These start-ups are the money changers of the future.
There are only a handful of startups in the local banking sector, but with the recent rise of FinTech, there seems to be a rise of promising technologies greeting local shores today. Impressively, over half of all Southeast Asian Fintech deals in 2016 were by Singapore-based startups.
The highly volatile foreign exchange market is not only frustrating to industry players, but also to us consumers. Be it travelling or online shopping, the exchange rate is always the make or break factor since it determines our spending power.
These 4 startups have made it their mission to help consumers like us brave the forex market, making it more stable and transparent.
RateX
Most of us are still unaware of the hidden costs we incur when shopping online. It’s a standard practice for banks and other providers to charge up to 5% in fees on top of their own exchange rate. This ensures that consumers will only pay what is reflected, – so you won’t be shocked when you read your credit card statements.
Many startups in Singapore have tried to crack the case of the hidden costs, but only RateX managed to successfully come through. The brainchild of three NUS undergrads, their online payment tool helps “flatten” cross-border online shopping costs by offering real-time exchange rates.
The online tool is available through an extension on the Google Chrome Web Browser. Once you “cart out” your items, it will match the total cost with rates from currency exchange websites – allowing you to pay for the purchase in your local currency.
The browser app has garnered more than 500 users but sadly, it’s currently only available on Amazon’s website. It will be a temporary situation since they have plans to expand to more US-based fashion and travel websites, and to China’s Taobao.
4xLabs
Another startup making waves on the forex front, the aim of 4xLabs is to help increase transparency in the market. 4xLabs consolidates and aggregates rates from various money changers in a bid to help travellers and money changers.
Their two cloud-based platforms help money changers better manage their businesses. One platform caters to consumers while the other is more suited for the business usage. For the average consumer, 4xLabs helps to consolidate and aggregate rates to improve transparency and make it less challenging when we need to compare rates. It is an online directory for money changers, providing you with directions to the nearest money changer.
On the business side, they offer live forex rates and a compliance database, helping brick-and-mortar businesses to leverage on technology. With 40% of the local money changer market already under their wing, their long-term goal is to be present in all major travel hubs.
TravelersBox
This startup already operates 8 kiosks at Changi Airport. The kiosk allows travellers to convert their leftover foreign currency into digital money or redeem gift cards from companies like Grab or Lazada, acting like a reverse ATM.
With over 80-odd brand partnerships, they now have a growing presence in Asia, Australia, and South Korea. They leverage on the fact that people need to pay a transaction fee if you choose to change money at a bank.
The only drawback is the limited number of currencies they accept since they are planning to penetrate the bigger airports first. They are aggressively working on their growth despite the 0 competition they face, being the only player in the market so far.
Their service has also recorded around one million transactions worldwide, a testament to the functional service it offers.
Marco Polee
Marco Polee started back in 2013 with the idea of allowing users to engage in currency exchange without losing money to banks or money changers.
The fintech company wrote on its website “Whenever we want to travel we need to buy currency – but every time we do, we lose out from commissions to hidden fees and exorbitant exchange rates. We are purchasing currency rather than truly exchanging it!”
In a few simple steps, this platform allows us to discover people wanting the same currency that we are looking to sell. Think changing money without a money changer.
The best part is that it is free.
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Currently, this fintech startup offers services in four Southeast Asian countries— Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, with more countries to come.
