Payment services firm Trans-Sending Limited (LCC), also known as Small World Money Transfer, Express Funds, and Global Link, among other branding names, has officially closed to new business and stopped accepting funds from customers following action from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.
As reported by Euronewsweek over the weekend, the company, until recently, was offering money transfer services to over 180 countries. Launched in 2005, Trans-Sending Limited (LCC) had offices in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.
The FCA invited LCC to sign a formal agreement in which the company pledged to remain closed to new business and stop accepting funds from existing customers. However, the link to send money remained live on the Small World Money Transfer (LCC) portal over the weekend, days after the agreement was signed between the money transfer company and the British Financial Conduct Authority.
Across Spain, the UK, Switzerland, and other European countries, many customers are facing issues accessing funds they have recently paid in.
“Since June 10th, Small World LCC has given me many different versions of what is happening. Mostly, they say they don’t know when they will return the money I have sent,” says Vianela Custódio, who lives in Spain and has used the company before, despite previous delays in payments being completed.
“All Small World offices have been closed for days, and they do not answer the phone. They say they have laid off all their employees and the company has closed. We are very afraid because we sent € 9,000 Euros on June 7th to purchase a land in the Dominican Republic to build a family home for my daughters. Now, we are days away from losing the money that had been given as a deposit in advance to the vendor for the purchase of the area. We face losing all our savings,” says Vianela, who plans to start legal proceedings against the collapsed company soon.
Another former customer of Small World LCC also shared with Euronewsweek about her struggles trying to recover money sent with the company.
“It has been over a week, and the €800 I sent to Brazil to help my son with his university costs and general maintenance hasn’t arrived,” says worker Nara Baracho, who lives in Switzerland.
Trans-Sending Limited (LCC) also operated under the names Swiss Transfers, UNO, Bayba (UK), and Universal de Envíos, resulting in thousands of customers in Europe being impacted by the sudden closure of the business. On Friday, June 14th, customers going to physical branches in England, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland encountered a “Suspension of Services” message affixed to Small World LCC’s closed doors, informing them that the company would not be able to make payments.
Student Jennifer Cortegana, who lives in Peru, has been waiting for funds sent by her father, a transportation worker based in Spain, since June 7th. “The money is intended to pay for my university and health bills. He used Small World LCC before and had no problems. Now they don’t respond to any form of contact. Their offices are closed, and they do not respond to calls or emails,” worries Jennifer.
“The week before last, I used a Small World LCC branch in London to send £210 to Brazil to help with the purchase of tickets for family members to visit me. On Wednesday, after many days without the transaction being completed, I returned to the same location and was informed about a delay in the system and assured that funds would be available shortly,” says auto paint technician Adilson Mamede, another victim of Small World LCC. When he returned to the branch once again, the location was closed, and he has not received his money, refund, or any communication from the company to date.
The closure of Trans-Sending Limited (LCC) comes a few months after the company was fined £139,500 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom for breaching competition rules alongside two other transfer firms.
In that case, the British regulator found that Small World, Hafiz Bros, and Trans-Sending Limited (LCC) coordinated on certain exchange rates offered to customers in Glasgow for converting pounds to Pakistani Rupees when transferring money.
Since June 14th, Euronewsweek has made several attempts to get hold of a Trans-Sending Limited (LCC) representative to get an update on whether customers will be refunded. All their phone numbers available for customer service, as well as individual branches in the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy, are not answering.
Contacted via LinkedIn, Rana Shahzad, Head of Sales, UK & Ireland at Small World Financial Services replied stating “Unfortunately, we don’t have any instructions with regards to communications. It is best to keep trying the numbers that you are.”
Euronewsweek also reached out twice to Equistone Partners, one of Europe’s leading mid-market private equity firms, which invested in Small World Financial Services back in 2018 – but received no reply from its UK office.
