Over the last two years, xpate has undergone a period of significant growth and is showing no signs of slowing down, explained Mike Shafro, the company’s CEO.
Shafro marked the company’s second anniversary by speaking to Payment Expert, where they touched upon recent agreements with Mastercard, xpate’s growth and what lies ahead in the next few years.
Payment Expert: Congratulations on xpate’s second year anniversary! What will the company be doing to mark the occasion?
MS: Thank you! We’re most excited to unveil our brand new website as part of our anniversary celebrations. With design in our hearts, we’re always looking to show what our amazing team can do visually, which is why we wanted to mark such a special occasion with a new chapter in our design journey.
We believe it’s incredibly important that we take the time to thank our employees, especially those that have been with us since the beginning, for all their hard work over this past, turbulent year. We are truly grateful for what they bring to the team every day and the faith they have shown in xpate throughout it all.
Payment Expert: What would you say have been the biggest changes at the company in the last two years? Which areas of the company have seen the biggest areas of growth?
MS: 2020 was a year of significant growth for xpate. In fact, we took our employee headcount from 15 to 90 – a massive six-fold increase in the space of year. Finding the right people when you’re expanding so rapidly is always a tricky task. But of course, in such a turbulent year for all businesses there were the added challenges of navigating the effects of the pandemic.
Despite this, we have been incredibly fortunate to attract talent to xpate who not only offer unrivalled expertise and experience across the financial sector but understand how important our employee culture is to our business.
Payment Expert: Looking back over the last few years, what have been the highlights for xpate?
MS: A massive highlight for xpate over the past year has included expanding our Visa and Mastercard offering into new regions, including Canada and India. Recently, however, we’ve opened a new office in London.
Last year, xpate’s Singapore office – Novum Financial Technologies became a member of the Singapore Fintech Association and received their Fintech certification. So we can continue to offer our clients and customers the global experience they require.
Payment Expert: You recently entered into a strategic partnership with Mastercard – can you tell us a little bit about how this deal came about and what it will entail? And how will this agreement help boost awareness of xpate within the payments world and beyond?
MS: Yes! xpate’s application for Mastercard Principal Membership became effective as of the beginning of 2021. As a principal member, xpate will work directly with Mastercard to enhance its xpate Stacks platform, offer its innovative solution to new clients, bolster its merchant acquiring portfolio, and take advantage of an extended range of products and services to strengthen its offering in the market.
This partnership means xpate will be able to establish transparent and cost-effective pricing for merchant acquiring and be flexible and robust in the delivering of merchant custom-tailored solutions that narrow the gap on convenient payments acceptance.
There are hardly bigger names in the fintech space than Mastercard. So, to be a part of this principal programme so early in our journey is testament to the hard work and talent of our unstoppable team.
Furthermore, it has provided unparalleled awareness of our offering in the payments world. To have the support and backing of Mastercard is a massive achievement, and something we’re all incredibly proud of.
Payment Expert: Does this two year anniversary mark a change in business direction for xpate at all? If so, how?
MS: Yes, it does. Like any new company, we’ve evolved enormously over the past two years and are now in a better, stronger position than ever before. In fact, we are on the cusp of launching two new products: xpate Links and xpate Stacks.
And of course, in this time we have really perfected the high-quality user experience that our product provides, with seamless technology, design and aesthetics. Ultimately, that’s what’s really overhauling the payments space, as we’re in a period where users are well accustomed to the payment capabilities that the fintech revolution has created. Now, they want the payment experience to match and compliment the quality of the technology being provided.
Payment Expert: And looking forward to the next two years, what would you like to achieve as a company?
MS: With the launch of these exciting new products on the horizon, we have much to look forward to. But our plans don’t stop there.
After such a strong initial two years in business, we are incredibly ambitious for the future and have plenty more in store for our customers to be announced throughout 2021 – which we predict to be the year of cross-border payments. Keep an eye out for more announcements coming soon!
