Banco Santander launches PagoFX, a low-cost international money service for customers in the UK, the firm announced today.
PagoFX allows UK residents with a debit card issued by any UK bank or financial institution to send money abroad using just their smartphone.
International payments can currently be made in selected currencies from the UK to the US, the Eurozone, Poland, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Taking on TransferWise
Plans to introduce further currencies and payment options in the short term are already in place, providing a direct threat to transfer pioneer TransferWise.
In light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, PagoFX will allow customers to use the service to transfer money abroad without any fees for two months.
The product will be launched in other European countries this year and is expected to be available in 20 markets within the next four years.
PagoFX is the open-market version of Santander’s existing international money transfer service One Pay FX, developed together with Ripple, which offers quick international transfers to its bank customers in key countries in Europe and the Americas.
Operating as an autonomous fintech start-up with more than 50 employees in Madrid, London and Brussels, PagoFX has attracted talent from several big technology companies, such as Amazon, PayPal and Intuit.
In April this year, the bank hired former Apple executive Trish Burgess as Global Head of peer-to-peer payments, as it prepared for a concerted roll out of the system.
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