Our story began back in 2004 when two friends, Jonathan Quin and Nick Robinson, set up in a basement flat in Stockwell, south London armed with 10 years’ experience in corporate banking, and what Jonathan now calls ‘an entrepreneurial naivety’.
The idea was born out of a desire to offer small businesses and individuals the same great currency exchange rates and excellent levels of service that the huge companies were getting from the banks. Jonathan taught himself to code and they set about hiring the right people to work alongside them to ensure that integrity, transparency and security were at the heart of the business.
And so began our quiet little revolution to offer customers a better alternative to the banks. World First was the first international payments company to use Google Adwords and the phone started ringing with leads within 10 minutes. “I can still remember making our first ever trade, not really believing that our first customer was trusting us with their money,” says Jonathan.
Fast forward to 2017, we have transferred more than £54 billion for over 291,000 customers, between 137 countries from Australia to Zambia.
We have a growing global team and with over 600 employees in six countries and we’ve picked up a few awards along the way, including the Queens Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2016 and we were ranked 7th in the Sunday Times International Track 200 2016.
World First was born of a desire to put people first and it’s as central to the business today as it was in 2004. “There is a story behind every transfer,” says Jonathan, “and our job is to make sure that each and every one has a great ending.”
This article is part of our spring edition of Transfer magazine. Download your complimentary copy here.
Further reading:
World First accelerates international growth with India launch
On a roll: World First awarded Feefo Gold Trusted Service three years running