A.2.1 Risks in Starting and Running TranSwap

Fintech company TranSwap Pte Ltd was set up in Singapore by CEO Benjamin Wong and COO Lim Kien Leong to address customers’ bugbears when carrying out overseas money transfers. It began operating in 2017 and has since evolved to include products such as global payment and collections and multi-currency global virtual accounts in its expanded set of offerings.

TranSwap has six offices across Asia and Europe. Its clientele is evenly split between two key segments – the B2B (Business-to-Business) segment, and the B2C (Business-to-Consumer) segment. It has over 80 FX (foreign exchange) liquidity and settlement partners globally.

The firm’s profit formula is largely based on charging transaction fees for sums transferred, and additional fees for voluminous transactions. Transactions involving exotic currencies also attract higher charges.

TranSwap used a mixture of venture capital investments and grants to fund its business in the initial stages. It hopes to file for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) eventually.

The case also explores other topics including the co-founders’ entrepreneurial journey, the designing and validation of business models, and how TranSwap built its ecosystem.

This case is intended for use in a general business course focusing on technological innovations. The case discussion should enable the students to achieve the following learning objectives: use the 3S (Size, Scalability and Sustainability) model to evaluate the business opportunity to establish TranSwap, compare and contrast the business model used by TranSwap and traditional money transfer operators, and appreciate how the network effect strategy can help scale TranSwap’s market expansion.