
CurrencyFair: A P2P platform for currency exchange - pioul
http://www.techworld.com.au/article/529454/currencyfair_p2p_platform_currency_exchange/
======
danielhunt
Hey there - I'm on the tech team in CurrencyFair.

We've been around for a few years now, but weren't expecting to see our name
pop up on HN just yet. Of course, now that it's here, if anyone has any
questions about what we do, feel free to ask and I'll get back to you asap.

If you're looking for a direct link, it's at the bottom of the OP, or:
[https://www.currencyfair.com](https://www.currencyfair.com)

~~~
pioul
Hey, I actually just heard about CurrencyFair today (through the article I
posted), and was surprised it didn't have a lot of news coverage thus far.

As a marketplace, reaching a critical number of users must be something to
look forward to, even though I'd understand if you wanted to expand to select
markets first (the article says 37% of your current users are in the UK, and
20% in Australia).

~~~
danielhunt
Hey Pioul - we noticed the traffic from your article ... thank you for that :)

<marketing speak>We're at quite a large size already, having put > .5bn
sterling through our system by now</marketing speak>, but more users is always
a good thing!

Sure, we have a large user base in the UK and Australia, but really, those
users are international - they're not all from those countries, and that's
completely ignoring all of the European users we have ... so critical-mass is
something we've pretty much already hit.

[edit: spelling]

~~~
pioul
I meant the article I _shared_ on HN, I didn't write it – so props to its
author!

~~~
danielhunt
Ah, sorry, some confusion there. Another blog post today pushed a good few new
users to our site earlier.

Now I'm just getting excited for no good reason ;)

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jasonkolb
If you guys can somehow enable transferring between bitcoin and regular fiat
that would be a game changer. Right now that's a laborious process and the
closest thing to it is buying BTC in person. But this system with BTC as an
option on one side of the transaction would be a wonderful way to get into and
out of BTC-land.

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stickydink
I've been using CurrencyFair for about a year now, after stumbling upon it.
Beforehand, I just sent a wire straight from Chase in the US to my bank in the
UK (Oh, dear).

It's been absolutely fantastic. I was a little hesitant at first, sending
smaller amounts through at a time. But now I'm regularly transferring 5 figure
sums without a worry in the world.

The rate you end up with is way better than what you get straight from the
bank. And if there's no rush, I just set an order up at a rate I fancy, and
wait for the market rates to wobble a bit, and someone fulfills it.

Because of the way it works, your money isn't actually the money coming out of
the other end (it never is, I guess, it's all electronic) -- it means that I
can deposit $X from my bank in the US, and have that appear as £Y in my bank
in the UK, on the same/next day!

I haven't personally had any need to contact them, but I've read their
customer support is good, too.

~~~
ye
Keep in mind that when you transfer large sums of money abroad, you have to
report it to the IRS.

Anything over $10K requires an FBAR form (TD F 90-22.1):

[http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f90221.pdf](http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-
pdf/f90221.pdf)

Transfering the money to trusts requires a 3520 form:

[http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f3520.pdf](http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-
pdf/f3520.pdf)

Plus you should also read this:

[http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-
Taxpayers/Forei...](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-
Taxpayers/Foreign-Currency-and-Currency-Exchange-Rates)

~~~
stickydink
Thanks for pointing that out. Though, it's a little more complex (and
intrusive) than that.

I'm on an H-1B; every year the FBAR needs to be filed detailing how much money
there is back home. Regardless of how it was earned, or whether it existed
before I started working in the US.

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munimkazia
I was initially disappointed that India didn't feature in the list of
countries/currencies, and then I realized that something like this would be
shut down here by RBI/IT Dept in a heartbeat.

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NatW
I've actually used Currency Fair to exchange between dollars and euros (and
I'm completely un-associated with the company or anyone there). My experience
was positive - it was actually fun, with a bit of drama to see if someone
would take my offers. It took a bit of time to set up my transfers, etc, but
it was significantly cheaper than I would have paid using a regular retail
bank's foreign exchange offerings. Nice work!

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rb2k_
I've used this a few times to transfer money from Germany to the US. Worked
fine. Only downside: US Banks seem to still recognise it as an international
wire transfer and deduct the matching fees (10$ in my case).

But the exchange rate is better than what I'd usually get at my bank and the
transfer from Germany to Ireland is free too.

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oscargrouch
Is there a way that banks could use the system(as a peer, maybe an invented
user) and cross the information with deposits in its own accounts, so they can
know when a customer used this scheme?

i mean, the moment this get more traction and the banks figure this out, the
party is over and people get the international fees in their bills

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nly
Can the rates really be _that_ much better than any other online FX payment
service?

2% all-in seems to be the going rate for the ones I've used. Since both sides
on an exchange are looking for the market price, that only gives you 1% of
potential improvement assuming the market is sufficiently liquid and
efficient.

~~~
danielhunt
We have a blog post[1] which gives a good outline as to why CurrencyFair beats
other options, allowing users to even beat the market rate.

[1] [http://www.currencyfair.com/best-exchange-
rate](http://www.currencyfair.com/best-exchange-rate)

[edit: missing words :( ]

~~~
nly
If one user beats the interbank rate, that implies that the other side of the
trade lost out. The same number of customers who 'beat the market' also lose
out by definition, so I think that's something to be wary of marketing.

In any case, my 1% assertion seems to be correct judging by a €600 purchase
compared against FairPay (£513.73 rather than £519.26).

Incidentally, is your name inspired by Betfair?

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jnsaff2
Transferwise.com does the same, even have nice ads in London. [https://fbcdn-
sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/55865...](https://fbcdn-sphotos-
e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/558656_10151862749097326_1294583262_n.jpg)

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shocks
This is a brilliant idea. I always resented changing money, it never crossed
my mind that a P2P platform like this could solve the problem so nicely. A
perfect example of a problem staring you in the face…

~~~
danielhunt
Cheers :)

There's a good background to how CurrencyFair got started over on Forbes[1],
if you're interested in reading more.

[1]
[http://www.forbes.com/sites/dansimon/2013/10/18/entrepreneur...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/dansimon/2013/10/18/entrepreneur-
interviews-brett-meyers-ceo-currencyfair/)

