P2P travel money exchange WeSwap raises $7.5m in series a funding

The investment follows a successful beta phase in which WeSwap has proven the business case across multiple international markets. The company will now use these funds to roll out the proposition across key global markets.

WeSwap was founded by Jared Jesner and Simon Sacerdoti to enable travellers to swap their different currencies and avoid the costly bank and travel currency providers.

Simon Sacerdoti, Founder & CFO/COO, WeSwap: "The investment will enable us to continue to develop our product and expand the team to support the growth in our community and our business. "

WeSwap cuts out the middle-man and guarantees its community excellent exchange rates. Rather than paying up to 10% with other currency exchange services, WeSwap charges just 1% and is free to use if customers sign up and swap with people they already know. This is in stark contrast to major incumbents that claim to offer zero percent commission but hide their fees in bad exchange rates.

Travellers load their account with their home currency and request a swap into their destination currency. WeSwap then finds travellers with compatible currency needs and swaps the money. If no other members of the community have an opposing currency need then WeSwap itself will step in and swap. The funds can then be spent in store or withdrawn at ATMs with a WeSwap Prepaid MasterCard®. WeSwap currently operates in 6 currencies, which will expand to 16 by the end of the year. Travellers can also swap directly with others via email, Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn.

Jared Jesner, Founder & CEO, WeSwap: "WeSwap is the ideal product for today's traveller, offering a social and mobile way to get hold of foreign currency through the power of the crowd. The investment allows us to accelerate our growth across more international markets and to continue to bring great value and transparency to a market that has long suffered from opaque, confusing propositions."