead, as FREE NOW looked cryptic and unrelated to taxis for them.

Re: TransferWise changes name to Wise

#193

Post by newswasboring »

drukenemo wrote: post #168
ranguna wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because some people just can't. It's nice and easy when we are closed in our tech bubble, but it's not so good for everyone else. I'll gladly pay my taxes knowing that the current retired people that didn't have the possibility to save up, can survive today. Also hoping that happens to me in case a horrible thing happens to my financial situation.

It’s not an all or nothing question, I just highlighted where the thinking tends to go towards here in Europe. Not saying eliminate retirement plans, but also take into account your financial future if you can. Have that as a goal.

After experiencing both thought systems as an outsider (I'm neither European nor American) it feels like American system wants to win life and European system wants to live life. I honestly do not want to create my own financial future plans. I find investing and dealing with my own money incredibly stressful and distracting. I do not care for investing nor do I want to care. I want a guarantee that I will have a minimum lifestyle and the time saved can be used to enjoy right now.

People like me, who take stress when it comes to such things, love European system but people who find it trivial to invest in markets and such find the American system better. I wonder how many people think like me and how many like Americans. I have met Americans who don't think like what I just categorized as the American mindset, and European which are opposite to. So I really cant just take the populations and answer my own question.

Re: TransferWise changes name to Wise

#194

Post by Anderkent »

wildfire wrote: post #44
Anderkent wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you live? Bank wires are pretty expensive everywhere I've seen. (local bank transfers like ACH are free on TW too)

In the UK, EU and Australia - probably a few other places too - fees to transfer fund between do not exist (unless you are a business).

I guess this is something that might have changed - but I definitely recall being charged for making transfers from Poland to the UK, and same very recently for Switzerland UK transfers. In both, rather insidiously, the outgoing bank cannot tell me what the final fee will be, and I only find out what was charged when less money appears in the recipient account than what I sent.

Re: TransferWise changes name to Wise

#195

Post by scrollaway »

jarek83 wrote: post #192
scrollaway wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prediction: zero negative will come out of the name change or redesign, and three years from now they'll be bigger than ever. I'm long on them and they haven't even IPO'd yet. Can't wait for them, and Stripe. Seriously, have you ever seen a rebrand negatively affect a product? Rebrands have to be thought about retrospectively: you need to think whether it would make sense to go from the new to the old. Number26 for e…

> Seriously, have you ever seen a rebrand negatively affect a product? I think there is an example in Europe. myTaxi has been rebranded to FREE NOW. The change has been dictated to free the brand from just the taxi business connection. But I believe it was unfortunate, at least for their taxi business. I don't have hard numbers, but the new name and logo seems to be random, completely unrelated to taxis, so when you…

I mean yeah, that's not rebranding, that's just brand suicide. I hadn't heard about it, that's a fun story.

But in general, people used to a brand always cry out how rebranding will kill the brand and it truly has zero effect. I remember people saying that gmail's logo changing would kill it. Then it happened like two more times. Google rebranded Hangouts/Chat/Whatever like fifteen times and they still somehow have users. And in fintech I've seen tons of successful rebrands despite users doomsdaying them out. Simple, mentioned downthread, is a good example.

People just hate change. I mean look at some of the replies here… I hope they'll be able to read themselves a year from now.

Re: TransferWise changes name to Wise

#196

Post by jeofken »

maeln wrote: post #129
jeofken wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’d be surprised how rich a society can be with a high IQ demographics, low taxes (I.e. barriers), and free enterprise. In Europe, landlocked no-oil Switzerland is a good example of this.

The average IQ in the U.S.A and the E.U is roughly the same[1][2]. The tax rate is also very similar [3]. Salaries can also vary a lot. If a tech worker in SF can have a salary that dwarf most of its EU colleague, a minimum-wage worker is often going to have a better salary and benefit in the E.U (although it vary a lot per-country basis and the same can be said with states in the U.S.A). [1] https://www.worlddata.in…

First, I never mentioned the EU.

