HN Explorer

Ask HN: How does my startup get access to the Interbank foreign exchange market?

4 points by mruts ↗ HN
Hi,

I was wondering what the simplest way was to get access to the IFEM so I can swap USD with Tanzanian Shillings. It doesn't seem like any of the popular forex sites list this pair (and they all seem sketchy anyways).

What is the best way for me to access to this currency pair? Should I just talk to a bank? Do most of them offer this service?

2 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 17.2 ms ] thread
rahimnathwani
"Should I just talk to a bank? Do most of them offer this service?"

If you haven't asked your own bank, i.e. the one your startup uses for day to day transactions, then it's worth asking them first. Unless your country has sanctions against the destination country, they should be able to send money to a bank account in any country.

(I'm assuming that's what you mean by 'swap USD with TZS', but perhaps you want to just swap them and hold them in a local TZS account, for hedging or speculation purposes?)

dnh44
I would suggest asking a bank that has a branch in both your country and Tanzania, or even try the national bank.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banks_in_Tanzania

https://www.bot.go.tz

However if you just want to buy and sell the currency pair rather than making transfers to and from Tanzania I think you may have to use a forex broker as I don't believe most banks offer such a service. I could be wrong though obviously.