For the last two months, money transfer startup TransferWise has been trying to connect with people stuck on the train during the New York City subway’s “summer of hell.”
For a consumer fintech startup, it’s the perfect place to put some advertising dollars. TransferWise has built its business around the ability to let people send money overseas at a low cost. Sixty percent of its users are immigrants; 40 percent are American-born. Its employees represent more than 50 countries. Its user base and prospective customer pool looks a lot like the people of New York.
“We serve people who have a connection overseas,” said Kate Huyett, TransferWise’s North America growth lead. “New York has the densest population of foreign-born people.”
Even if they’re American-born, theres still a chance they moved to New York from someplace else. TransferWise wants to send the message that it celebrates that diversity.
“We wanted to show New Yorkers we understand them,” said Colby Brin, a senior writer at the company. “We had a message that resonated with people who weren’t native New Yorkers but had made themselves New Yorkers because they moved from a different state or different country.”
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