In the current world of financial services, remittance and currency transfers are big businesses that are growing. Both these factors are driven by e-commerce. At this point in time, Currencycloud, the London-based developer of APIs that power remittance and currency exchange services has hit the headlines.
Acquisition by Visa
Recently, the financial services giant, Visa announced that it would acquire Currencycloud in a deal valued at $963 million (nearly £700 million). This development came after the company raised $80 million funding in January 2020. With this deal, the company is said to be valued at $500 million.
Notably, Currencycloud partnered with Visa back in 2019 to deliver innovation in travel payments. This acquainted marks Visa’s second big takeover this year as it agreed to buy Swedish firm Tink for $2.1 billion in June.
“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,” said Mike Laven, CEO, Currencycloud, in a statement. “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 of Currencycloud is another example of Visa executing on our network of networks strategy to facilitate global money movement,” said Colleen Ostrowski, Visa’s Global Treasurer, in a statement. “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.”
What holds for future?
Since its debut in 2012, Currencycloud has around 500 customers in 180 countries that use its APIs to power multi-currency wallets, currency exchange services and account management. Some of its clients include the biggest startups such as Monzo, Moneze, Starling, Revolut and Dwolla.
Post the acquisition, Visa will use the startup’s technology to bolster its own currency exchange rails to provide a wider set of services to its own customers including financial institutions, fintechs and more. Also, it will build new services for consumers. Currencycloud will continue to operate from its headquarters in London and keep its currency management team.
The post After Tink, Visa acquires London fintech Currencycloud for £700M appeared first on UKTN (UK Tech News).
