Since November 2015 Giraffe Social Enterprises has been using TransferWise to send and receive foreign currency transfers. Whenever people join one of our events from outside the UK we ask them, when possible, to transfer any fees or payments using TransferWise. I’ve wanted to create a short and informative piece that can describe the reasons why we’re excited to be using their service:
- It saves you money and it saves us money – banks create artificially low exchange rates when transferring money that creates hidden fees for them and some (like PayPal) charge an extra fee (5%!!) on top! Since GSE switched to using TransferWise in Dec 2015 we have saved more than £200 in fees.
- Exact amounts – If I want to send an exact amount or I want the recipient to receive an exact amount – I choose which.
- More choice! You’re not limited to Bank Transfers or the outrageous PayPal fees.
- Stop giving away money to the banks – For years the banking world has been the cause of huge economic problems worldwide – I want to transfer money without generating income for the banks.
- It’s easy! I just use the recipient’s name and their email address to send a transfer, then I transfer money from the GSE bank account to the TransferWise account (I could use a credit or debit card for an immediate transaction). Once TransferWise receives my money they send an email to the recipient (you). When you get the email you follow a link to the TransferWise site which asks you for the account details where you would like the money deposited (if you haven’t already used the system). The TransferWise deposits the money in your account – Done! They currently support about 40 of the world’s major currencies including all the European and North American ones.
If, like me, you think these reasons are a good idea, you are welcome to sign up for TransferWise using the GSE referral link – https://transferwise.com/u/ba85bb – when three new people sign up and make £100 transfers then GSE is given £100 towards our charitable projects – win / win / win!!!