BBC hails the rise of FinTech in international money transfer

The BBC has hailed the rise of FinTech companies taking on the banks.

In today's article the BBC praises streamlined new money transfer services, including Wise:

"Banks and independent money transfer giants such as Western Union and MoneyGram, charge about 5-8% in fees when transferring money abroad, and these fees are often concealed within the exchange rate. Wise charges just 0.5% of the amount being converted. This can equate to a £100-£150 saving on a £5,000 international money transfer."

Wise co-founder Taavet, quoted in the article, expressed his frustration with traditional methods:

"We didn't understand why transferring money had to be so expensive. With us, it's all about transparency - that's really important. We choose the mid-market rate when we transfer money. Banks are really bad when it comes to building consumer-centred products. People expect systems to be as simple as Skype, which we had experiencing building. We've been working on this system for four years - it's quite a piece of art. We're a technology company at heart, not a bank. We believe that the future of money is digital."