Blockchain is here to stay and companies like Veem are helping it to do this. 90% of the European Payments Council state that blockchain not only can but will change the banking industry fundamentally. Some of the more forward-thinking banks are already adopting cryptocurrency, with Ripple being the favorite among them. Therefore, it’s only natural that money transfer companies, which are now the main competitors to banks, are using blockchain technology as well.
Veem isn’t the only one to start using blockchain in its transfers, and these companies definitely need to be watched as they have a chance to become giants as this technology keeps revolutionizing the industry.
Meet Veem, a Small But Fierce Fintech Startup
Veem is a money transfer startup that managed to stand out in this ultra-competitive industry. First of all, there is the fact that it uses a so-called “multi-rail” method of transferring money. This means that Veem managed to combine blockchain and more traditional transfer methods. Today it can conclude transactions in cryptocurrency and a variety of fiat currencies.
Due to using this kind of advanced technology, Veem money transfers are highly secure as well as fast. Moreover, they are rather affordable. According to the Veem review by Money Transfer Comparison, you only pay a $20 fee when receiving money in non-local currency and foreign currency exchange rates offered by the company are 1.5-1.9% off the bank rate.
As to the cryptocurrencies, Veem mostly works with bitcoin and it processes a large number of crypto transactions. However, at the moment, the majority of money processed by the company is in fiat currencies.
For a fintech startup that has been around since 12014 and has offices in three countries (the USA, Canada, and China), Veem is rather small. It employs about 150 people worldwide and it’s not growing fast compared to the industry giants like TransferWise.
However, Veem is a company that’s definitely looking into the future. And it’s not only because it’s using blockchain, which is the future. This company also offers a variety of additional services that make partnering with it a great choice for businesses. Those include cloud invoicing as well as integration with popular cloud accounting tools, like Quickbooks. It can also be integrated with some POS terminals.
Is Veem the Only Business of Its Kind?
There aren’t many companies like Veem today, but they do exist. And so do other initiatives that try to integrate blockchain more fully into the money transfer industry. The best known among them is xRapid, which is a project born from the alliance between MoneyGram and Ripple.
That partnership is one to watch because MoneyGram offers its services at over 200 countries. Using ripple will, no doubt, extend its reach to new areas. By taking this step, MoneyGram might protect itself from becoming obsolete when crypto makes its final breakthrough and blockchain will become the dominant technology in the world of finances.
Another fintech startup that’s using blockchain is FlashFx. It also isn’t a big company, similar to Veem, but it’s been holding out rather steadily and growing on the market. FlashFX capitalizes al the benefits offered by this technology, which means it provides inexpensive, fast, and secure money transfers. It hasn’t gained much recognition yet, but that’s mostly because the level of awareness about blockchain and cryptocurrencies is rather low in general.
This is one of the biggest obstacles that currently prevent blockchain from becoming the leading tech in finances. The resources available on the subject are difficult to understand for a person who has no background in finances.
Also, one shouldn’t forget that the driving force between the boom of international money transfer businesses is remittances to, mostly, developing countries. Frankly speaking, people sending and receiving these payments often don’t have access to such informational resources. And even if they did and if they wanted to use crypto, they wouldn’t be able to actually use it for anything within their countries.
What Are the Prospects for Blockchain Money Transfers?
Blockchain money transfers are the future, there can be no doubt about that. However, the talks about cryptocurrencies replacing fiat money are definitely premature. This kind of global change will take years, if not decades, to implement. And one has to wonder if it’s even necessary.
The benefits of blockchain cannot be denied. The people of today need cheaper, faster, and more secure methods of transferring money worldwide. That’s why experts predict that this technology will change the money transfer industry completely within the next decade.
Companies like Veem and FlashFX see that and thus, they start using blockchain to get ahead in the game. Established giants of the finance industry, like MoneyGram or some of the more progressive banks, start using blockchain and crypto to stay in the game when the inevitable revolution occurs.
We will be seeing more of the same happening until this becomes the norm in the industry, at which point the revolution has already happened.
The question here is how much will change and how exactly. For all the benefits of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and their volatility don’t inspire much confidence. Until the volatility exists, they won’t be able to get even close to contending with fiat money. It’s simply too much risk for businesses to use them.
However, to remove volatility, the concept of crypto will need to be reworked. It will definitely lose the decentralization, which is one of the top benefits offered by cryptocurrencies today.
One thing is clear, these new technologies still need more work. They won’t fall into obscurity, but what exactly they will turn into when that work is done remains to be seen.
