Global money transfer service Small World, which operates out of around 6,000 UK stores including newsagents and convenience stores, has ceased trading, potentially leaving thousands of customers out of pocket.
Confidential messages from Small World sent to retailers offering the service on 14 June, seen by Better Retailing, confirmed that Small World has “stopped providing services and providing customers with additional information”.
The messages also revealed that Small World believes “not all payments our customers ask us to send will reach the person they are trying to pay”. It said Small World “aims return funds to senders where possible”.
The company urged partnered retailers to display messages to let their customers know. An industry source told RN as many as half of the 6,000 agents providing the services may be newsagents and convenience stores.
They said the missing funds is likely to cause “a lot of grief” for these agents because they are unable to refund the cash they received to be transferred, as it technically belongs to Small World. They claimed agents could be liable for covering any cash they hand back to disgruntled customers at the counter.
Sofar Ahmed, manager at Oriental Halal Supermarket in West Bromwich, is one of Small World’s agents. He told Better Retailing: “We have around two or three customers a day, and over the last two weeks, we’ve transferred upwards of £13,000. The first we knew about this was when the service went on hold on Wednesday. It was only when we contacted Small World that we were sent an email.”
Ahmed added: “We don’t know what has happened, but it’s very sudden and it’s a shock. Customers are also demanding answers. The company has now sent us a refund form to hand to customers. I hope people will be refunded any money in the system, otherwise I fear we will have to pay them out. They are all local people.”
The potential collapse of Small World comes seven months after the company was fined £139,500 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for breaching competition rules alongside two other transfer firms.
In that case, the FCA found Small World, Hafiz Bros and LCC Trans-Sending coordinated on certain exchange rates offered to customers in Glasgow for converting pounds to Pakistan Rupees when transferring money.
RN contacted Small World for comment, but calls are not being answered. Its website intermittently states that the service is currently unavailable.
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