TransferWise links with Apple Pay globally
27/07/2017 14:00
By Anna Irrera
NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - Financial technology startup
TransferWise will allow users around the world to send money
internationally through its service using Apple Pay, in a bid to
make transfers easier and more secure.
The London-based money transfer company said on Thursday
that it was joining with Apple Inc's AAPL.O payments service
in the U.S. and a handful of other countries, following a
similar move in the UK in 2015.
This means users on Apple devices will no longer have to
insert their payments card or bank account details to send money
via TransferWise, but will be able to transfer funds through
their Apple Pay account, speeding up the process.
The startup hopes the service will help grow its transaction
volumes by tapping into the technology company's user base.
"It's much more convenient to do it this way," Gregory
Talon, consumer product lead at TransferWise said in an
interview. "Because you don't have to type any of your card
details it limits the risk of having somebody watching what you
are doing."
Six-year-old TransferWise is one of Europe's most
well-funded fintech companies, with backers including British
billionaire Sir Richard Branson, venture capital firm Andreessen
Horowitz and PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O founder Max Levchin.
It is among the growing cohort of startups that use digital
technology to make it easier and cheaper for consumers and
businesses to send funds abroad. It currently processes more
than $1.2 billion monthly in transfers across 750 currency
routes.
The company says Apple Pay usage on TransferWise in the UK
has been encouraging. Over 10 percent of all TransferWise
transactions to and from British Pounds carried out on Apple IOS
devices are funded via Apple Pay, the company said.
The move comes as payments partnerships increase, as firms
including banks, telecommunications providers and large
technology companies seek to gain an edge in the highly
competitive sector.
The other countries in which the integration is being rolled
out are Australia, Switzerland, France, Spain, Ireland, Italy.
(Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Bernard Orr)
((anna.irrera@tr.com; +1 646-223-4005 ; @annairrera;))
Keywords: TRANSFERWISE APPLE PAY/