If I didn’t include the intelligence caveat, one could point out lower tax countries with less opportunity, such as how Somalia is the anarcho capitalists dream. Even if the US and Switzerland are more economically free than many other more socialist western nations, intelligent demographics is makes or breaks that effect.

The average American also makes more than the average European - not only in SF. In more economically free European countries this is not the case though, but these are few. Except for the highly regulated (thus inefficient) American Heath insurance market, having a regular job is a better deal there.

Re: TransferWise changes name to Wise

#197

Post by jeofken »

barry-cotter wrote: post #185
mschuster91 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland has the unique advantage of having staid neutral since somewhat 500 years which means their wealth never got plundered or destroyed in one of the way too many wars that have plagued Europe since then. Their neutrality status, combined with a long tradition of utmost banking secrecy, also made Switzerland a perfect "safe harbor" for lots of foreign dark money of all kinds - from kingdoms, warlords and othe…

Swiss neutrality post dates Napoleon’s fall. It’s barely 200 years old, not 500. And Switzerland would be rich without banking. It wasn’t (much) richer than its neighbors before WW2. Not getting bombed into rubble and banking secrecy gold are great but S Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong show there’s more than one way for a well governed country to get rich, starting from poverty.

I compare CH to Norway - 0.19% wealth tax in Zürich vs 1.8% in Norway, 0% capital gains tax in CH vs 20% in NO, 8% VAT in Zürich vs 25% in NO, zero natural resources in CH, massive amounts of oil in NO. After that, there is a manyfold greater chance for someone in CH to make a better wage and to save up a million $. Economic freedom is lifting the tide on which all boats sail.

Re: TransferWise changes name to Wise

#198

Post by jeofken »

refurb wrote: post #184
mschuster91 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland has the unique advantage of having staid neutral since somewhat 500 years which means their wealth never got plundered or destroyed in one of the way too many wars that have plagued Europe since then. Their neutrality status, combined with a long tradition of utmost banking secrecy, also made Switzerland a perfect "safe harbor" for lots of foreign dark money of all kinds - from kingdoms, warlords and othe…

Similar reason why Singapore got rich. Stability in a sea of unpredictability.

Singapore also does not have a capital gains tax and much more than other countries respects the natural right to ownership. If you with force go against the natural right to life, liberty, and property, you are punished with inefficiency.

Re: TransferWise changes name to Wise

#199

Post by jeofken »

mschuster91 wrote: post #156
jeofken wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’d be surprised how rich a society can be with a high IQ demographics, low taxes (I.e. barriers), and free enterprise. In Europe, landlocked no-oil Switzerland is a good example of this.

Switzerland has the unique advantage of having staid neutral since somewhat 500 years which means their wealth never got plundered or destroyed in one of the way too many wars that have plagued Europe since then. Their neutrality status, combined with a long tradition of utmost banking secrecy, also made Switzerland a perfect "safe harbor" for lots of foreign dark money of all kinds - from kingdoms, warlords and othe…

By that reason my nation the Swedes should be as rich as the Swiss, or more, since we have minerals and export a lot of wood. Sweden too has been neutral for hundreds of years. The demographics (of native Swedes) are similar in intelligence, a highly inheritable trait, as the Swiss, so that is not the differentiation.

But instead Sweden chose the way of high tax on high income, high capital gains tax (which is zero in Switzerland), and a big “public sector” in order to make a large section of the people dependent on the state. The effect is fewer rich people who can invest in new companies, and more investment done via the state, which is inherently less efficient

Re: TransferWise changes name to Wise

#200

Post by 3np »

I just wish they would not inherit the horrible security practices from the incumbents.

Opening a new account, the happy path steers the user to 2FA via SMS (which can't be disabled once enabled). The only other option is via their proprietary iOS or Android app.

Please, please give us at least TOTP, if not FIDO U2F or Webauthn.

SMS is inherently insecure (arguably worse than e-mail) and I'm not going to download your app.

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