TransferWise to cooperate with banks

Photo: TransferWise

After a lengthy history of bashing high currency exchange fees at banks as its chief slogan, TransferWise enters into cooperation with banks. In New Year, the first step will be TransferWise’s international foreign currency transfers straight from LHV mobile bank.

«LHV bank will be the first bank in the world offering within its services portfolio TransferWise’s transparent money transfer service thus offering clients the option to save money on fees. For us, the cooperation is a marker as showing a future trend of finance technology,» said TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus.

He said the application created for the cooperation will in the future allow linking TransferWise service not to banks only but with any Internet application.

LHV retail banking head Andres Kitter said today’s banking is open banking – meaning innovation created via cooperation and partnership.

The novel foreign payment will be an option for all existing and future LHV mobile bank users. For LHV clients, European payments have been free for a longer while. To use TransferWise service in mobile bank, LHV clients will need to download LHV mobile bank app from Google Play or Apple App Store.

TransferWise payments will reach LHV mobile banks at the beginning of 2016, and its internet bank soon after.