Visa acquires Currencycloud to facilitate global funds movement
Visa has announced the acquisition of Currencycloud, which provides APIs which help institutions with remittance and currency exchange capabilities in a deal that is valued at $963 million.
It should be noted that Visa has already been working closely with Currencycloud and already owns a stake in the company by way of participation in a funding round last year which had valued the company at around $500 million at that time. The company already has over 500 customers in about 180 countries who use its APIs to power remittances, multicurrency wallets, and currency exchange services, and this acquisition is expected to provide a better reach for both companies.
“At Currencycloud, we’ve always strived to deliver a better tomorrow for all, from the smallest start-up to the global multi-nationals. Re-imagining how money flows around the global economy just got more exciting as we join Visa,” said Mike Laven, CEO, Currencycloud, in a statement. “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.”
With the global reach of companies improving over the years and with business picking up all over the world after the end of the pandemic, it is expected that more and more companies, big and small, would need to rely on sending and receiving payments across borders. In such situations, remittances and currency exchanges would be a key aspect of payments in the coming years. This industry is expected to grow manifold in the future and with Visa already boasting of a large clientele across the world, the currency conversion services would be an added boost for its product range and would also help to build its bottom line.
This currency exchange industry still has a long way to go, especially for banks and other major financial institutions, to catch up with the digital age. We are also seeing that the crypto industry is also beginning to eat into this space in direct competition as users are tired of the delays, fees, charges that accompany the remittance and exchange services. They need transparency, speed, and simplicity in the processes that are involved for such work and since crypto provides them with that at this point, we are seeing many users shifting to that despite it not being regulated. If Visa or any other company can disrupt that (using fiat currencies), then that would be a huge boost for this space and would spur further growth and competition.
