Interesting development on the ING to Tangerine/Scotia issues
Forward Banking is making a comeback
For those who were unaware, one of the main reasons for the ING Canada collapse came because Arkadi Kuhlmann had abandoned his baby to the corporate wolves
This week he revealed why
http://www.zenbanx.ca/home/Today’s world is mobile; you can jump on a plane and go just about anywhere, but your money can’t follow as easily. ZenBanx will change that.
For someone who really enjoys traveling and really hates fiddling with paper currency, this could be a godsend.
A ZenBanx account will have two standout features for the user. The first is ZenRate, basically multi-currency holdings within the same account. Customers can earn interest in up to five of the nine currencies available at launch—actually twelve if you include CAD and USD. The others are as follows:
Australian Dollar
Chinese Yuan Renminbi
Hong Kong Dollar
Indian Rupee
Japanese Yen
South Korean Won
Philippine Peso
Singapore Dollar
Thai Baht
Taiwan New Dollar
Currency exchange is historically where normal folk get gouged by either our bank or the ICE booth at our local airport. But ZenBanx's commercial rates are surprisingly close to the trading rates at XE.com, which is pretty great!
The second selling point for a ZenBanx account is ZenPay, which allows the customer to send money (in local currency) to anyone in their phone's address book. ZenBanx has already prepared for the upcoming Chinese New Year, with digital lucky pockets ready to go.
They also include a proper debit card that you'll be able to use anywhere in the world. And if ZenBanx can skirt around those pesky ATM fees and international surcharges like ING Canada did then consider me sold. One more thing to consider: Lest you think ZenBanx is some shady startup that will disappear overnight along with your hard-earned money, your funds will be held by DUCA Financial Services Credit Union Ltd., and protected by the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario to a maximum of $100,000 CAD.
For more on ZenBanx check out their coverage in today's Financial Post. And if you needed an invite you can PM me.