The startup specializing in international money transfer TransferWise received authorization from the Central Bank (BC) to become a foreign exchange broker in Brazil. According to the company, the approval will make it possible to further reduce costs for sending and receiving funds from Brazilians abroad.
Fintech has been operating in the country since April 2016 as an exchange correspondent for local banks. Since the beginning of activities, clients have already moved more than R $ 26 billion between sending and receiving amounts in Brazil.
"Brazil has become one of TransferWise's five priority markets with an organic growth 57% higher than the average of the countries in which we operate," says Diana Ávila, TransferWise's leader in Latin America.
The license arrives more than two years after the application. "Currently, sending money with TransferWise in Brazil is already three times cheaper than with traditional financial institutions. With the exchange broker license, we hope to further reduce our rates, optimizing costs and offering an even better experience for our customers ", clarifies Diana.
The average shipping cost by TransferWise is currently around 1.5% of the transfer amount. With the broker's license and with that, without the need to use partner banks in foreign exchange operations, the company wants to bring the value in Brazil closer to its global average of 0.74% per transaction.
With the authorization, TransferWise intends, in addition to reducing costs, to expand the service portfolio, such as the possibility for users to send money to companies, for example. "We started this process at the end of last year, allowing people to transfer money to educational institutions", quotes Diana.
Co-founded by Estonian Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann in 2011, TransferWise is headquartered in London, UK. Fintech has already raised $ 689 million in two investment rounds, from venture capital funds and investors like Lead Edge, Lone Pine, Vitruvian, IVP and Merian Global Investors, Andreessen Horowitz, Richard Branson, Valar Ventures and Max Levchin from PayPal.
According to the company, more than 7 million people use money transfer services globally, which processes more than $ 5 billion in payments every month.
The startup specializing in international money transfer TransferWise received authorization from the Central Bank (BC) to become a foreign exchange broker in Brazil. According to the company, the approval will make it possible to further reduce costs for sending and receiving funds from Brazilians abroad.
Fintech has been operating in the country since April 2016 as an exchange correspondent for local banks. Since the beginning of activities, clients have already moved more than R $ 26 billion between sending and receiving amounts in Brazil.
"Brazil has become one of TransferWise's five priority markets with an organic growth 57% higher than the average of the countries in which we operate," says Diana Ávila, TransferWise's leader in Latin America.
The license arrives more than two years after the application. "Currently, sending money with TransferWise in Brazil is already three times cheaper than with traditional financial institutions. With the exchange broker license, we hope to further reduce our rates, optimizing costs and offering an even better experience for our customers ", clarifies Diana.
The average shipping cost by TransferWise is currently around 1.5% of the transfer amount. With the broker's license and with that, without the need to use partner banks in foreign exchange operations, the company wants to bring the value in Brazil closer to its global average of 0.74% per transaction.
With the authorization, TransferWise intends, in addition to reducing costs, to expand the service portfolio, such as the possibility for users to send money to companies, for example. "We started this process at the end of last year, allowing people to transfer money to educational institutions", quotes Diana.
Co-founded by Estonian Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann in 2011, TransferWise is headquartered in London, UK. Fintech has already raised $ 689 million in two investment rounds, from venture capital funds and investors like Lead Edge, Lone Pine, Vitruvian, IVP and Merian Global Investors, Andreessen Horowitz, Richard Branson, Valar Ventures and Max Levchin from PayPal.
According to the company, more than 7 million people use money transfer services globally, which processes more than $ 5 billion in payments every month.