When you are abroad or need to convert your money, you can feel the pain of foreign exchange rates and conversion fees. This has been a common feeling shared between businesses, freelancers, and global consumers. Traditional banks and payment networks typically have imposed wide spreads on FX rates, high conversion fees (a percentage of the money converted), and low settlement speeds. These costs can erode margins on supplier payments, inflate travel and shopping costs, and reduce the real value of remittances.
This challenge was seen as an opportunity by a wave of fintech firms, and they started to redefine how money crosses borders and changes hands. Let’s see how this transformation works and list some of the most prominent startups helping users save on FX charges across continents.
The cost problem: Forex fees and hidden spreads
When non-bank platforms or banks convert currencies, they embed a spread, meaning the rate you get is not the real mid-market price. For example, the difference between market rates for GBP-to-USD on consumer platforms versus interbank rates can cost retail clients and businesses a few percentage points on every transaction. This might not sound like much on $100, but on large business payments or frequent transactions, these costs quickly accumulate to significant losses. Traditional payment providers often fail to disclose Forex markups upfront, and they have longer processing times, which usually translate into greater exchange rate risks, especially for businesses. Fintechs solve this by linking pricing to transparent platforms, using modern APIs to automate routing, and integrating alternative data feeds. This fits into broader strategies for low-risk financial growth that modern investors and businesses are adopting to protect their margins.
Top Fintechs that power up saving on FX fees
There is more than one prominent fintech player that solves this problem by providing not only fast conversion times but much lower fees, including cross-border payments and settlements.
1. Wise
Formerly known as TransferWise was among the first to reshape FX pricing visibly. The startup was founded in 2011 and introduced a model on the mid-market FX rate. These are the rates used by banks when they transfer money between themselves, with a small, transparent fee on top. Wise has an efficient routing algorithm, and it routes funds locally where possible to reduce charges. Wise’s multi-currency accounts and APIs allow companies, especially in e-commerce and SaaS, to receive and hold funds in dozens of different currencies with minimal conversion costs.
2. Revolut
Revolut is a UK-founded fintech startup that scales the transparent FX model with multi-currency wallets and exchange services built into a consumer and business banking app. Clients can hold and convert between dozens of fiat currencies at interbank rates during market hours, often with zero fees up to certain limits. For businesses operating globally, Revolut offers local receiving accounts in key markets and integrates foreign exchange into vendor payments, which reduces costly third-party transfers. Fintech has expanded into Latin America recently and plans to offer multi-currency accounts and forex services tailored to local client needs.
3. Thunes
Thunes is a Singapore-based cross-border payments infrastructure company that builds an infrastructure to connect banks, wallets, and payment platforms globally. Thunes uses a global settlement network to optimize routing and local clearing, letting partner platforms offer much lower fees to end users.
4. Flutterwave
Flutterwave is an African fintech unicorn that has built a regional payment network with broad coverage across sub-Saharan Africa and connectivity to global systems. Its main strength is merchant acceptance and payouts, and its remittances product, Send App, enables diaspora communities to send money with competitive fees and fast settlement times when compared to traditional bank products. The startup employs smart routing to reduce overall costs for users moving funds between Africa and the United States or Europe.
5. Geegpay
Geegpay is among the emerging fintechs in Nigeria and Kenya, focusing specifically on freelancers and remote workers. It offers virtual accounts denominated in USD, GBP, and EUR. This matters because holding funds in foreign currency and moving them with competitive FX rates lets users avoid repeated conversions at poor rates. Such multi-currency wallets are increasingly essential for a global economy where remote working and freelance job markets are growing.
How These Fintechs Actually Save You Money
The cost savings offered from fintech startups actually come from a few innovations:
- Transparent, mid-market referenced FX – Real-time interbank rates displayed clearly. Users can see the real cost upfront.
- Local netting and efficient routing – Fintechs avoid moving money internationally repeatedly and settle locally where possible, reducing banking fees and clearing times.
- Digitization and automation – APIs and automated compliance reduce processing costs, enabling lower fees for users.
Lately, many fintechs also started to support and employ blockchain technology in tier payments. They enable users to transact online using stablecoins at low costs. Cryptos are especially flexible during cross-border transactions, and they are here for the long run.