The acquisition is expected to strengthen Visa’s existing foreign exchange capabilities
Currencycloud supports nearly 500 banking and technology clients.(Credit: profivideos from Pixabay)
US-based digital payments company Visa has signed an agreement to acquire Currencycloud in a deal that values the UK-based payments start-up at £700m.
Based in London, Currencycloud has offices in New York, Amsterdam, Cardiff and Singapore.
It is a global platform that allows banks and fintechs to offer innovative foreign exchange solutions for cross-border payments.
With a reach in more than 180 countries, the cloud-based platform provided by Currencycloud supports nearly 500 banking and technology clients.
By offering a broad set of application programming interfaces (APIs), the platform enables banks and financial services providers to offer currency exchange services.
The services include real-time notifications on foreign exchange transactions, multi-currency wallets, and virtual account management.
Currencycloud CEO Mike Laven said: “At Currencycloud, we’ve always strived to deliver a better tomorrow for all, from the smallest start-up to the global multi-nationals.
“Re-imagining how money flows around the global economy just got more exciting as we join Visa. The combination of Currencycloud’s fintech expertise and Visa’s network will enable us to deliver greater customer value to the businesses moving money across borders.”
The acquisition is expected to extend Visa’s existing foreign exchange capabilities to provide enhanced services to financial institutions, fintechs and partners, apart from enabling new use cases and payment flows.
With the addition of Currencycloud’s capabilities, Visa’s network is anticipated to provide expanded access to innovative international payment products.
For clients who intend to provide flexible, digital-first, international payment services, Currencycloud is said to speed up the time-to-market and improve payment transparency.
Working with banks, financial institutions and fintechs globally, Currencycloud claims to have processed more than $100bn to over 180 countries since 2012.
Upon completion of the transaction, Currencycloud will continue its operations from its headquarters in London.
Visa global treasurer Colleen Ostrowski said: “The acquisition of Currencycloud is another example of Visa executing on our network of networks strategy to facilitate global money movement.
“Consumers and businesses increasingly expect transparency, speed and simplicity when making or receiving international payments.
“With our acquisition of Currencycloud, we can support our clients and partners to further reduce the pain points of cross-border payments and develop great user experiences for their customers.”
Last month, Visa signed an agreement to acquire the European open banking platform Tink for a sum of €1.8bn.