The international money transfer market has been witnessing exponential growth in the past few years. The tremendous rise in global cash flows only point to the demand and need for international money transfers. However, it also points out the lucrative opportunities for banks, governments, traditional financial companies, and technology firms.
Although banks and governments have long enjoyed a monopoly over institutional foreign exchange and international money transfers, the market is rapidly changing and evolving with the entry of new financial companies who serve as money transfer operators and are not banks. The objective of these money transfer companies is to offer faster, cheaper, and value-added money transfer services.
TransferWise or Wise is considered one of the most popular online money transfer companies in the world. The money transfer operator believes in working in the customers’ interests and serving them with fair, transparent, simple means of transferring money abroad.
With countless money transfer operators emerging in the market, there is pressure on banks and other financial institutions to reduce fees. Thus, due to healthier competition, the banks, credit unions, and money transmitters are paying particular attention to the remittance services and how to transfer money electronically for consumers at lower costs. However, is Wise.com an actual substantial service providing only remittances, or is it really as money-wise for customers as it claims to be?
The wise.com – How wise and reliable is it?
TransferWise or Wise, as a money transfer operator, handles billions in transactions every year and serves millions of customers worldwide. Now one can send their funds in multiple currencies and with low fees and transparent services and enjoy a great online experience. Customers look at Wise as one of the cheapest and safest ways for global money transfers.
Given below are some good reasons as to what makes Wise truly wise and better than the rest:
Wise is upfront about their low fees and is transparent in their services, and there are no hidden fees.
- Regulated by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and other agencies around the world.
- Very simple and easy to create a multi-currency account and Mastercard debit card and send money at best-in-class exchange rates.
- Typically, one is charged around 0.5 to 1 percent of the total amount sent and an additional fee of $1 or $2.
- Offers top-notch communications with fully featured mobile apps for Android and Apple phones.
- A borderless Account or multi-currency Account allows you to send money to over 50 different countries in 40 different currencies.
- Can send up to 1 million USD ($1,000,000), but the card has lower limits.
- The actual length of time for transferring funds will depend on the currencies and countries, but it takes around two business days in most cases.
- State-of-the-art latest encryption and security to keep your personal and financial information secure.
As a customer, you should also be aware of some limitations with Wise.com. For example, one can only pay by debit card, credit card, or bank transfer and can send money only to a bank account. Wise still doesn’t support all currencies and countries, and customers may need a specialist foreign exchange provider for handling more significant amounts of money.
Nevertheless, Wise still comes up as the top name when you look online to make international money transfers. Still, not every company wants to be Wise as the currency transfer and exchange markets have been evolving at a rapid pace over the past two decades and companies prefer to take a different approach to meet the growing demands of the customers.
Changing nature of money transfer markets
One cannot only expect the money transfer markets to grow further and evolve as the global payment flows are expected to cross US$150 T in 2022. It means that there is likely to be a rush of new entrants, and the current banks and money transfer operators will need to fine-tune their strategies to meet the demands of emerging market growth and customers.
Consumers are now more demanding and less willing to pay higher rates or fees, and they are taking advantage of digital access points such as alternative payments methods (APMs) for remittances. As the percentage of mobile phone ownership increases, and with more than70% of the world’s population already having access to a mobile wallet, mobile wallet usage in e-commerce is forecast to reach 52% in 2023 and thus increase cross-border commerce volumes.
Some of the upcoming trends can be summed as the following:
- Incumbent banks and new players entering the market along with Wise will have to come up with innovative business models to overcome the common challenges related to cross-border payments, such as lack of transparency, higher costs, and delays.
- Things can change if banks decide to compete directly with money transfer operators and other specialized players who challenge their dominance. Banks may resort to acquisitions and collaboration and develop new competitive strategies to survive the increasing competition.
Together, these trends create the demand for digitally enabled money transfer operators relying on back-end networks. One can expect acquisitions and collaborations between banks and money transfer operators for low-value and reliable transactions for digitally-enabled money transfers. Responding to market changes will require new differentiated and competitive strategies to survive in the challenging business environments.
Nevertheless, TransferWise is still among the most reliable and safe ways to send funds as it is different and better than other money transfer operators. So, if you want to send money fast and securely and without any hidden fee, Wise is indeed a wise choice. Wise has you covered on every front, whether it is creating an account, fast and easy transfers, communications and notifications, or multiple ways to pay, such as a bank transfer, wire transfer, or card.