FairFX reports successful integration of CardOne
A key focus in 2018 will be the rolling out of new products in Banking by building upon the technology acquired as part of the CardOne transaction.
Following the acquisition of provider of banking platforms and money management tools CardOne Banking by e-banking and international payments group Fairfx Group PLC (LON:FFX) in August 2017, the integration of CardOne into the Group has been successful, FairFX said today in a filing with the London Stock Exchange.
The update was made as a part of an announcement of a number of FairFX’s performance metrics for the year to December 31, 2017. The planned synergies related to the acquisition have been realised during 2017, FairFX said today, with more expected to follow in 2018. As a result of the CardOne transaction, there will be further focus on optimising the combined marketing spend.
In terms of product innovation, a key focus in 2018 will be on rolling out new products in Banking by building upon the technology acquired as part of the CardOne transaction. As previously indicated, FairFX will be rolling out the Fair Everywhere multi-currency bank account product in the first quarter of 2018 with a focus on the business sector and more specifically, SMEs.
Also, FairFX has development pipelines for the corporate expenses platform and the retail FX card offerings. All product roll-outs will be accompanied by an integrated marketing strategy across both digital and traditional channels.
With regard to numbers, let’s note that full-year turnover for FairFX exceeded £1.1 billion, marking an increase of 39% on the prior year (2016: £798 million) and in line with management expectations. On an organic basis, excluding the effects of the CardOne Banking acquisition, turnover marked a rise of 17.3% year on year and reached £936 million. Given this strong performance, FairFX anticipates revenues and profits to be ahead of market expectations for FY17.
Growth was supported by FairFX’s focus on its core products of International Payments (up 19.5%) and Prepaid Cards (up 18.0%). Also, the usage of the company’s corporate card platform rose by 61.9% compared to 2016. Furthermore, during 2017, the company acquired 68,136 new UK domiciled retail customers, bringing the total to 701,206.
