TransferWise moves into Asia Pacific with opening of regional HQ in Singapore
(27 April 2017 – Asia) Remittance and global money transfer service, TransferWise, has expanded its presence by opening an office in Singapore to cater to the Asia Pacific region.
The firm has raised US$117 million from investors to date and was last valued as a “unicorn”, i.e. at more than US$1 billion. According to the firm, over one million people use its service to send over £1 billion each month. In addition to catering to consumers, TransferWise operates a business service that is focused on SMEs.
Currently, Transferwise only supports outbound sending (i.e. from the destination country) in four markets in the region: Singapore, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, with plans to cover Hong Kong soon.
According to the company’s co-founder, Taavet Hinrikus, India and China are a priority and TransferWise is “looking to see what’s possible” in those markets.
Initially, there will be eight staff in Singapore, but the plan is to increase headcount to around 30 by the end of 2017. The hires will be “across the board,” including engineering, operations, and marketing teams to handle both local business needs and also give the firm a 24/7 presence globally.
In addition to being a hub for Southeast Asia — and a global financial capital — Hinrikus said Singapore is the kind of market where he believes his service can have a telling impact, despite a total population of just five million.
“There are a couple of million people who are international expats in Singapore,” he explained. “For these people, TransferWise is oftentimes a core part of their life.”
According to Hinrikus. the company is not interested in potential M&A activity and says competition would only act to spur TransferWise to do better.
“We haven’t seen anything interesting to be acquired,” he has said.
Although the global remittance market is valued at around US$600 billion opportunity, the TransferWise CEO suggests a US$5-10 trillion opportunity when combining SME payments and developed market consumers.
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