Photo credit: Moyen Brenn .
Transferwise, one of the biggest online services in the world for money transfers, is launching in Japan today, said CEO Taavet Hinrikus speaking at Tech in Asia Tokyo 2016.
The service’s users, made up of businesses and individuals, transfer US$1 billion in cash each month. With better rates and lower fees than the banks and many other such services, the startup claims it saves its users US$1 million per day.
The startup works on the idea of being “cheaper, faster, better” than the banks, Taavet explained this afternoon.
Transferwise CEO Taavet Hinrikus (left) interviewed onstage this afternoon at Tech in Asia Tokyo 2016. The interviewer is Nao Kitazawa, COO of Money Design. Photo credit: Tech in Asia / Michael Holmes.
Taavet said that Transferwise has been working on the Japan launch “for a couple of years” behind the scenes, building a local team and getting the necessary regulatory nods. “The only way to succeed in Japan is building a local team,” said the boss. Taavet was Skype’s first employee, but he left the tech giant to work on his own venture, Transferwise in 2011.
His startup is now estimated to be a unicorn, worth exactly US$1 billion.
Transferwise initially focused on Europe before expanding to the US and Australia last year. The Asia push will continue soon, with New Zealand coming next and Singapore and Hong Kong “following” later, Taavet stated.
This is part of the coverage of Tech in Asia Tokyo 2016, our conference taking place on September 6 and 7.
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