Monzo and Transferwise have announced a partnership for international money transfers within Monzo’s app.
The news comes a few weeks’ after the challenger bank became the first bank in the world to partner up with IFTTT.
The tie-up comes amid a busy month for Transferwise, which earlier this month also launched a partnership with France’s second-biggest bank BPCE Europe.
Transferwise, with its money transfer system – which happens at the bank rate and aims to cut out middlemen – makes over £2 billion in money transfers every month in 47 currencies alongside having three million customers.
Users who currently have a Monzo account are able to make payments overseas into 16 popular currencies, including the Euro, US Dollar, Indian Rupee and Swedish Krona to name but a few. Transferring money overseas through a Monzo account means the user will incur a small overseas fee for every payment made. (Computer Business Review has contacted the bank for a specific number).
Monzo have said on their blog post that any overseas payment made “will be shown transparently before you send any money” on the app.
However, this is only available in some Monzo users apps with further rollout expected within the next few weeks for its 766,061 customers.
Content from our partners
Tom Blomfield, co-founder and CEO of Monzo explained that he was not competing with Transferwise, but with the established High Street banks such as HSBC, Lloyds Bank, RBS and Barclays.
Blomfield told TechCrunch: “Honestly, we are not competing with TransferWise. Both of us are looking at the big high street banks, as either partners or competitors. Our customers come from Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and RBS.
He added: “I just think there is so much headroom in this space that it would be crazy to think that we are competing with each other.”
Kristo Käärmann, one of the co-founders of Transferwise and their current CEO was excited about partnering up with Monzo.
Käärmann added: “We’re kind of getting to the place where once there are enough banks who are as transparent in their foreign fees as Monzo is, then it becomes quite untenable for everyone else to keep hiding their fees and that’s very interesting.
“Not just for us as companies, but more generally in terms of how banking works.”
