The future of international money transfers

[Scottjouro]

Having read multiple threads on here discussing how to move money in and out of Thailand cheaply and quickly...

 

this is the furture of international transfers and a Thai Bank is playing a leading role in the development and implementation of what is called "the internet of value"..RippleNet...transfers and settles in 3 to 5 seconds and fees are fractions of a cent...

 

https://ripple.com/insights/siam-commercial-bank-pioneers-ripplenets-multi-hop-feature/

https://ripple.com/insights/ripple-highlights-record-year-xrapid-now-commercially-available/

 

[Pib]

What exchange rate is used with this RippleNet?  I get the part about no direct fees...or very low direct fees...but what exchange rate is used?

 

From reviewing the weblinks given and looking at the Satander OnePay FX app which I think uses the RippleNet network, Satander doesn't give any specifics on exchange rate....they just say they use the latest exchange rates which I assume is Satander's exchange rate and not the FX/mid market rate.   See snapshot below.   I mention Satander since you mentioned Satander is using RippleNet in another ThaiVisa thread.

 

After googling for a while I just couldn't find anything on RippleNet's or Satander's exchange rate except this Nov 17 article which shows Satander's exchange rate for GBP-THB are approx 7% lower than the mid market rate (see snapshot 2).  The picture of the Nov 17 article author looks a lot like your picture....maybe it is you? 

 

Anyway, if Satander's exchange rates like those listed in the Nov 17 article are used for their RippleNet transfers then RippleNet might be super fast with no direct fees, but the exchange rate is low which means it has a high "indirect" fee.

 

Not trying to be augmentative....just trying to figure out what exchange rate is used with RippleNet.

 

 

Snapshot 1

https://www.santander.co.uk/uk/international-payments

 

Snapshot 2

[Thailand J]

I hate it already. Read more like tabloid publishing, not enough information.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2018 by Thailand J

[Antonymous]

It is all down to the exchange rate. Santander, as Pib has pointed out, use particularly poor rates for transfers. "We use the latest exchange rates available" and "No fees charged" are in my opinion criminal misrepresentations of the fact that they cream their customers.

 

I had a run in with Santander over this years back and got the middle finger from them after I'd pointed out the huge discrepancies from their rates to mid-rates. All banking institutions who are using this deception seem to get away with it with impunity.

[connda]

Advise my father gave me that still applies to this day:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."

Blockchain based transfer will not doubt be the future, but the future isn't here yet.

[ncc1701d]

What I’ve noticed with my bank is their fees have halved since these different ways of overseas transfers have started up. So some competition has proved good. My problem is with the intermediary banks taking a huge cut. If they could be bipassed, it would be much better. 

[Esso49]

And if it is anything like the SCB ATM's that are near me and are out of order so much then I think this latest gem I'll give a wide berth to.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

52 minutes ago, Antonymous said:

It is all down to the exchange rate. Santander, as Pib has pointed out, use particularly poor rates for transfers. "We use the latest exchange rates available" and "No fees charged" are in my opinion criminal misrepresentations of the fact that they cream their customers.

 

I had a run in with Santander over this years back and got the middle finger from them after I'd pointed out the huge discrepancies from their rates to mid-rates. All banking institutions who are using this deception seem to get away with it with impunity.

 

Agreed, but you can bet that, in their mealy-mouthed deceptions, they have the exact wording of publicity and advertisements gone over by lawyers, precisely so that they cannot be sued.

[Pib]

And transfers via Blockchain technology doesn't mean banksters will significantly lower their overall transfer fees, but hopefully they will....some have....some haven't.  While banksters' transfer costs may indeed go down that does not mean they will pass along much or possibly any of their cost savings. Or they do lower the "direct, upfront" sending fee maybe even to zero, but continue to use a low exchange rate that extracts a healthy "indirect" fee.   Well, if the customer see their overall transfer cost go down then that's a good thing and hopefully competition will help that happen.

 

And when it comes to money transfer services, be it RippleNet, Transferwise or whoever, they all use advertising that makes it sound like lowering the cost of customers is their primary goal & mission in life.  Yea, right. Even Transferwise (which I use periodically...good company) advertises their mission is to drive fees to zero.....but then of course if they continue to use the FX market rate they would put themselves out of business by driving fees to zero.   If they don't make money off the exchange and no longer make money off fees, how will they make money/profit to stay in business?

 

https://transferwise.com/gb/blog/transferwise-drops-price-from-uk

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, ncc1701d said:

What I’ve noticed with my bank is their fees have halved since these different ways of overseas transfers have started up. So some competition has proved good. My problem is with the intermediary banks taking a huge cut. If they could be bipassed, it would be much better. 

 

Yes well this article from Australia a couple of days ago has the banks under the spotlight, rightfully so, this is on top of the already Royal Commission that it just had with the report due out 1 February 2019, look out for the blood bath I say.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-02/accc-to-investigate-foreign-transaction-fees/10327792

Edited October 4, 2018 by 4MyEgo

[JAG]

I understand that there is a chap operating from an email address in Lagos who will offer a competitive service. He has an agent based on the corner of Sukhumvit Road and Sukhumvit Soi 13, usually to be found, after 8 pm, sitting on the steps of the entrance to the Miami Hotel...

Edited October 4, 2018 by JAG