Cashplus To Offer Global Payments Via Currencycloud Partnership

Challenger bank Cashplus, which provides business accounts and financial services, has announced a collaboration with cross-border payments firm Currencycloud in a bid to help small businesses go global.

The companies said in a press release Tuesday (May 15) that they are partnering to introduce payments capabilities to Cashplus’ SMB customers later this year. According to the firms, their proposition offers an alternative for small businesses looking to expand globally without expensive service and FX fees from banks.

The payments capabilities will also be available to consumers that use personal account services from Cashplus, the companies noted.

“The government talks about making exporting great, but as uncertainty abounds regarding Brexit, we saw a need to level the playing field for British SMEs to make slick transactions with overseas operators,” said Cashplus CEO Rich Wagner in a statement. “These small companies make £163 billion (about $220 billion) of international payments each year, often navigating less competitive rates and hidden charges in the process.”

“As one of the best-established disruptors in our sector, we’ve partnered with Currencycloud to develop this new product as we see their network and technological expertise as on par with our own, and able to deliver a smooth experience to our thousands of customers seeking to move from kitchen table to world stage,” he added.

Last year, small business accounting software firm Sage announced its own partnership with Cashplus, which sees the platforms facilitating data exchange between each other into Sage’s Bank Feeds solution for automated reconciliation.

A report published in 2016 from cross-border payments company Covercy found small businesses in the U.K. are disproportionately affected by high FX and other fees when accessing global payments services from traditional banks. According to its report, Covercy said a small business with 20 $13,000 global transactions a month pays an average of $2,700 every month in fees alone.