"It's time to wake up and put Canadians first"
TORONTO, April 6, 2017 /CNW/ - On Thursday April 6, TransferWise, Europe's leading financial technology startup, took over the Brookfield Place Downtown Toronto with a message for Canada's Big 5: stop ripping off Canadians.
In 2016, Canadians sent over CAD$30 billion out of the country. More than CAD$1 billion of that went into banks' profits due to misleading fees and bad, often undisclosed, exchange rates. TransferWise was born out of frustration with how the financial system is bogged down by such unfair practices. This does not need to be the norm.
With the recent news of aggressive sales tactics being employed in Canada's top financial institutions, the firm decided to organize a wake up call.
"The news of aggressive sales tactics being employed across the major financial institutions in Canada recently is deeply concerning. Deceptive practices should not be condoned and should never be the norm," says Joe Cross, General Manager North America, TransferWise.
"Competition exists in the industry to provide people with options. A competitive landscape is not an excuse to encourage negligence internally: it's irresponsible and shows a depressing lack of respect for the people of Canada. This news hopefully serves as a wake-up call for people about how they are being taken advantage of. But it's also one for the industry: it's time to put people first," says Cross.
More than 70 pajama-clad TransferWise campaigners roamed the busy downtown Toronto area in a zombie-like sleep state during morning rush hour. Awakened by a giant alarm clock in Brookfield Place, the group then took part in a sweeping pillow fight to encourage Canadians to 'wake up' to hidden banking fees and embrace new alternatives.
TransferWise is dedicated to moving money for as little possible, as fast as possible. The firm is dedicated to tackling the inefficiencies in the established system and passing those savings along to customers. This is why the company is excited to announce that its always transparent fees have been reduced further for transfers from Canada to 33 countries. And that's just the beginning as it continues to establish a base in Canada.
For more information on the campaign and it's call for more transparency in Canadian banking fees, please visit transferwise.com/wakey-wakey.
About TransferWise
TransferWise is the international money transfer platform based on peer-to peer technology. Launched globally in 2011 and in Canada in 2016, it is one of the most successful European FinTech startups having raised $117m in funding from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Sir Richard Branson, Valar Ventures and Max Levchin, the co-founders of PayPal. TransferWise was named a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer in 2015.
Co-founded by Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann, the company was created out of frustration with the high fees charged by banks on international money transfer. TransferWise uses the real exchange rate: the mid-market rate - without the hidden markup fees. Over $1 billion is transferred across the globe every month using the TransferWise platform, saving customers more than $1 million every day. TransferWise is working to make the world better by helping to make the financial system fair.
SOURCE TransferWise
Raneal Engineer, High Road for TransferWise, E. [email protected], P. 416-644-2263
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