Yorkshire foreign exchange firm expands currency offering
CurrencyWave, the Leeds based international payments firm, has expanded its offering to businesses with the launch of SWIFT Collections. Through its partnership with leading payment technology provider Currencycloud, clients can now receive third-party payments from their customers in 34 currencies from over 50 permitted global jurisdictions.
Jamie Holmes founded CurrencyWave to satisfy a growing demand for specialist foreign exchange and payment services across the North of England. Despite Yorkshire being the top exporter of manufacturing goods outside of London, the vast majority of FX firms prefer to base themselves in the South.
Says Holmes: “SME exporters like to price their products or services in Sterling, but international customers are increasingly demanding to pay for goods in their local currency. For exporters that do not offer a local pricing option, this can potentially lead to lost sales if customers turn to native suppliers who can be more accommodating.”
Processing payments from overseas customers can be a time consuming and costly exercise for exporters. Every time a customer sends them an international payment, their bank takes a cut from the exchange rate and this usually means the exporter does not get the full amount they invoiced. Even if the exporter chooses to accept foreign currency bank payments, they may not be able to control the timing or the exchange rate at which their receiving bank converts the funds to Sterling.
Jamie added: “The answer to the problem lies in the exporter taking more control over the currency conversion process by routing the payment through a 3rd party payment provider like ourselves. Once payment is received onto the platform, the exporter then has the flexibility of either retaining or converting the currency at a time of their choosing and at transparent exchange rates superior to those offered through the bank.”
By giving their clients direct access to the wholesale interbank market, CurrencyWave can usually save them between 2-4%, or the equivalent of £1,000 to £2,000 on a £50,000 currency conversion.
The fully FCA regulated platform can be used for outgoing as well as incoming payments, incurs no opening or ongoing account fees and avoids the hassle and cost of opening foreign currency bank accounts.
