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TransferWise announces $280M investment

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Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#91

Post by dazc »

dnohr wrote: post #88
alexee wrote: post #4

I wish they would issue credit cards soon. Every time I pay with credit card while travelling, my bank charges 1.5% for each transaction, in addition to bad conversion rate.

Depending on where you are from there might a better alternative. In Europe, you have Revolut, N26 and Monzo which gives you a prepaid or debit MasterCard. Instead of the higher foreign transaction bank fees you will get either Mastercard’s or interbank rates, which is so much better than your traditional bank exchange rate. I have tried to list some options here: https://globalmoneyapp.com

Revolut have appalling customer service. I have let a couple of rogue transactions go because it's such a hassle dealing with them.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#92

Post by dazc »

NetStrikeForce wrote: post #45
mcjiggerlog wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I've got money in GBP, EUR and USD in a Revolut debit card. I've used it on ATMs in mainland Europe and continental US without problems.

Well Santander are now charging a 5 euro fee; Sabadel have been charging 1.50 for at least the last year.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#93

Post by dazc »

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…

you get the same thing with revolut.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#94

Post by toomuchtodo »

cprecioso wrote: post #51

For everyone that's interested in TransferWise, I'd recommend Revolut ( https://www.revolut.com/ ) instead. They have no fees for transactions or currency changes (up to a quite high limit), as well with a lot more features (international prepaid MasterCard that charges no fees ever being my favourite one, and you can go to ATMs for free as well). I've been a happy customer of them for quite some time and I have abso…

I'm on Revolut's waiting list to get access as a US citizen, but TransferWise turned on my Borderless account immediately.

Really looking forward to trying them, but they're constraining their user base artificially at this time.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#95

Post by msrpotus »

charlesdm wrote: post #55
a_d wrote: post #2

I used to study remittance flows for a living. This was a problem that was (is?) begging to be solved. Incumbents like Western Union have always been very expensive and borderline evil. There are well known “corridors” of remittance flows that are still yet to be captured - like Kerala (India) Saudi Arabia (Middle-east more generally); Mexico US; US LatAm etc. My guess is TransferWise captured the UK Poland corridor…

In general, banks do charge excessive fees on exchanging currencies. For example, if you want to exchange €1,000 to $ or £, they'll charge you (by default) a 2.5-5% conversion fee. After negotiating with them, you generally get it down to 0.3%. These days, I convert through my broker, because they only charge me 0.2% for FX conversions.

What stops banks from dropping those fees to compete with TransferWise? Are they serving a fundamentally different slice of the market?

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#96

Post by vilmosi »

ForHackernews wrote: post #41
alexee wrote: post #4

I wish they would issue credit cards soon. Every time I pay with credit card while travelling, my bank charges 1.5% for each transaction, in addition to bad conversion rate.

CapitalOne doesn't charge any foreign transaction fees on their credit cards.

Yeah but they charge on atm withdrawals and the exchange rate could be the banks rate depending on the card.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#97

Post by vilmosi »

graniter wrote: post #58

I don't understand what TransferWise offers beyond what PayPal does. Why not just send yourself money using 2 PayPal accounts? Are they cheaper or faster?

I'm not sure about this but doesn't paypal charge lots of little fees? For currency conversion, for withdrawal... Their exchange rate is not the best.

In comparison, transferwise makes it simpler and straight to your bank account.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#98

Post by thesimon »

spIrr wrote: post #84
thesimon wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe 2-3 years ago, but at least in the cities the card acceptance is quite good. Berlin in particular and cafes in general being the exception.

… and bakeries, my god. I haven't seen a single bakery that accepts cards (EC or credit). Wanna buy €30 worth of cake to bring to work for your birthday? Nope, cash only.

Most Kamps do, some are franchise though.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#99

Post by charlesdm »

msrpotus wrote: post #95
charlesdm wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general, banks do charge excessive fees on exchanging currencies. For example, if you want to exchange €1,000 to $ or £, they'll charge you (by default) a 2.5-5% conversion fee. After negotiating with them, you generally get it down to 0.3%. These days, I convert through my broker, because they only charge me 0.2% for FX conversions.

What stops banks from dropping those fees to compete with TransferWise? Are they serving a fundamentally different slice of the market?

Probably nothing, but the loss of customers probably doesn't make up for the fees they currently make.

Re: TransferWise announces $280M investment

#100

Post by xioxox »

msrpotus wrote: post #95
charlesdm wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general, banks do charge excessive fees on exchanging currencies. For example, if you want to exchange €1,000 to $ or £, they'll charge you (by default) a 2.5-5% conversion fee. After negotiating with them, you generally get it down to 0.3%. These days, I convert through my broker, because they only charge me 0.2% for FX conversions.

What stops banks from dropping those fees to compete with TransferWise? Are they serving a fundamentally different slice of the market?

Banks in Germany are competitive with TransferWise for fairly large amounts (several thousand euros). You can achieve sub 0.5% charges with DKB, including the exchange rate penalty, for example. The main problem is that the pricing structures are opaque. Often the exchange rate is not properly advertised (and may not apply depending on the time of the transfer) and there are additional charges to include.
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