Azimo, the online money transfer service, has announced that customers can now send money to Thailand, direct to a personal or business bank account.

According to the World Bank, in 2012, over $4bn was sent to Thailand from abroad and the new service is likely to prove popular, both with Thais living out of the country, looking to send money home, and with foreigners living in Thailand, looking to send money from their European bank account to their Thai account.

The Thai Ministry of Tourism estimates that as many as 6.3 million Europeans visited Thailand in 2013, with almost 1 million visiting from the UK.

Many tourists opt to use Azimo as a fast, easy and low-cost way of transferring money between their accounts in order to pay for services and activities whilst travelling.There are also an estimated 200,000 expats – primarily from the UK, Germany and USA – living in Thailand. Many are retirees who want to send their European pension to a bank account in Thailand, who will benefit from lower fees and higher exchange rates than they receive from their banks or traditional money transfer businesses.

“Great weather and the cost of living being 40% less than in Western Europe makes Thailand a popular destination for Europeans in search of paradise. Whether it’s a holiday trip or a retirement in the sun, our new service makes it even easier and cheaper to send money to Thailand,”

said Michael Kent, founder of Azimo.

“The added benefit of the service is that it’s safe, protected by a 100% Money Back Guarantee. This means that, for a lot of travellers abroad, Azimo is now their preferred safety net: they can simply pay their bills directly from their European bank account to the bank account of the hotel or travel company in Thailand, from their computer or phone, knowing they are in safe hands. It’s both easy and convenient.”

The Azimo service provides a fast, safe, easy and cost-effective way to transfer money across borders, offering rates up to 85% cheaper than traditional money transfer providers.

via LONDON: FinTech Company Azimo Launches New Service to Thailand