Martin Best, CMO at Wirex, confirmed in a blog post on June 4, 2020, that the London-based financial services firm will allow users to purchase, hold and exchange New Zealand dollars (NZD) and 19 other currencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Singapore dollars (SGD), and Australian dollars (AUD).
Wirex will also be supporting transactions with stablecoin Dai and the company’s own native Wirex Token (#WXT). Users will be able to trade on Wirex at live over-the-counter (OTC) and interbank rates. The platform will reportedly offer fiat to fiat exchanges at no cost.
Wirex has been awarded a Certification from the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA).
As explained by Best:
“The SFA certifies Singaporean companies that provide technology-focused financial services or technology solutions to the financial sector and is recognized by the Monetary Authority Of Singapore. With Singapore our regional hub. we’re delighted to have reached this milestone in the country.”
Wirex claims that it has experienced more than 200% growth in its monthly exchange volume in the APAC region. In May 2020, the company reportedly recorded its highest volume of transactions in APAC area for a single day since it began offering services in the region last year.
Best wrote:
“Going global comes with challenges – one of the most obvious is also the most simple – how to sign up and perform basic tasks on the Wirex app. We’re working harder to make it easier with simple guides on our Wirex Singapore (APAC) Facebook page.”
Nearly all transactions using the Wirex card for retail purchases will allow users to earn crypto(currency) back to their accounts. In a manner that’s similar to other cashback programs that encourage consumer spending, the more people spend with the card, the more they’ll get back in crypto. However, the cashback is only 0.5% each time users make an in-store purchase, which may not be ideal at this time due to COVID-19.
Last month, Wirex announced that it would be diversifying its funding options by allowing customers in Russia to fund their accounts by allowing top-ups using domestic bank cards.
In April 2020, Wirex reported profitability while claiming it had onboarded more than 3 million users.