Visa has completed its £700 million acquisition of fintech firm Currencycloud to give it a lift in the world of foreign exchange (FX) solutions for cross-border payments.
The deal was first announced in July and at that time Visa said the acquisition builds on an “existing strategic partnership” between the two companies. Currencycloud’s cloud-based platform works with over 500 banking and technology clients in 180+ countries.
Currencycloud has processed more than $100 billion (£75.4 billion) since its 2012 launch, and clients include Starling Bank, Revolut, Penta and Lunar.
In the latest announcement, Visa explains the acquisition will “provide greater transparency, flexibility and control for consumers and businesses when making international payments or doing business in multiple currencies”.
Currencycloud’s platform offers a set of APIs enabling banks and financial services providers to offer currency exchange services, including real-time notifications on FX transactions, multi-currency wallets, and virtual account management.
It is based in London with offices in New York, Amsterdam, Cardiff and Singapore. Currencycloud works with partners such as Dwolla, GPS and Mambu. The fintech firm is regulated in the UK, Canada, the US and the EU.
Currencycloud has 416 employees listed on LinkedIn – and in July, Visa said Currencycloud will continue its operations from its headquarters in London and will retain its current management team. There was no news on all the other staff.
Visa has been doing pretty well. Its global processing network, VisaNet, provides payments around the world, and handles more than 65,000 transaction messages a second.
Earlier this month, Visa tapped into the crypto craze by unleashing its Global Crypto Advisory Practice for clients and partners.
The new offering sits within Visa Consulting and Analytics and its arrival “comes at a moment when digital currencies are taking greater hold in the popular consciousness”.
According to research released from Visa, awareness of crypto among financial decision makers surveyed in the UK is at 92%.
“We’ve seen a material shift in our clients’ mindset in the last year, from a desire to explore and experiment with crypto, to actually building a strategy and product roadmap,” said Claudio Di Nella, Head, Visa Consulting & Analytics, Europe.
