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A new bridge to the multi-currency world
There is now a fast and secure platform for transactions in local currencies that sidesteps the US dollar.
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The system is called mBridge, and it enables cross-border payments in local currencies, without the use of the US dollar.
PHOTO: PEXELS
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If you want to transfer, say, $1,000 from your bank in Singapore to a bank in Brazil, it would take three to five working days, and involve charges from your Singapore bank, intermediary banks, and the receiving Brazilian bank. It’s also likely that your Singapore dollars will first have to be converted to US dollars and then into the Brazilian currency, which will also incur a charge.
But there is now a new system in place which (if Singapore and Brazil join) can enable Singapore dollars to be transferred from your local bank to the Brazilian bank instantly, with no intermediaries, no conversion to US dollars and at a fraction of the cost you would normally be charged.
