The cross-border payments unicorn TransferWise announced a partnership with charities and organisations who are seeking to find and distribute, a vaccine for COVID-19.
The company pointed out that most banks and payment providers don’t exchange your money using the mid-market rate and that they alter the rate in a way that is favorable to them, and pocket the extra money.
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With that, the donation to a charity abroad turns into the processor’s profit. “We think that’s wrong — especially during times of global crisis,” claims TransferWise.
Documents leaked to Guardian Money back in 2017 revealed that Santander made €585 million from money transfers in 2016. That’s equal to nearly a tenth of its 2016 global profit of €6.2 billion. The documents also revealed that the bank – at least back in 2016 – charged six times as much as TransferWise for sending £10,000 from the UK to Spain. – Fintech Futures reported.
TransfeWise decided to waive their fees on up to $20,000,000 in donations. The company has partnered with United Nations Foundation (UNF), Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The customer is able to donate without the fear of being charged through following steps:
“Please follow these steps rather than sending money directly to your chosen organisation. This is the only way we can waive our fees, giving you the real exchange rate.”
- From our landing page, choose the organisation you’d like to donate to
- You’ll be prompted to log in to your TransferWise account, or to create a free account if you don’t already have one.
- Select the currency you want to donate from, and the amount you’d like to send, then make your donation!
Annual revenue at TransferWise grew to £302.6 million. These results show a net profit after tax of £21.3 million for the fiscal year ending March 2020. This August TransferWise’s early investors sold some of their stakes in a $319 million secondary deal. With that, the value of the company was estimated at $5bn.
