2 ms·

I'm curious if this could also be used to help with remittances. I have several friends who emigrated from countries around the world, and they struggle to find

by Pfhreak 11y ago

I'm curious if this could also be used to help with remittances. I have several friends who emigrated from countries around the world, and they struggle to find an easy way to remit to their parents. Bitcoin seems so close, but it's difficult for their folks to get it converted to local currency. The fees and hurdles they currently deal with are outrageous, and while it looks like the shift card is US only, it seems like there may be an opportunity here.

jarek 11y ago
Yes, there's a big opportunity. But U.S. customer-facing financial companies - especially startups - have been really bad at doing stuff outside the U.S. Witness the darling Square getting its lunch eaten by iZettle and Paypal (!) even in the UK, to say nothing of rest of Europe, to say nothing of rest of the world. Everyone and their dog has been trying to solve remittances with technology at least since Stephenson wrote Cryptonomicon. Ultimately it's much less a tech problem than a human problem.
Symbiote 11y ago
Since emigrating this summer, I've transferred about £25k ($40k) using TransferWise and been very pleased with the way the service works. I paid far less in fees than any other service I could find a quote for. I was concerned that being in a small European country with its own currency would mean payments took longer, but this wasn't the case. They're based in the UK, and properly regulated by both the UK and US. You get a free transfer using a referral link: https://transferwise.com/u/61f8ad https://transferwise.com/u/61f8ad Or use the non-referral link if you prefer: https://transferwise.com/ https://transferwise.com/
- aianus 11y ago
  Seems to cost ~1% which is better than banks but still $400(!) on $40k. I use Bitcoin to transfer money from USD to THB and get better than spot if I time it right.

2 ms·

I'm curious if this could also be used to help with remittances. I have several friends who emigrated from countries around the world, and they struggle to find

by Pfhreak 11y ago

jarek 11y ago
Yes, there's a big opportunity. But U.S. customer-facing financial companies - especially startups - have been really bad at doing stuff outside the U.S. Witness the darling Square getting its lunch eaten by iZettle and Paypal (!) even in the UK, to say nothing of rest of Europe, to say nothing of rest of the world. Everyone and their dog has been trying to solve remittances with technology at least since Stephenson wrote Cryptonomicon. Ultimately it's much less a tech problem than a human problem.
Symbiote 11y ago
Since emigrating this summer, I've transferred about £25k ($40k) using TransferWise and been very pleased with the way the service works. I paid far less in fees than any other service I could find a quote for. I was concerned that being in a small European country with its own currency would mean payments took longer, but this wasn't the case. They're based in the UK, and properly regulated by both the UK and US. You get a free transfer using a referral link: https://transferwise.com/u/61f8ad https://transferwise.com/u/61f8ad Or use the non-referral link if you prefer: https://transferwise.com/ https://transferwise.com/
- aianus 11y ago
  Seems to cost ~1% which is better than banks but still $400(!) on $40k. I use Bitcoin to transfer money from USD to THB and get better than spot if I time it right.