London-based currency payments business Currency Cloud has partnered with XE.com to launch a transparent global payments platform for businesses.
Currency Cloud, which launched in 2012, delivers a cloud-based platform to different providers making international payments, from banks to foreign exchange services. Founded by former forex traders and payment specialists, it has built its name on offering a transparent service through its API, which shows clients the original currency purchase price and its added fee.
The new platform, XE Money Transfers (XEMT) will stand to expand a business that's gone from 50 to 70 employees in the past year.
Currency Cloud is now also processing $600-700m every month, compared to a handful of transactions two years ago. XE is one of the most popular currency exchange rate checks in the world, and now wants to give business customers the chance to check for a fair rate, then transfer it on the spot with XEMT -- due to roll out in the UK in 2015. "It's about transparency and low prices, that is permeating the market," Currency Cloud CEO Mike Laven, who spoke at WIRED Money, told WIRED.co.uk. "The most important thing to people is the transparency. Yes, we must have very low fees. But there's security in knowing what you're paying. All of us who live in London understand that -- we go on holiday abroad, or send money abroad."
This is reflected in a survey carried out by XE, which found that 57 percent of customers in the UK were most concerned about transparency of fees when it comes to currency exchange. Globally, the biggest concerns are rates, speed and transparency.
Currency Cloud has been working with XE for the past year and a half, and XEMT is in closed beta now with plans for an early 2015 launch in the UK. The service will then be available across Europe, then the US, before global expansion. "We've had a very positive experience working with Currency Cloud," commented Steven Dengler, CEO and cofounder of XE.com in a statement. "We are excited to launch a service that not only meets business needs, but also continues our 20 year commitment to deliver transparency, efficiency, and above all, respect for our customers."
The pairing with XE is a great fit for Currency Cloud, which already had partnerships with the likes of TransferWise. "Even the trading world goes on to XE to make sure they have a fair rate," Laven told WIRED.co.uk. "It's the reference site of the world."
Good news for London, the cloud-based service plans on staying put in the city as it prepares for further expansion. Laven, who has worked in Silicon Valley in the past and is US-born, said: "If you want to build a business, customers, employees, partners -- all the infrastructure that goes along with building global business in the world of payments and exchange, London is the hub. It used to be that something like 40 percent of exchanges move through London.
And clearly all major banks that provide that are based in London.
For this type of business, we're in doubt there's nowhere else to build it. Even though I am an American."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
