Founded by Aussies in Ireland, CurrencyFair looks to disintermediate FX transfers for retail clients
Dublin-based peer to peer currency exchange CurrencyFair has broken the $1 billion mark in money matching transfers according to a report by the Irish Times yesterday.
The firm considers this a milestone for the international transfers sector, a division of the FX industry which has been the subject of much corporate interest recently, spearheaded by fellow deliverable currency transfer company OzForex’s initial public offering last year which sought to generate a stratospheric $439 million for the Australian direct currency transfers firm.
Whilst based in Ireland, the management team behind CurrencyFair are most likely very familiar with the Antipodean success, as they themselves originate from Australia. According to the firm, it’s the first platform in the world to reach this point.
“We’re laying down a major challenge to the banks by facilitating the cheapest, fastest and fairest way to transfer money home or abroad,” said CurrencyFair CEO Brett Meyers.
“At our current growth rates, everyone left in the FX industry will be competing at that level within a few years. This form of people-powered finance is going to change things forever. There’s no going back from here. And as we accelerate our growth, our fees will fall even further.”
CurrencyFair allows customers are able to exchange funds and transfer them overseas cheaper than traditional banks or brokers, using its “Money Matching” model that allows them to to obtain the best possible exchange rate. It currently operates with 17 currencies.
The firm has a 1 per cent rate ceiling on its exchange rate spreads, with the average fee at 0.35 per cent compared with between two and five per cent for services such as Paypal or Visa.
For more on the global Forex industry see the LeapRate-Dow Jones Forex Industry Report.