The full story
How it all began
We’re here to make your life easier. Whether you’re paying bills, supporting family, helping businesses or dealing with emergencies—we want you to be able to make fast, low-cost money transfers safely and securely. Why? Because not so long ago, sending money was a nightmare.
The birth of TransferGo
It was 2012, and we were four young professionals starting an import and export business abroad. But sending international money transfers was a problem. From paying our bills in Lithuania to sending money to suppliers, we struggled: slow transfers with big fees, zero customer service and hours of standing in kiosk queues.
Why, in 2012, were we still reliant on going in person to high-street banks just to make simple money transfers? And why were we paying for this ‘service’ through the nose? When our money was sent not only to the wrong country but in the wrong currency—and we weren’t even compensated—we’d had enough. We wanted change. We wanted to completely shake up the international money transfer industry. We wanted to create a unique business model with superior customer service. And that’s when TransferGo was born.
Difficult beginnings
Starting a business is never easy, and it was no different for us. Six months trying to get regulatory licencing. Another four months to find a bank that would work with us. A year’s worth of personal savings—gone. Just when things were improving and customer feedback was positive, we had another setback.
Despite being a licenced, fully compliant financial institution, we got a letter from our bank saying they were going to shut us down. No reasons. No justification. They did it because they could. And when we asked why, we were told that telling us ‘was against their policy.’ We had 90 days to save the company.
We knew that TransferGo was having a meaningful impact on our customers’ lives, and we didn’t want to let go of that. Just in time, we managed to find a bank that would work with us. The company survived. Ever since, we’ve been able to help even more of you send money transfers year on year.
The road to success
From our difficult early days, we’ve seen a shift in attitudes. Banks are more willing to partner up with innovative fintech companies. We work with over 30 globally these days—quite a transformation after struggling to find even one at the start.
And it’s nice to be noticed for the difference we’re making. We were nominated for Fastest Rising Start-up at TechCrunch Europa Awards 2018, and named one of the 5 hottest scale-ups in the UK by TNW.
But it’s you who we really need to thank. All you people who constantly work hard behind the scenes to keep your family supported and the economy ticking. We started TransferGo for you.
A bright future
We’ve come a long way since 2012, but this is just the start. Over the coming months we have more planned. More routes between countries. More currencies. More products. More offers. Ultimately, we want to reach out to even more of you. You deserve to be able to send your hard-earned money home at low-cost prices, quickly and easily. We want to give even more of you that opportunity.