TransferWise enables international money transfers to Asian e-wallets

London-headquartered fintech startup TransferWise has enabled global money transfers to six mobile wallet platforms in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh as part of its wider effort to expand its Asian network.

Photo credit: TransferWise

The new service is now available for Gojek’s GoPay, Ovo, and Dana in Indonesia, GCash and PayMaya in the Philippines, and bKash in Bangladesh. It allows TransferWise’s customers to send money to users of these mobile wallets with just the name and mobile number of the recipient.

The company claims recipients can receive money at a global average cross-border fee of 0.74% per transaction, which is up to 5x cheaper than cash pick-up services.

With the move, TransferWise looks to capitalize on the three countries’ high mobile connectivity and internet penetration as well as their unbanked population. According to World Bank figures, the share of people without bank accounts in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh range between 52% and 68%.

The firm is also targeting e-wallets in China and India for the next round of launches, it said in a statement.

Recently, the company introduced a debit card that uses real exchange rates in Singapore after launches in the UK, Europe, the US, Australia, and New Zealand. The company said it looks to launch the card in Japan by 2020 and in more countries in Asia. It also plans to offer its entire suite of products to more markets in the region, cooperating with various regulators.

TransferWise, which was established in 2011, was valued at US$3.5 billion after its latest funding round earlier this year. It also claims to have been profitable over the last three years.