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은행의 높은 해외송금수수료에 진저리가 난 두 명의 에스토니아 출신 IT귀재가 개인간 외환 거래를 돕는 글로벌 인터넷 플랫폼인 트랜스퍼와이즈(Transferwise)를 탄생시켰다.
이 회사의 공동 창설자 타벳 힌리커스(32)와 크리스토 카르멘(33)은 온라인 메신저인 스카이프(Skype)와 세계적인 회계법인 전문업체 딜로이트와 프라이스워터하우스쿠퍼스에서 컨설턴트로 일한 바 있는 실력자들이다.
트랜스퍼와이즈의 기본적인 아이디어는 '목마른 사람이 우물을 판다는' 말처럼 두 창립자의 개인적인 필요에서 비롯됐다.
힌리커스가 일했던 스카이프의 본사는 그의 모국인 에스토니아에 위치해 유로로 월급을 받았지만, 당시 그는 런던에서 거주하고 있어 파운드로 환전을 해야 했다.
카르멘의 경우 런던에서 파운드를 벌었지만, 고향인 에스토니아의 수도 탈린에 주택담보대출을 갚기 위해 유로화가 필요했다.
힌리커스는 “우리는 서로 반대의 통화가 필요하다는 사실을 발견한 뒤 환율시장의 중간치 정도를 적용해 돈을 바꿔주곤 했다”며 그는 이 과정을 통해 돈을 아낄 수 있다는 사실과 함께 큰 사업이 될 수 있다고 생각했다고 말했다.
알고리즘 시험을 마친 뒤 그들은 해외송금이 필요한 사람들을 연결해주는 프로그램을 만들어 냈다.
예를 들어, 영국에서 에스토니아로 돈을 송금하기 원하는 한 고객이 트랜스퍼와이즈 계좌에 파운드화를 넣으면 회사가 에스토니아에서 그와 비슷한 금액을 영국으로 보내기 원하는 고객을 찾아주는 시스템이다. 따라서 고객들은 비싼 수수료를 들여 돈을 보내는 것 대신 트랜스퍼와이즈를 통해 최소한의 수수료로 돈을 각국 내에 필요한 곳에 전달하는 것이다.
돈세탁을 위해 시스템을 남용할 수 있다는 우려가 제기되자 허깅스 대변인은 이 서비스가 영국의 금융감독기구의 승인을 받았다며 “이 사업에도 영국의 다른 은행들과 마찬가지로 같은 규칙들이 적용된다는 뜻이다”라고 말했다.
트랜스퍼와이즈는 지난 2013년에는 혁신적인 웹기반 비즈니스로 유엔이 지원하는 월드서밋어워드(World Summit Award)를 수상한 바 있으며 버진그룹의 리차드 브랜슨 회장은 신생기업들을 위해 유용한 서비스라며 찬사를 보내기도 했다.
“(이 서비스는) 서로 다른 나라에 상대 통화가 필요한 기업과 개인을 엮어 해외로 돈을 송금할 때 발생하는 수수료를 엄청나게 줄여준다”고 말했다.
트랜스퍼와이즈를 통해 하루에 거래되는 금액은 약 100만 달러(약 10억원)로 200달러 미만의 송금은 은행 수수료의 10분의 1에 해당하는 1유로(약1.6달러)가 적용된다.
이 플랫폼은 현재 유럽 지역에서 각광받고 있으며 특히 영국, 프랑스, 스페인에서 일하거나 퇴직한 외국인들 그리고 영업비용을 줄이려는 중소기업에서 인기가 있는 것으로 알려졌다.
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)
<관련 영문 기사>
Skype-type money swaps bad news for banks?
Irked by high bank fees on international money transfers, two Estonian IT whizzes who helped engineer Skype and Paypal have hatched Transferwise, a global Internet platform coordinating currency swaps between individuals.
"Hey, hidden fees. Your secret's out," taunts the site founded by Taavet Hinrikus, 32, and partner Kristo Kaarmann, 33.
Transferwise has been giving banks a run for their money since its 2011 launch, even attracting applause from tycoon Richard Branson, who sings its praises as a low cost business tool for start-ups.
"They are dramatically lowering the cost of transferring money overseas, by effectively matching people and companies in different countries who want the opposite currency," the Virgin billionaire said in a recent blog post.
The marriage of IT ingenuity and financial savvy also garnered a prestigious 2013 World Summit Award (WSA), a United Nations-backed prize for outstanding web-based business innovations.
Transferwise offers international money transfers for a fee of just one British pound (1.2 euros, $1.6) for all transfers under ?200 and 0.5 percent for everything above -- a tenth of what banks typically charge.
At that price, business is booming with the company processing around ?1 million per day.
While European rules specify that euro to euro transfers must be free of charge, banks fees on international money transfers between currencies range between three and six percent with exchange rates that routinely favour banks.
The new platform boasts customers from across Europe and is most popular in Britain, France and Spain, mostly among working or retired expats plus small and medium-sized businesses looking to cut operating costs.
It's also eyeing expansion in Asia, Africa and the US, offering services for the Indian rupee, South African rand as well as US, Australian, Hong Kong and Singapore dollars.
Co-founder Hinrikus was Skype's director of strategy until 2008, where he joined as the first employee. Kaarmann worked as a consultant for banks with Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers before setting up TransferWise.
The idea took shape when Hinrikus found himself living in London and spending in pounds, but earning euros at his job with Skype at its headquarters in his native Estonia.
Kaarmann, meanwhile was earning pounds in London, but paying a mortgage for his home in the Estonian capital Tallinn in euros.
"We found that we had the opposite currency requirements, so we started to exchange it among ourselves at the actual mid-market rate -- that's the exchange rate you see in the papers, not the inflated rate you'll be offered by your bank," Hinrikus told AFP.
"Soon we realised we had saved a fortune by not moving the money across borders and that perhaps it could be a big business idea. A few years later TransferWise was born," he added.
A few algorithms later, they had come up with the programming to connect people with complementary currency needs.
Hinrikus explains that a customer in Britain who wants to send money home to Estonia can put their pounds on a TransferWise account.
The company then spots a customer in Estonia who wants to send an equivalent amount of money to the UK.
Rather than actually sending the money across borders, TransferWise then simply pays it out to the desired recipient in each country, for the minimal fee.
While concerns have been raised over the potential abuse of the system to launder money, TransferWise spokeswoman Huggins points out the service is certified by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
"This means that the business is subject to the same rules as commercial banks in the UK," she explained.
The half-dozen TransferWise investors read like a who's who of IT venture capitalists.
PayPal founder and Facebook's first financier Peter Thiel is among them via his Valar Ventures company as is Xavier Niel, the founder of French communications provider Free. (AFP)
