- Online money transfer firm Azimo has confirmed that it will set up shop in Australia, and has told customers there that it will offer speedier transfers as well as better exchange rates.
- The firm, which has been in existence since 2012, said that it would offer sending services from Australia to hundreds of countries.
- A senior figure at Azimo said that expanding into the Asia Pacific market has always been a key goal for the firm.
Cross-border payments firm Azimo has announced that it has commenced operations in a key new market – Australia.
The firm, which was launched in Europe eight years ago, will now provide a sending service from Australia to other nations.
Over 200 countries and territories are on the list, including key remittance destinations in Southeast Asia such as Thailand and Vietnam.
In some cases, the Azimo transfer process can be completed instantly.
This applies to more than 50 nations on the list – though it can vary depending on the mode of transfer selected.
In the Philippines, for example, instant transfers can be completed provided that the recipient is happy to use a method of collection such as cash transfer.
Azimo has told customers that transfers will take under 24 hours to arrive on the whole though.
In an interview, a leading figure at Azimo made the interesting comment that the company prefers to expand into the Asia Pacific region as opposed to another key market that is often in the expansion sights of such firms – the US.
Dora Ziambra, who serves as Azimo’s chief operating officer, said that the language aspect was very important.
“We’ve always been more interested in the Asia Pacific than the US,” Ziambra said.
“Australia is also an English speaking country where there’s less localisation needed [than other Asian Pacific countries], and it’s a place where 30% of the population is foreign born and has connections to another country. So it lends itself as a next step of international expansion,” she added.
Ziambra also directly addressed the question of competition – and of whether or not Azimo could be competitive in the potentially crowded Australian market.
Her conclusion was that it could be.
“We cover a lot more countries … and [in addition to bank-to-bank transfers] we offer cash payout, mobile wallet, mobile top-up, sending credit to phone, home delivery in some cases, and bank deposits,” she explained.
She also said that the firm would be adding extra capacity to its delivery speed services.
A system of transparent pricing will be put in place so that customers will be aware well in advance about how much they may need to pay.
Azimo’s chief executive Richard Ambrose said that the firm would be aiming to charge under half the typical rate for cash transfers of the country at the moment – a figure that, he said, was close to 7.5%.
To learn more about what Azimo can offer you as an international money transfers customer, why not read our review of the firm?
