BANKING
“ FEW AREAS OF FINANCIAL SERVICES HAVE REMAINED SO STUBBORNLY ANALOGUE , FOR SO LONG , AS COMMERCIAL FOREIGN EXCHANGE ”
SETH PHILLIPS FOUNDER AND CEO , BOUND
“ To this day commercial FX is still done mostly on the phone , enabling brokers to give a customer a competitive exchange rate one day , but help themself to a fat margin on another day when the customer doesn ' t have time to collect and compare multiple quotes .
“ For retail customers – typically those sending money to family overseas – this model has been disrupted by Wise ( formerly Transferwise ), Revolut and other successful fintechs , which charge customers a flat , low fee for each transfer .”
Phillips believes that digital disruption might now finally be coming to commercial FX , with new technologies that allow for better customer experience , more rapid trading and greater transparency around pricing .
44 April 2022