fintech Atlantic Money is rolling out its international money transfer service to more markets and more platforms. The company originally started in the UK with GBP as the base currency and nine different currencies on the recipient side.
Since then the company has expanded and now operates in 29 European countries. Users can convert EUR through Atlantic Money and send money to a foreign bank account.
What makes Atlantic Money stand out from the competition is that it focuses on a flat fee. The company does not usually add any surcharge to the exchange rate and charges £3 or €3 per transfer, whether you send €100, €5.000 or €500.000.
In addition to the new brokers, Atlantic Money also launches its mobile application on Android. Users can now also initiate transfers from a Web navigator. The startup previously raised money from Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, 20VC, Amplo and Elefund and is regulated as a payment institution in Belgium and the UK.
Of course, there are some limitations when you compare the product of players known as Wise. For example, you must manually transfer money to the Atlantic Money payment account. You can't use a debit card, not even Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Adding a new recipient to your bank account isn't as simple, but it also cuts down on the number of intermediaries. But that's why, in many cases, Atlantic Money will be cheaper than Revolut, Wise, MoneyGram, Western Union, and your existing bank account.
But you may already be paying for a premium Revolut subscription to unlock financial products and waive some fees. In that case, you may want to stick with Revolut for your international transfers. Similarly, you can trust Wise to receive payments in a foreign country with your local Wise account details. So it will depend on the specific situation of each user.
It is also worth noting that Atlantic Money charges additional fees for express transfers (0.1% of the transfer amount). On the weekend, customers can use the Friday night rate with a 0,1% surcharge or let Atlantic Money determine the next business day rate.
For smaller transfers, variable fee services like Wise and Revolut will be cheaper than Atlantic Money. But as soon as you want to send more than €1.000, Atlantic Money becomes an interesting option. Now let's see if the startup can sustain such a low transaction fee in the long term.
