Are we in a period of flux? While the move to tech formats is well documented, there needs to be greater discussion about the paradigm shift occurring in banking services as a whole. It is little secret that public trust in traditional banks hasn’t recovered since the financial crash, and rightly so. While discussion of this subject often boils down to something like ‘we paid for their greed’, the full picture is bleaker. Products such as CDOs – a primary cause of banks needing to be bailed out during the last financial crash – have merely been rebranded as ‘bespoke tranche opportunities’ and are still sold today. So, traditional banks haven’t really changed their ways, but perhaps consumers will force them to. Take currency exchange, for instance. If consumers begin trusting new market entrants with their assets, activities such as currency exchange could become more seamless and less of a price that we accept we have to pay. At least that’s what companies like Midpoint Holdings Ltd (TSXV: MPT) will be hoping.
Midpoint Holdings describes itself as the first currency exchange matching platform, and intends to capture prospective clientele who are disenchanted with currency exchange bid-offer spreads. The Company warns consumers against the fallacy of ‘commission-free’ currency exchange offered by the majority of forex providers, and seeks to offer an alternative with its own patented technology.
Midpoint trades currency at the prevailing interbank midmarket rates, and states that this could yield average savings of up to £1,370 on each £100,000 traded for US Dollars, and £1,360 when traded for Euros.
Midpoint Holdings Comments
Company CEO David Wong, states,
“Deceptive advertising for ‘commission-free’ foreign exchange is widespread in the UK and other markets, but impossible to stamp out as it’s incredibly misleading but technically accurate. Our unique technology connects buyers and sellers virtually, cutting out the middlemen, freeing everyone from the expense of exchanging currencies through traditional methods.”
“Signing up to the service is free, quick and easy, taking only a few minutes and the savings are potentially huge. It’s ideal for anyone buying a property or travelling abroad and for foreign students who are supported from home.”
Not quite free but worth it
Put simply, this represents an improvement on your run-of-mill currency exchange offering; for ‘a minimal upfront and transparent fee’. You’d be forgiven for thinking the Company’s core principal is a tad dubious (it laments others for charging for currency exchange, but they do the same). Regardless, what it offers is certainly worth paying attention to. Its fees are upfront, and if you regularly travel and exchange considerable sums of money, the savings opportunity Midpoint’s services offer are worth taking into account.
While prudence would suggest we steer away from any source lauding the altruism of a financial service, it is worth noting what developments such as this could represent. For the time being at least, we can think of Midpoint: at best acting as the first of many useful currency tools designed for the modern consumer, and at the very least it represents a cause for traditional banks to stop believing consumers have no choice but to concede to extortion.
Other recent updates from assets and finance have come from; Arbuthnot Banking Group Plc (LON: ARBB), City of London Investment Group PLC (LON: CLIG) and Walker Crips Group plc (LON: WCW).