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companies & people
Innovators’ Spotlight: Revolution by Evolution
18
GEttiNG tO KNOw
Currencycloud
services like Apple Pay and Uber have brought speed
and simplicity to small-scale trans- actions, but moving money
at a global level continues to be a complicated and time-consuming process. It often requires manual work, such as cutting checks, and sometimes can lead to foreign exchange losses.
Currencycloud aims to bridge this gap, o ering banks and businesses the ability to transfer money more easily and e ciently using a suite of application program interfaces (APIs) that connect to Currency- cloud’s global payment network, automating payments via the cloud.
“The challenge in translating that process for larger, more established nancial institutions is the infra- structure and processes—from technological to regulatory—that have been in place for years, and in some cases, decades.”
In lieu of a massive infrastructural overhaul, Currencycloud’s devel- oper-friendly APIs promote ease of use and empower clients to build the payment apps and services they need atop the startup’s platform, ensuring that slick, new digital solutions rest within the clients’ existing systems, the company says.
In the last ve years Currencycloud has grown dramatically; it currently serves hundreds of merchant, payment and nancial services clients and millions of end users. Those customers have moved $20 billion through Currencycloud’s technology, which can be integrated into payments platforms and global wallets. The company also o ers mass digital payments and what
it describes as a plug-and-play, white-label solution. Meanwhile, Currencycloud has raked in more than $36 million in funding, with much of that total helping drive the company’s U.S. expansion.
“At the end of the day, if businesses can’t keep up with today’s demands of a digitally connected world, they’ll struggle to stay sustainably pro t- able,” Siddiqui cautions. “Or worse, risk ceasing to exist against increas- ingly more agile, technology-savvy digital and global nancial services players large and small.”
NAbeeL SIddIqUI VP, NOrTh AMerICA
That mission has driven the London-based company since it sprang to life out of a foreign exchange bro- kerage when
its head, Nigel Verdon, realized there was a
SEcrEt SaucE
Currencycloud’s Payment Engine is driving the trans- formation of the global payments landscape, enabling payment rms to remove the friction and inef ciencies of traditional cross-border payments using exible APIs.
Location
Headquartered in London, with global operations
Open for Business
2012
Line of Business
Cross-border payments
Founders
Nigel Verdon, Mike Laven
Funding
More than $36 million in funding since launch
Something You Might
Not Expect
In the U.S., each state has different regulations regarding the handling of money, and it can take years and a six- gure invest- ment for businesses to be fully compliant. Through a single integration with Currencycloud’s API, companies can access multi- currency capabilities, outsource their compliance needs and get to market quickly.
Global payments provider o ers speed and seamlessness for the worldwide
movement of money.
fundamental problem with the way international payments were made. Since its 2012 launch, Currency- cloud has drawn plenty of interest from clients and investors.
The ‘Uber’ of Money?
“There’s no reason a foreign ex- change rm or bank shouldn’t be able to send and receive payments as easily as a consumer can request a ride using his Uber app,” says Nabeel Siddiqui, Currencycloud’s vice president of North America.