International payments innovator Currencycloud revealed a new solution this week that will help banks and fintechs go global. The new tool, Currencycloud Spark, will enable financial services companies to offer multi-currency accounts to their business customers. Using the multi-currency accounts, businesses can collect, store, convert, and pay in more than 35 currencies. Currencycloud will offer competitive foreign exchange rates and complete visibility of the entire payments process.
In a blog post, Currencycloud CEO Mike Laven explained the impetus behind the new launch. “Financial institutions have long struggled to help business customers compete on a global scale, relying on a patchwork of banking providers to carry out international transactions, as there was no credible alternative,” he said. “Currencycloud Spark levels the playing field and allows any financial institution to compete in an increasingly inter-connected world.”
Currencycloud Spark is in beta with select customers and will be generally available in the first half of 2020.
The new offering competes with Transferwise, which launched its Borderless Accounts in early 2018. And while it technically does not offer a multicurrency account, Revolut has a competitive offering that allows cardholders to spend in more than 150 currencies at the interbank exchange rate and make exchanges in more than 30 fiat currencies. Less well-known in this space is Spain-based Neo, which launched in 2017 to serve small businesses.
At its most recent Finovate appearance, Currencycloud debuted Global Collections, a tool that issues clients with local accounts to speed up payments in the U.S. and Eurozone. The company, which offers an API integration and white label access, has four flagship products: Collect, Convert, Pay, and Manage which help companies manage their cash flow and monetize their foreign exchange offerings.