- VertoFX has received an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority – this will enable it to offer better online money transfer provision to clients.
- The firm said that the settlement speed time it offers is triple that of many non-challenger institutions.
- The firm said that the coronavirus pandemic had played a role in boosting demand for digital payments, though it acknowledged that other factors were also at play.
A challenger firm in the corporate international payments industry has been given a licence from a leading UK regulator.
VertoFX has been awarded the Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The licence will mean that VertoFX can scale its offering by bringing firms based in Britain or the European Economic Area onto its books.
It can also build partnerships with financial institutions to bring improved payments services to end users.
The new licence will also ensure that customers of VertoFX can make online money transfers to other customers of the firm in a way that is speedy and end-to-end.
VertoFX describes itself as a “challenger”.
The firm claims that it can offer foreign exchange transactions that are almost 10 times less expensive than financial institutions on the High Street.
In terms of settlement speed, meanwhile, the firm claims that this is three times as fast.
The firm does not levy its customers a transaction charge, but it does enable them to deal with fluctuating risk levels when exposed to the currency markets in one way or another.
In a statement on the topic of the newly granted licence, the firm’s co-founder and chief executive officer Ola Oyetayo said that the cost reduction element was a big pull for many firms looking to adapt to a changing financial landscape.
Oyetayo also pointed out that the coronavirus crisis had boosted demand for digitalised payments.
“The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital payments, prompted global business to re-assess their supply chains and the transaction cost of working with global partners as the need to reduce cost becomes paramount in the current economic climate,” he said.
He also shared figures that he claimed exemplified this increase – though he emphasised that other contextual factors aside from the pandemic were responsible for the shift towards digital.
“This trend has partly contributed to a +270% increase in our customer base year-on-year; predominantly driven by SMEs who trade and transact with emerging market businesses,” he said.
In further remarks, Oyetayo also pointed out that the acquisition of the licence would lead to the firm being able to play a more enhanced role in boosting financial inclusivity for firms across the world.
He explained that the company has been working since 2017 to create the infrastructures needed for this offer of worldwide connection.
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