London, August 22^nd

The Money Cloud, the disruptive fintech search, compare and discover platform for anybody looking to find the best deals and brokers when sending money overseas, has been awarded Best International Money Transfer Comparison Platform 2017 by Wealth & Finance Magazine as part of the Magazine’s Fintech Awards.

Noting that cumulative investment globally into Fintech firms is likely to exceed $150 billion by the end of the year, Wealth & Finance Magazine selected “exceptionally performing startups” that were able to drive the fintech sector forward this year after a turbulent 2016.

At the request of Wealth and Finance The Money Cloud’s CTO Huw Jenkins gave an in-depth interview to the monthly magazine in which he provides insight into what Wealth & Finance Magazine term “the working practices of the best of the best”.

Huw also reflects on the story behind the site’s launch and the exciting new features the company are developing, including a full service “digital finance dashboard” that will give businesses and individuals a holistic view of all of their finances and help them to make the best use of their money across all fields of finance.

Thanks for the recognition of all of our hard work!

“After three years of hard work developing and launching our product to market, it is an honour being recognised as the best in class for overseas money transfer comparison”, Huw commented.

“Especially as we invented the whole concept over a decade ago.”

“We have developed The Money Cloud platform from the ground up based upon our combined knowledge of over a decade in the industry. The whole idea behind The Money Cloud is to provide individuals and businesses the tools needed to maximise the amount of savings made when transferring money internationally.”

Huw was quick to point out that “we operate in a global market and are useful to people from all walks of life – from overseas workers sending money back to their friends, and family, to purchasing an overseas property, to SMEs making overseas payments regularly.”

“With this in mind, we have spent time in building a scalable platform, that is accessible and offers a comparison of money transfer services from almost everywhere around the world.”

Remittance costs are falling but consumers still slow to grab the best deals

Huw also revealed that recent figures released by the World Bank show that banks are still the most expensive remittance service providers, with an average charge of 11.2%, and yet 85% of us are still using banks to send our money overseas!

Since records began in Q3 2014, average costs have dropped from a Q1 2009 high of 9.7% by 2.2 percentage points, to just below 8%.

“This is a great advertisement for the work that fintech disruptors have been doing in challenging the monopoly that banks and transfers agencies such as Western Union and Ria Money Transfer, who also charge high fees and quote unfair exchange rates, had enjoyed until the turn of the decade”, Huw continued, also revealing that

Remittance Prices Worldwide, who monitor global remittance prices on behalf of the World Bank, have introduced a new calculation, the “Smart Remitter Target”, which aims to reflect the costs that a “savvy consumer with access to sufficiently complete information” would expect to pay.

“This figure currently stands at 5.72%, so you can see what a difference today’s disruptive services are making.”

The Money Cloud will help World Bank achieve targets for average remittance costs of just 5%

The World Bank, via the “G20 Commitment” has set countries the objective of reducing the price of overseas transfers to just 5% of the total transaction cost.

Huw revealed: “at The Money Cloud we expect to be at the forefront of helping services meet these targets, making consumers lives easier. We do this by providing a real-time and easy to use tool that is completely transparent. By putting the consumer at the centre of everything we do, The Money Cloud can play a significant role in helping countries all over the world meet the World Bank’s targets.

How The Money Cloud plans to take advantage of PSD2

Next year will see the much-vaunted PSD2 regulations come into force. An upgrade on the existing protocol, PSD2 will make it easier for disruptive fintech services to access customers’ financial account details (with their permission, of course) and carry out transactions on their behalf.

“How will this affect the services provided by The Money Cloud?”

Firstly, it means that we will be able to reproduce the real-time exchange rates offered by some of London and the world’s top brokers and money transfer agencies, and secondly, it will allow us, as we build out our holistic, “one-stop-shop” platform, to complete know your customer and anti-money-laundering checks automatically on behalf of our customers, saving them significant amounts of time and giving them the pick of the best services, in a matter of a few clicks.”

The secret of The Money Cloud’s success? Great relationships, consumer choice and maintaining a great reputation

“Although The Money Cloud is only three years old”, Huw explains, “we have already worked with and established productive relationships with some of the best FX specialists in the industry for over a decade.”

“All of our FX partners are either Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or their equivalent in the main country of operation.”

As well as working with the best, The Money Cloud works equally hard to give platform users a fantastic user experience.

“With regards to the customer experience, we have specifically been focussing on what do visitors need and what problems they come across and any concerns they may have when sending money overseas.”

“We are proud to say that we believe we now have this covered and are able to offer reassurance and peace of mind throughout the customer journey, and through personalisation, will be able to tailor the visitors experience to a very high degree.”

Regarding reputation, Huw says “We want people to use our service because they truly believe it is the best service on the market, but believe it or not, some people have better things to do than worry about APIs, digital infrastructure and the financial regulatory framework!

“That is why we try to apply our technology to the everyday whenever we possibly can. Our detailed blog section, for example both educates about the latest fintech developments, and deals with practical uses of our technology, from choosing the best money transfer broker for your business transactions, to buying property abroad, to funding your kids’ gap year.”

The Future looks bright for international money transfer and for The Money Cloud

“Awards like these help us to remember how we started, why we started, and how much we have achieved. And it goes without saying, how much further we still have to travel”, says Huw.

“The world of fintech has simply exploded over the past few years, and in the UK we have seen unprecedented investment into major fintech players that began as products just like ours.”

“We feel that we are not just keeping up with the pace of change, but also helping to create the change, and as we look five, ten, or even twenty years down the line, we are aware of, and excited about how much we could achieve with the right backing, and by maintaining the focus we have shown over the past five years.”

Finally, Huw concludes:

“We’re honoured, but we’ll be even happier if next year, or in five years, we continue to be recognised as pre-eminent in our field. We hope it happens, and we will do whatever it takes to make it happen.”

For more information

Click here to read the full interview, in which Huw also discusses

Using powerful CMS engine Sitecore to develop proprietary applications in-house

• In depth analysis on how PSD2 will open up the fintech and money transfer market even further
• The development and roll out of The Money Cloud’s bespoke “Digital Dashboard” that will provide a “one stop shop” for all forms of personal and business finance.
• The major work projects The Money Cloud are engaged on in Africa involving digital wallets and Africa’s biggest mobile money brands
• Giving the power back to consumers in the world of remittances
• Creating the ultimate seamless customer journey.

About The Money Cloud

The Money Cloud is an international money transfer comparison site that’s focused on giving you clear, honest information, so you can choose the best way to send money overseas.

Trust and value are at the heart of The Money Cloud. We want to give customers the confidence to try more cost-effective ways of transferring money abroad, rather than just accepting expensive bank fees. Right now, there’s a real drive for change in the international money marketplace, and we’re here to address that.

For the past few decades hidden charges, complicated terms and conditions, and a serious lack of clear, educative resources has made it difficult for people to find the best way to send money. The Money Cloud brings clarity to the marketplace.

The services we offer include helping you make the most of your money on your international payments, comparing Forex companies, bank-beating exchange rates and no fees for payments, setting up one-off or regular payments quickly and easily, tailored to your requirements, and 144 currencies covered through a network of authorised and regulated partners.