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When I look at WU for sending that amount to El Salvador from Sweden it's closes to $250. Are you sure it's only 12 AUD? There's a hefty fee baked into the exchange rate.

Agreed. The article even gives different fee examples at different points.

I’m all for lowering fees and increasing competition, but this article seems to be exaggerating the wire transfer fees while ignoring the costs of the Bitcoin option (exchange rate fees on both ends, etc)

It's possible the fees are lower because the remitter can offer a sub-market exchange rate that allows them to take some of the difference in profit.

Because El Salvador uses USD, there is no profit opportunity in exchange rate arbitrage.