From telegraph lines to the world wide web, international money transfers are constantly evolving and have come a long way since their origins in the 1800’s. For a long time, Western Union was the pioneer in the field and practically the only way to transfer money quickly over long distances. Then the large banks founded SWIFT and modern-day wire transfers became a way of life. But things never stay the same. PayPal thought they could do things better and shook up the whole industry with their innovative way of transferring money. Other companies have taken their lead and continue to evolve and disrupt the status quo. Now it’s commonplace for people to use the web for fast, secure transfers to destinations all over the globe.

The History of International Money Transfers

The history of transferring money really starts with Western Union. They had a near-monopoly on telegraph lines in the US and started offering a money transfer service in 1871. Things didn’t change much for the next 100 years until a consortium of banks created SWIFT, an international inter-bank system that facilitates money transfers. It was founded by 239 banks in 15 countries and is currently used by 10,279 banks in 212 countries.

The Origin of Instant International Money Transfers on the Web and Paypal’s Impact

PayPal started shaking things up in 1999 with its online payment and transfer service. It quickly became the standard way for people to send money to friends or family anywhere in the world. It also became a safe alternative for paying for online purchases. They offer protections that help customers get their money back if there are ever any problems such as receiving a wrong product or a damaged product.

The Way Forward: High Speed Bank to Bank Money Transfers

In the 2000’s, lots of newcomers started disrupting the way we transfer money by coming up with new ways to do instant cash money transfers straight to a bank account. In Africa, Safaricom started offering the first mobile phone payment and transfer service. Now they are known as M-Pesa and are one of the leading companies offering this service in Africa.

Of course, another company that is changing the way the world transfers money is OrbitRemit. We offer international money transfers at a low cost and quick turnaround, often in less than one working day. It’s even possible to use a smartphone or tablet to send the money from wherever you happen to be with a WiFi signal.

As the 2010’s progress, people now expect extremely fast and secure international money transfers – and that’s what they’re going to get. It’s now possible to use the web to transfer money instantly and there’s no reason for anyone to have to continue to deal with high bank fees and transfers that take a week or more to process.