If they force Wise to offer slow and cheap then we all win. I just checked the cost on a GBPUSD transfer, and it's 350 pounds + some kind of exchange rate cut. The difference between Wise and Atlantic is an entire ocean and I'm not convinced Wise will undermine their gravy train by trying to compete with a plucky upstart. Only if said plucky upstart becomes a billion dollar company; any by then they don't need to worry about being competed out of existence.
We're trying to put that gravy back into your pocket! These are the exact problems that motivated us to build this product - because we ourselves were forced to pay these fees when we moved to the UK from the US.
My understanding is that the fees Wise charges are dictated by the costs of their fast method, rather than, say, a requirement of their business model.
I’m very much in agreement that this is a win for customers either way, and I think it’s a very clever idea — challenging the assumption that speed is more important than cost — I’m just super curious to understand their long term thinking.
That said, I could be completely wrong about Wise: maybe they are banking a lot of profit off big transactions, in which case, this is a challenge to the model Wise are pursuing and would definitely be a significant competitor.
