The arduous and expensive process of overseas remittance or money transfers is now a past story. With digital payment mode, it is easy to send and receive money from anywhere in the world, whether it is a large sum or a small amount. Till three years ago, the overseas money transfer market was pretty much dominated by banks or agencies like Western Union and Transferwise, but now most countries are allowing FinTech companies in the market.
The Korean government started allowing general companies to enter the overseas remittance market or money transfer market in July 2017. Companies, which met specific criteria like a net worth over $1.85 million, office logistics, computer facilities, foreign exchange networks, and experts, etc. were allowed to enter the business with a small-sum overseas remittance license.
Enterprising Korean startups have entered this fiercely competitive overseas remittance market and are succeeding as well. Koreatechdesk.com lists three startups that are making it easy for businesses and individuals to transfer money overseas.
1) Sentbe
Sentbe has made it easy to send money overseas with its quick delivery time and low fees. Sentbe offers cheaper, faster, and more accessible online remittance than banks and remits to 25 corridors across the South East Asian region, including countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, and China.
Founded in 2015, Sentbe has over 10,000 active users and does over 30,000 transfers per month.
Sentbe is the most beneficial service for foreigners who work in South Korea, especially the Philippines, which consists of 40% of the clients of Sentbe. In July 2019, Sentbe formed a partnership with the US-based digital money transfer service MoneyGram.
Sentbe’s primary mission is to make cross-border payment more inclusive and available for everyone. With strategic expansions and partnerships with local finance companies in the Southeast Asia region, Sentbe is accomplishing its mission.
2) WireBarley
Established in 2016, WireBarley is another FinTech startup that offers quicker, safer, and more glocalized way to transfer money. WireBarley’s financial technology platform can be used to transfer money to 20 countries and over 100 corridors. WireBarley’s cross-border remittance service extends to the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong.
WireBarley has over a million users and has recently entered the US market. Koreans and Asians living in the US and other countries find WireBarley services very useful. WireBarley boasts of a remittance platform unrivaled by typical money transfer companies. WireBarley’s platform allows its users to record, verify, and clear cross-regional transfer data transmitted using proprietary algorithmic technologies; thus, enabling exponential growth with an emphasis in compliance.
3) MOIN
MOIN obtained its overseas remittance license in 2018 and has an online money transfer service that allows user to send money abroad faster and cheaper. MOIN currently provides money transfer services to Japan, China, United States, Singapore, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
MOIN users can remit up to $30,000 per year and $3,000 per transfer. The demand for MOIN’s service can be gauged by the fact that remittance, through its platform, increases by almost 140% each quarter. The company is also focussing on cryptocurrencies devoted to remittances. The company’s CEO, Seo Il-seok, founded MOIN after holding several positions, such as senior researcher in Samsung Electronics, credit officer in SoftBank Ventures Korea, and CIO of FuturePlay. In 2019, MOIN was nominated for Fintech100: Leading Global FinTech innovators from KPMG International and H2 ventures.
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