UK-based TransferWise challenges banks by allowing money transfers to China for just 1.5 per cent fee
Company expects 50 million overseas Chinese to send money back home ahead of February festive season, plans to launch transfers out of Hong Kong later this year
Peer-to-peer money transfer platform Transferwise has launched low-cost money transfers to China as it seeks to expand its financial technology services in Asia, it said on Wednesday.
The UK-based company now allows customers to send money to China UnionPay bank accounts from 14 currencies including the US dollar, euro and British pound. It said a 1.5 per cent charge will be levied on each transfer. It takes one to three days to deliver the money.
This compares to an average fee of 9.8 per cent charged by other banks and companies to send money from the UK to China, according to TransferWise.
“For consumers to be paying nearly 10 per cent to transfer money between two of the world’s largest economies is simply unjustifiable,” said Nilan Peiris, vice president of growth for TransferWise.
Some rivals offer competitive rates - but only for smaller sums. Western Union, for example, charges anywhere from 2 per cent to 9 per cent, depending on the specific service used and amount sent.