Gamble of the week: software house that's shaking up international banking

This week's gamble makes software that executes international cash transfers within hours, and for up to 90% less than traditional providers.

Last summer I booked a lovely holiday villa in the Austrian Alps and wired over €200 as a deposit. I used one of the main British high-street banks, but to my horror was stung with a £25 fee on top of 2% commission. Worse still, the apartment owner was also hit with a €10 charge at his end. In total, the transaction took two days to complete and cost a whopping 25% in middlemen fees. Surely there must be a better way?

This is where Earthport steps in. Its banking network executes these type of cash transfers literally within hours and for up to 90% less than traditional providers. It does this by leveraging its global scale and netting off currency positions across all of its users.

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Paul gained a degree in electrical engineering and went on to qualify as a chartered management accountant. He has extensive corporate finance and investment experience and is a member of the Securities Institute.

Over the past 16 years Paul has held top-level financial management and M&A roles for blue-chip companies such as O2, GKN and Unilever. He is now director of his own capital investment and consultancy firm, PMH Capital Limited.

Paul is an expert at analysing companies in new, fast-growing markets, and is an extremely shrewd stock-picker.