Assertion Partly supported AI assessment confidence: 95% certainty 4/5 debate potential 1/5

TransferWise became the first non-bank granted direct access to UK Faster Payments

Taavet Hinrikus · 1233 With 4m Customers, $4b Transfered Every Month, is Transferwise The Cheaper Bank Of The Future? · Dec 9, 2018 · at 11:52

Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of TransferWise, discusses gaining direct access to the Bank of England's Faster Payments infrastructure.

0:00 / 0:07exact quote · 8.0s

720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark

“And no one else has been added to Fast for Payments since then until we became the first new member and first non-bank to be added.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

TransferWise became the first new member and first non-bank organization granted direct access to the UK Faster Payments system since its founding.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

The claim bundles two distinct assertions regarding membership in the UK Faster Payments system. The first leg—that TransferWise was the first non-bank organization granted direct settlement access—is fully corroborated: on April 13, 2018, TransferWise became the first non-bank payment service provider (PSP) to connect directly to Faster Payments and hold a settlement account in the Bank of England's Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, as officially announced by both the Bank of England and Faster Payments Scheme Limited (FPSL) on April 18, 2018. However, the second leg—that TransferWise was the 'first new member' added since the scheme's founding in 2008—is incorrect: Metro Bank joined Faster Payments as a direct member in December 2016, and Starling Bank joined as a direct settling participant in January 2017, prior to TransferWise's direct onboarding in 2018.

Bank of England press release (April 18, 2018) confirming TransferWise as the first non-bank PSP to join a UK payment system settling directly in central bank money via RTGS.
Faster Payments Scheme Limited (FPSL) statement (April 2018) confirming TransferWise as the first non-bank direct participant.
FPSL records showing that Metro Bank (December 2016) and Starling Bank (January 2017) had both joined Faster Payments as direct participants prior to TransferWise.

Checked against

[1] bankofengland.co.uk [2] bankofengland.co.uk [3] estonianworld.com [4] forbes.com [5] bankofengland.co.uk [6] fintechfutures.com [7] cityam.com [8] wikipedia.org

"Faster Payments" "TransferWise" first new member since founding "TransferWise" "first non-bank" direct access Faster Payments Scheme Limited press release Bank of England "TransferWise" Faster Payments direct access settlement account 2018 "TransferWise" "Faster Payments" "first non-bank" "Bank of England"

assessed as of 2026-09-02

This assessment is an AI reading of a public statement, made against the cited references with the confidence shown. It can be wrong. The quote, the tape and the references are all on this page; if something is off, use report an error below. full disclaimer →

Mentioned

Bank of England Faster Payments TransferWise

⚑ Spot an error? Report it

More from Taavet Hinrikus

Opinion

Too many venture-backed startups operate on unsustainable unit economics

“There are many, you know, I would say way too many companies outside Sort of being funded by venture dollars that will never break even. You know, it's kind of ridiculous that you can order an ice cream, pay one dollar for it. It'll get delivered to you in 15 …”

Taavet Hinrikus Dec 9, 2018 ▶ 10:00 1233 With 4m Customers, $4b Transfered Every Month, is Transferwise The Cheaper Bank Of The Future?

Prediction Not checkable as stated

Brexit will only increase the amount of cross-border money flowing on TransferWise

“I mean, if anything, Brexit will only increase the amount of money flowing, I would say.”

Taavet Hinrikus Dec 9, 2018 ▶ 22:15 1233 With 4m Customers, $4b Transfered Every Month, is Transferwise The Cheaper Bank Of The Future?

Assertion Not publicly verifiable

TransferWise has captured over 15% of the UK money transfer market

“So in UK, we have more than 15% market share.”

Taavet Hinrikus Dec 9, 2018 ▶ 6:33 1233 With 4m Customers, $4b Transfered Every Month, is Transferwise The Cheaper Bank Of The Future?

Assertion Supported

Banks hide 3% to 7% fees in foreign exchange rates

“Typically, banks hide a fee between three, four, five, six, seven percent in the exchange rate.”

Taavet Hinrikus Dec 9, 2018 ▶ 2:53 1233 With 4m Customers, $4b Transfered Every Month, is Transferwise The Cheaper Bank Of The Future?

Assertion Supported

TransferWise employs 1,200 people and processes $4 billion monthly

“Today we're a team of 1200 people around the world moving 4,000,000,004 billion dollars every month.”

Taavet Hinrikus Dec 9, 2018 ▶ 6:13 1233 With 4m Customers, $4b Transfered Every Month, is Transferwise The Cheaper Bank Of The Future?

Prediction Not checkable as stated

A US real-time payment system remains years away, predicts Hinrikus

“Well, I think in U.S. The question is, when will U.S. Have a real-time payment system? You know, people are working on it, but it's still a good few years away”

Taavet Hinrikus Dec 9, 2018 ▶ 12:32 1233 With 4m Customers, $4b Transfered Every Month, is Transferwise The Cheaper Bank Of The Future?

TransferWise became the first non-bank granted direct access to UK Faster Payments

More from Taavet Hinrikus

Turn any episode into a week of clips.