London-based TransferWise has integrated a money transfer bot into the Facebook Messenger app.
It’s now possible to send money to and from the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe, including Ukraine, by talking with the TransferWise bot.
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The bot – a software app that runs automated tasks through chatting with humans – can set up money transfers and notify users when their regularly used currencies hit favorable rates.
The new functionality means there’s no need to leave the Facebook Messenger app when setting up foreign exchange transactions through TransferWise.
Use of the bot is free and has no effect on the prices or rates offered.
It’s currently possible to make payments across 40 currency routes globally, including in the Ukrainian hryvnia. The service converts money using current exchange rates that “are updated every minute.”
The service claims to be around 80-90 percent cheaper than transferring money via banks, charging only 2 percent interest on sums transferred. The minimum charge for a transaction is 1.59 euros.
TransferWise does not receive and send out the same currency in a single transfer. The only exception for this is Request Money feature, in which pounds-to-pounds and euros-to-euros payments are possible.
Founded in 2011 by two Estonians, Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann, TransferWise is now one of the U.K.’s most successful financial technology startups, valued at an estimated $1.1 billion.
It is backed, among other investors, by Virgin founder Richard Branson, Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz, and Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.
The company has eight offices, including one in the Ukrainian city of Cherkasy, about 200 kilometers from Kyiv.
TransferWise isn’t the only money transferring service that uses a Messenger bot. PayPal, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express already have payment bots on Facebook Messenger. In Ukraine, Facebook bots are used by largest country’s bank PrivatBank and mobile operator Kyivstar.
Generally, these bots can send weather updates, news items, and carry out business functions through a conversation. Brands are using them to replace customer service agents.
Facebook first launched chatbots for its Messenger app last April.
Kyiv Post staff writer Denys Krasnikov can be reached at krasnikov@kyivpost.com.
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