Comments on: Peer to peer currency exchange PeerFX to launch soon

By: Duncan Hill

Duncan Hill — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:54:02 +0000

“You can nearly always pay with plastic”. I don’t know anyone but Americans who do this when travelling abroad.

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:39:23 +0000

Well the whole point of this is to do away with that 2% spread. For those of us who exchange large amounts between CAD and USD that 2% can take a huge cut and with many Canadians hopping the border to buy cheaper American goods, myself included, this might just come in handy.

By: Neil

Neil — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:43:59 +0000

Really, of all the currency pairs, CAD-USD seems the most useless. My bank already lets me exchange between the two fee-free. Of course, there’s still spread - I believe 2% - but I’m sure this business must make money somehow, too.

CAD-EUR or GBP would also seem more useful. I can’t exchange between the two without paying a $5 transaction fee, plus the spread. It’s the same whether it’s cash at the bank, or taking it out of a European ATM. Minor currencies usually have a 1% higher spread, and while credit card purchases are fee-free in all currencies, they also take 1% more in spread - that annoying, hidden fee - than withdrawing cash, so it adds up to the same thing.

I’ll be interested to see exactly how this model works, and whether it can actually save a person money.