https://www.aurumxchange.com/ratesFor 1 MtGoxUSD you get 0.6740 EUR... sounds more like a sick joke than someting useful - especially considering that 1 Euro also only gives 1.3974 MtGoxUSD.
Also they charge 7 EUR and 20 EUR fees.
Sorry, but considering that SEPA is designed to be free, this is anything but an alternative.
Those exchange rates are just fine, roughly what you would get at a Forex exchange anywhere in the world at the moment (minus the 1% fee, because in reality nobody will exchange at the nominal 0.69€ per $ current ratio because they need their own cut as well)
The only 'wrong' thing I see is the fees,
I'm not going to pay 20€ for anything else than express wire transfers, and even those, very seldom
Hello!
The reason why we charge these transfer amounts is because we use the services of a payment transmitting clearing house and not a direct bank account per se. We actually do not make a dime out of those fees. We have been selling and buying e-currencies for a long time now and we quickly learned something: When your volume is up (really up), banks simply don't like to deal with businesses that deal in e-currencies. Too much risk for them, too little KYC, so at the end of the day they will kindly ask you to take your business elsewhere (best case scenario) or simply close your account. It is really fortunate that Tradehill can offer free SEPA, but if they reach a volume of a few million € a week, they will quickly learn what we did before bitcoin was even a thought
. There is a reason why bitcoin is growing up so much and it is so popular after all: Between KYC, and the need of governments to levy more and more taxes, and to squeeze people more and more, moving money is becoming very difficult, and expensive at the same time.
The other reason why we chose to work with segregated accounts through our provider is because we cater to people looking for strong offshore privacy more than onshore economy if that makes sense, and that has a price as well. By not natively having a physical presence in either Europe or the US, we can assure our clients of strict confidentiality and protection against onshore
As our volume increases, we are in negotiations with our providers to lower their fees, but unfortunately there will always be a fee.
In conclusion: We are an independent exchangers. We are a for profit company, so yes, there would be a markup on the exchange rates, but take into consideration that at the end of the days, we need to balance our accounts too, and our bank charge us 2.50% fee on any FX movement. Like Jack of Diamonds said, I don't think midmarket + 2% is a bad rate at all (realistically speaking: you can't go by "pure" XE or google rates).
We are an independent exchangers for several e-currencies and now for MtGox as well. We can instantly exchange to a variety of instruments and we provide a convenience to users for a fee. There is freedom of choice for the user and I don't think having choice is a bad thing
. I don't think making this into a TH/MTGOX work is productive for anyone involved. Trust me when I say the more the better, for the customer, and ultimately for the industry. Again, I have seen a lot on the e-currency industry and learned a lot throughout the years.
Thank you!
Roberto