Visa has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Currencycloud, a global platform that enables banks and FinTechs to provide innovative foreign exchange solutions for cross-border payments.
The acquisition builds on an existing strategic partnership between the two companies and values Currencycloud at £700 million, inclusive of cash and retention incentives.
The financial consideration will be reduced by the outstanding equity of Currencycloud that Visa already owns.
Currencycloud’s cloud-based platform offers a broad set of APIs enabling banks and financial services providers to offer currency exchange services, including real-time notifications on foreign exchange transactions, multi-currency wallets, and virtual account management.
The Currencycloud platform supports nearly 500 banking and technology clients with reach in over 180 countries.
Currencycloud will strengthen Visa’s existing foreign exchange capabilities by extending them to better serve financial institutions, fintechs and partners while enabling new use cases and payment flows.
“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.
“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.”
Mike Laven (above), CEO at Currencycloud, 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.”
Currencycloud will continue to operate from its headquarters in London and will retain the current management team.