Posted 7th December 2020

International payments - cheaper and faster

Money exchange representing Kinesis Money benefits for remittance

In the hands of the wrong provider, an international payment can be a slow and costly process.

All too often, making an international transfer with banking or remittance providers means accepting a skewed exchange rate, high fees, and sluggish transaction times.

However, businesses and individuals that choose to make an international payment with Kinesis save time and money.

A cheaper way to transfer money internationally.

High banking fees for an international payment

The 3 largest UK banking providers charge transaction fees between 2% – 3% for an international payment of £1000*; excluding the transaction fee often charged by the recipient’s bank.

High fees for remittance services

Leading remittance providers charge fees that are often confusing and vary wildly country to country. However, transaction fees are typically set between 5% – 10%, although in some cases transaction fees are as high as 25%.

When businesses or individuals send money abroad, leading remittance and banking providers intercept a significant percentage and profit unreasonably.

Low fees with Kinesis remittance

Kinesis has a low transaction fee of < 1% for international payments, significantly lower than banking services and other international payment providers.

Kinesis charges a flat transaction fee of 0.45%

Exchange Rate Markups

When banking and international payment services exchange currencies for international transfers, they apply an exchange rate far higher than the mid-market exchange rate.

Offering a higher exchange rate allows banking services and international payment businesses to keep the difference as profit.

– Banking services markup the exchanges rate by 4% – 6%, on average
– Leading remittance providers often markup exchange rates by 6%

A large percentage of each international payment sent through banking and leading remittance services is diverted into the provider’s profits before the transaction fee is even applied.

Avoid exchange rate marks ups with Kinesis

When making an international transfer with Kinesis, there is no need to worry about an inflated exchange rate.

With Kinesis, the international payment is made in Kinesis digital currencies and received in Kinesis digital currencies, without an exchange rate in sight.

When the time comes to trade Kinesis digital currencies back into Fiat currency, the Kinesis Exchange scans markets to provide the best exchange rate available – with no markup.

Only, as mentioned previously, a 0.22% conversion to convert between Fiat and Kinesis digital currencies.

What’s the fastest way to make an international transfer?

Sending an international transfer through many remittance services and banking providers can be a slow and frustrating process.

Slow transaction times

An international transaction can take anything from 1 – 4 working days to clear with traditional banking services.
With leaders in the international payment business, transaction times vary from a few minutes to a few days. However, quicker transaction times often mean higher transaction fees for the customer.

Instant processing times with Kinesis remittance

An international transaction with Kinesis takes just 2 – 3 seconds.

The time taken to transfer money internationally can make a big impact on our businesses and personal lives.

Crawling transaction times could hold up an important business deal, or leave a loved one stuck without cash abroad.

Instant transactions can have a huge impact on businesses’ efficiency, and make things just that bit easier in our day-to-day lives.

  • Let’s recap how Kinesis delivers cheaper, faster international payments.
  • Low transaction fee – < 1%
  • Avoid exchange rate markups – altogether
  • Instant settlement times – 2-3 seconds

Whether it’s for a multinational business making payments to an overseas supplier or for a parent making a transfer to their teenager travelling abroad, Kinesis is a cheaper, faster way to send money internationally.


This publication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a solicitation, offering or recommendation of any security, commodity, derivative, investment management service or advisory service and is not commodity trading advice. This publication does not intend to provide investment, tax or legal advice on either a general or specific basis.