Visa enhances cross-border strategy with the acquisition of Currencycloud

Visa has announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Currencycloud, in a significant move in the firm’s commitment to fintech. 

Currencycloud is a global platform that enables banks and fintechs to provide foreign exchange solutions for cross-border payments.

Colleen Ostrowski, Visa’s Global Treasurer commented: “The acquisition of Currencycloud is another example of Visa executing on our network of networks strategy to facilitate global money movement. 

“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.”

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.

“At Currencycloud, we’ve always strived to deliver a better tomorrow for all, from the smallest start-up to the global multi-nationals,” emphasised Mike Laven, Chief Executive Officer, Currencycloud. “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.”

In acquiring Currencycloud, Visa will strengthen its existing foreign exchange capabilities by extending them to better serve financial institutions, fintechs and partners while enabling new use cases and payment flows. 

Currencycloud will accelerate the time-to-market and improve payment transparency for clients looking to offer flexible, digital-first, international payment services that provide better visibility and control to consumers and businesses around the world.

Ola Oyetayo, CEO & Co-founder at VertoFX, also praised the deal, stating: “Visa’s acquisition of our payment partner Currencycloud is a strong validation of their business model and the invaluable work they are doing in helping to make cross-border payments and foreign exchange transactions more seamless for banks and fintechs such as ours. Currencycloud has been a pivotal part of our success since we initially partnered with them in 2019 and we wish them continued success as they become part of the Visa family.”