A new international money transfer service is being launched by Azimo (view press release). Based in the UK, Azimo aims to offer its users an affordable and easier way to transfer funds to friends and family all over the world via a mobile phone or the internet. Customers will be able to send money to 125 countries worldwide in three ways, including cash collection at around 150,000 global payout locations, direct to a bank account or for mobile top-ups.

Azimo has a built-in social network feature, which allows users to select friends from their Facebook account and make payments to them directly. The company said that there are plans to incorporate other social media platforms into this service.

“Bank and wire services are often slow and charge extortionate rates – usually 4% to 8% of the transaction amount,” said Michael Kent, Azimo’s founder “Our aim is to provide the simplest, most reliable way to send money to anyone, anywhere in the world without needing to wait in long queues or pay over the odds. We want to disrupt the market and show people a more reliable, cost-effective, flexible, ethical and quicker way to transfer money.”

To transfer GBP500 to Poland with Azimo, you can save up to £42, which is around 75% compared to using a high street bank or other competitors.

“We can afford to be cheaper as we have much lower overheads than the bigger players. Transferring money with Azimo will always be cheaper than a high street bank or money transfer company as we offer a more direct service with fewer middlemen: our charge is between 1% and 2.5%, depending on the transaction size and destination country.”