Share real gold and other currencies instantly with other Glint users in your country or payments area.

Glint customers can use their mobile phones and the Glint app with its new Glint It! Feature to instantly send or receive gold or other currencies to their fellow Glint users. The person-to-person (P2P) service currently transacts gold, Euros, GBP, and USD. (The Fintech Times)

Glint is therefore creating a P2P payments network that allows real-time transactions in gold and three major currencies. It bypasses banks and other intermediaries that add so much to money transfer costs. The startup stepped into the limelight when it linked its platform with MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and transacting in gold. As a result, a user could hold gold in her Glint account and yet use it to pay for purchases when swiping the Glint MasterCard. Instead of just sitting in your ETF account or locker, gold became liquid and spendable.

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How it works

You can also use Glint It! to gift gold, send it to relatives, or use it on travels.

The system works with email IDs and an average transaction takes just a few taps on the phone to execute. It currently works within the EU and the UK.

You could also choose to add a message with your remittance…“Happy birthday” or “Here’s my dinner contribution – in gold”.

The gold is credited instantly to the other Glint user’s account.

According to a Glint blog, the new P2P service cuts out the costs of the middleman and provides peace of mind that the money transfer cannot possibly go astray.

“Have the freedom of being anywhere in Europe and making a transfer to anywhere else in Europe, instantly. Not only that – have the security that comes from being able to transfer digitized, real gold.”

An alternative to fiat

Talking to altfi, Jason Cozens, CEO, said Glint’s in-house P2P technology has allowed gold to be used as money in electronic payments amongst ordinary people. It’s beyond the existing fiat money system, and “frees us all from the whims of government-issued currencies.”

To the Fintech Times, Cozens said:  “The global stimulus by central banks and governments has now reached a staggering $20 trillion. Levels of government debt and monetary stimulus have reached unprecedented levels. People everywhere are worried about how this will debase their national currencies, how it will affect their hard-earned money. But what happens when the music stops?”

Debasement is right. Cozens observes that during his lifetime the US dollar and British pound have both lost around 85% of the purchasing power. In stark contrast, the purchasing power of gold has increased by more than 500% in that same period.

Hostile bid for Glint

Last year, according to FinTech Futures, Nimoi Holdings, a Singapore-based investment firm made a hostile bid for Glint. Unsuccessful, it then bought up Glint’s debt and engineered its plunge into administration.

Glint raised £ 5.7 million and exited administration within seven weeks.

Investors included GPS founder Craig Dewar, Classic FM founder Sir Peter Michael, Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Spot Inc, and Japanese IT company NEC.

Meanwhile, gold is on a massive bull run and that has helped Glint’s fortunes. User numbers have touched a record in recent months. Last month, client deposits at the app hit a new high.

Some customer accounts hold over $ 1 million.

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Image:  Jason Cozens, CEO, Glint