Visa To Acquire London Fintech Currencycloud

Visa is set to acquire international payment solution Currencycloud in a deal valued at $963 million.

Currencycloud’s cloud-based platform offers APIs for banks and financial service providers to enable real-time notifications to be passed to clients’ mobile devices. The data it handles includes information relating to foreign exchange transactions, virtual account management, and digital wallets.

The platform supports nearly 500 banking and technology clients, with reach in over 180 countries.

The fintech addition will extend Visa’s foreign exchange capabilities for financial institutions and fintechs, the payments giant said in a statement, as well as improving payment transparency for clients.

The acquisition marks Visa’s second takeover this year, after it purchased Swedish firm Tink in a $2.1 billion deal in June. However, Visa has not had it all its own way on the acquisition front: in January it was forced to abandon a bid for another fintech, Plaid, after the Department of Justice raised concerns about competitiveness.

“Consumers and businesses increasingly expect transparency, speed and simplicity when making or receiving international payments,” said Collen Ostrowski, Visa’s global treasurer. “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, CEO of Currencycloud, added: “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 its current management team.

Meanwhile, Surrey Bank has partnered with Teslar Software to automate its lending and deposit operations.

Peter Pequeno, chief lending officer at North Carolina-based Surrey Bank & Trust, said he was “impressed” by the improvements that Teslar’s software demonstrated across Surrey Bank’s operations.

“With Teslar, our loan officers have the information they need to better understand their borrowers and stay ahead of any potential risks,” Pequeno added.

The two companies began working together last year to facilitate Paycheck Protection Program loans. Of the $48 million worth of loans processed, $46 million has been forgiven.

As more banks look to partner with fintechs, US regulators are seeking to update their risk management guidance for banks outsourcing functions to third parties.

In an announcement issued last week, the regulators stated: “The use of third parties by banking organizations does not remove the need for sound risk management. On the contrary, the use of third parties may present elevated risks to banking organizations and their customers.”