Peer-to-peer currency exchange service Transferwise handles $13.4m in its first year

Peer-to-peer currency exchange startup Transferwise has announced today that it’s transacted €10m ($13.4m) in its first year.

The company makes it cheaper to send money abroad. Rather than send the money directly, you send it to Transferwise, which then converts your funds at the mid-market rate, cutting out the currency exchange markets and saving you money. It charges just £1 ($1.60) per transaction under £300 ($475). The company is backed by Seedcamp, and we’ve previously covered its appearances at the fund’s events in London and New York.

Transferwise currently only supports conversion between euros and British pounds sterling, and vice versa, however co-founder Taavet Hinrikus (who was also employee number one at Skype) says that more currencies will be added this year.

“We’ll start by adding a few more European currencies and then will be expanding to other popular currencies. Also we’ll be thinking about product development – there are many areas where we can go next, by adding an API or business services or faster payments or a mobile client.”

TransferWise estimates that the €10m figure represents €500,000 in saved fees for its customers. Despite the high value, the actual number of transactions completed in the company’s first year is reasonably low, at around 5500. The company will no doubt be looking to boost that number significantly this year.