The pandemic has accelerated the digitalisation of payments and the move away from cash. People are naturally operating more globally, whether that’s for personal or business travel, to accommodate multiple bases as the world shifts to a more hybrid model of working, or growing e-commerce and global supply chains. As a result, financial institutions and fintechs need to offer customers solutions that satisfy this changing dynamic as people shift to digital-first behaviours for safety and convenience.

Leveraging each other’s expertise, the combined value proposition will deliver a complete, enterprise-grade, off-the-shelf and pre-integrated solution. It will enable businesses to offer customers compliance and regulatory infrastructure, cross-border payments infrastructure, real-time FX for overseas card transactions, access to a global banking network, multi-currency accounts, banking cards and much more.

Fintechs can now upgrade their existing product offerings and launch dynamic new services, including:

Multi-currency wallets:
• Using Currencycloud rates, customers can fund up to 34 foreign currency wallets with real-time wholesale rates, allowing consumers to purchase currencies ahead of travelling and while on the go.
• Competitive FX rates for 38 currencies, including restricted and non-restricted currencies, and nearly 300 currency pairs.
• Guaranteed weekend FX rates.

Point-of-Sale (POS) FX:
• Cardholders benefit from transparent, competitive, real-time FX rates when making purchases abroad and can choose to be notified of the amount spent in their domestic currency via push notifications on mobile devices in real time.
• By securing a guaranteed and real-time FX rate at the point of sale, ensuring it is locked in through to clearing and settlement, cardholders now know exactly what overseas transactions cost at the point of sale.

Shaun Puckrin, Chief Product Officer of GPS, commented: “There is a major opportunity for payment players to further displace cash with seamless card-based FX payments. Integrating our respective platforms provides fintechs with enterprise-grade capabilities, driving speed to market, and an invaluable competitive advantage as we emerge from the pandemic.”

Stephen Lemon, Co-founder and VP, Partnerships & Enterprise at Currencycloud, said: “For fintechs, building a multi-currency solution requires a huge effort across multiple functional and regulatory domains. By working with Currencycloud and GPS, fintechs can reduce the complexity involved and get to market much more quickly for a fraction of the cost of self-building, while vastly reducing ongoing operational risk and overhead.”