The payment processing giant, Visa confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of Currencycloud for £700 million, i.e., $950 million. Visa’s acquisition of Currencycloud is aimed at providing transparency, flexibility and control when making international payments or doing business in multiple currencies, to both companies’ clients combined. Visa and Currencycloud had signed a definitive agreement earlier in July, and have finally come through with the completion of the acquisition.

Exciting times ahead for Currencycloud as @Visa announce completion of the acquisition for £700 million. We look forward to working together to bring greater transparency, flexibility and control for businesses moving money around the world! pic.twitter.com/GbKq4L5bBP

— Currencycloud (@Currencycloud) December 21, 2021

Currencycloud, which is a globally leading provider for B2B cross-border payments had also partnered with RippleNet, Ripple’s financial payments network. The partnership which was agreed upon earlier this year was aimed at facilitating a technologically affluent cross-border payment mechanism.

Mike Laven, CEO at Currencycloud noted this July that, “Currencycloud is all about bringing clarity, speed and value to the traditionally opaque, costly and time-consuming issues associated with cross-border payments, particularly for SMEs that have historically been under-served by traditional banking. Ripple’s solution will help us to extend our network to new parts of the world, removing more barriers to payments for our clients.”

Visa exclusive partnership may expand scope of crypto payments

Prior to Visa’s acquisition, Currencycloud already supported more than 500 banking and technology clients with reach in over 180 countries. Visa, that had recently launched its cryptocurrency financial advisory arm for institutions, with the aim to expand its crypto-focused services, now has extended even farther with Currencycloud’s extensively global client base. Visa is an openly pro-crypto payment processor, and with its exclusive Currencycloud venture, it appears that there may be several upcoming crypto-positives launches.

“Crypto for us is a huge new vertical and growth opportunity. And we will be continuing to focus on growing this business moving forward”, said Nikola Plecas, Visa’s European crypto lead earlier this month.

Visa is determined to dominate the crypto payment gateway sphere with $3.5 billion crypto-linked transactions on its network from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021. During the first quarter of 2021, Visa had announced its intentions to become the largest gateway for crypto in the coming future. Following up on its pro-crypto declaration, Visa has also entered into the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) industry with its $150,000 purchase of crypto punks earlier this August.

Visa Inc (NYSE: V) has announced that it has agreed on a deal to purchase Currencycloud, a British payments startup. Reports from Visa revealed that Currencycloud is valued at $962 million, (£700 million) and will become the second major fintech acquisition by the payments giants in 2021.

Visa added that it will reduce the sum to be paid for the British start-up firm as it already owns outstanding equity in the firm, leading an $80 million investment round in Currencycloud in the early stages of 2020.

Colleen Ostrowski, Visa’s global treasurer speaking after the announcement stated that the acquisition of Currencycloud will enable Visa to support their clients and partners to further reduce the stress of cross-border payments as well as develop great user experiences for their customers. “Consumers and businesses increasingly expect transparency, speed, and simplicity when making or receiving international payments,” she stated.

Currencycloud was founded in 2007 and has its headquarters situated in London and is regulated in the UK, Canada, the US, and the EU. The company’s cloud-based platform offers a wide array of APIs which enables banks, financial service providers, and fintech firms to process cross-border payments, offer currency exchange services, including real-time notifications on foreign exchange transactions, virtual account management, and multi-currency wallets.

The company has offices in Amsterdam, Cardiff, New York, and Singapore, and delivers simple, clear cross-border infrastructure solutions for clients, working with partners including GPS, Visa, Dwolla, and Mambu.

The British firm boats of a long list of clients including popular banking and payment apps, Starling, Monzo, Revolut, Lunar, and Penta. The payments start-up has raised over $160 million in total from investors including Japanese financial services firm SBI Holdings, French bank BNP Paribas and Google parent company Alphabet’s venture capital arm GV.

Currencycloud currently has 500 banking and technology clients in over 180 countries across the globe. Visa is a statement stated that the company will continue its operations from its headquarters in London as well as retain its currency management team. The deal is however subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, according to Visa.

The payment start-up has processed over $100bn to over 180 countries since 2012 working with banks, financial institutions, and fintechs around the world, including Starling Bank, Revolut, Penta, and Lunar.

CEO of Currencycloud, Mike Laven stated that the combination of Currencycloud’s fintech expertise coupled with Visa’s network will enable both parties to deliver greater customer value to the businesses moving money across borders. “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,” he said.

Visa agreed to buy Swedish firm Tink last month in a deal worth $2.1 billion after it attempted to acquire Plaid, a US rival, a move which was foiled by US regulators.

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Visa, the payment processing giant has signed a definitive agreement to acquire cross-border remittance provider Currencycloud, the deal is valued at £700 million or $950 million inclusive of cash and retention incentives. Both the companies were already in a strategic partnership before the acquisition.

Currencycloud is also a RippleNet partner which means it uses Ripple-made remittance tools to facilitate cross-border transactions.

“The acquisition of Currencycloud is another example of Visa executing on our network of networks strategy to facilitate global money movement,” said Collen Ostrowski, Visa’s Global Treasurer. “Consumers and businesses increasingly expect transparency, speed, and simplicity when making or receiving international payments. With our acquisition of Currencycloud, we can support our clients and partners to further reduce the pain points of cross-border payments and develop great user experiences for their customers.”

Currencycloud would help Visa strengthen its foreign exchange capabilities and help the payment giant expand its cross-border remittance footprint.

“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, Chief Executive Officer, Currencycloud.

Currencycloud Acquisition to help Visa realize its Fintech goals

Visa had recently revealed that crypto transactions on its card network have exceeded 1 billion dollars in the first half of 2021. The company also revealed its plans of aggressively expanding its crypto payment plans and making crypto one of the top forms of currency in use. The payment processing giant is building a fintech network with a focus on crypto transactions and digital assets use.

The recent acquisition of currencycloud fits well within Visa’s plan of improving its remittance services and focus more on digital assets.

Both Visa and Mastercard who until a year ago blocked crypto-related transactions now see cryptocurrencies as the future of payments. Recently, Mastercard announced it would enhance its crypto card services to enable banks and crypto companies to issue more crypto cards and remove the hurdle of crypto to fiat conversion through stablecoin use.