PHOTO
Global cross-border payments company TransferWise has started its money transfer service in the UAE.
TransferWise Nuqud is regulated under the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority. TransferWise services will enable customers to send money from UAE dirhams at the real mid-market exchange rate, using its platform, it said in a statement to the media.
UK-based TransferWise, which currently serves seven million customers worldwide, was co-founded in 2011 by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus.
The firm has a range of high- profile investors including Sir Richard Branson and a mix of private equities and Venture Capital funds such as Black Rock, Lead Edge, Lone Pine, Vitruvian, IVP, Merian Global Investors, Andreessen Horowitz, Valar Ventures and Max Levchin of PayPal.
After TransferWise announced its UAE licence to operate in 2019, 15,000 people signed up to be notified about the launch of the currency route, it said in a statement.
According to an independent research carried out by Viva Consulting, a UAE-based market research and consulting firm, Transferwise transfers were found to be up to two times cheaper than the major banks and exchange houses.
“We undercut the banks by about 10 times at international banking, and by being profitable, we prove that is sustainable and not just a temporary stage. Actually, over the years, we were able to move at lower costs to undercut the banks even deeper,” Kristo Käärmann, CEO and co-founder of TransferWise had told Zawya in an interview last year.
"The UAE is one of the most important remittance markets in the world, and we’re delighted to be bringing the first fully online money transfers to the country," Käärmann said in a statement.
The World Bank and Central Bank figures state that a total of 169.2 billion UAE dirhams ($46.1 billion) was sent from the UAE in 2018 out of total global remittances of 2.5 trillion UAE dirhams.
TransferWise, which has more than 2,000 employees across 14 global offices, processes $5 billion in customer payments every month (domestic & cross-border) and 25 percent of its international transfers are instant - delivered in less than 20 seconds, the company said in a statement to the press.
Steve Barnett, Executive Director of Business Development at Abu Dhabi Global Market, said: "We are confident that coupled with ADGM’s thriving and holistic ecosystem, TransferWise will continue to reinforce its position as a leading financial services provider."
TransferWise was valued at $3.5 billion after a secondary funding of $292 million in May this year, bringing the total amount raised in both primary and secondary funding to $689 million.
In September 2019, the company recorded a net profit after tax of £10.3 million for fiscal year ending March 2019 and a 53 percent revenue boost to £179 million.
(Writing by Seban Scaria; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)
#FINTECH #UAE
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.
© ZAWYA 2020
