Anyone who has ever had a relative studying abroad or has had to send funds home to family knows the pain of using the bank to do so. There’s the time and inconvenience of standing in the bank line. Even online, there are complicated forms to fill out. Then there’s the cost.
You can spend as much as US$45 to send a bank wire transfer, sometimes more, depending on where you live and where you’re trying to send the money to. It also isn’t as “instantaneous” as is sometimes claimed and it can take anywhere from several hours to days for the funds to get to the person who needs it.
That’s because when you use the bank, it’s like using a chain of hands to pass the money to your relative who needs it. Every single pair of hands it passes through adds to the cost. Even when the money is theoretically in the account, bank protocols may prevent the recipient from spending it until they are completed....