- The announcement was made days after ClearBank’s partnership with OakNorth reached news agencies
- ClearBank is reportedly doing well after receiving funding from the RBS Fund
- Charles McManus of ClearBank says that Moorwand’s BIN sponsorship business model is ‘truly innovative and creative’
International payments processing firm Moorwand has picked UK-based ClearBank to be its agency banker, according to reports. The BIN sponsor will leverage ClearBank’s infrastructure, a partnership described by both Moorwand and ClearBank as a “strategic” move.
While talking about Moorwand, ClearBank CEO Charles McManus said: “They have come to market with a truly innovative and creative business model on BIN sponsorship and a determination to vastly improve the customer experience and ease of use”. ClearBank has indicated that these are shared values which they are delighted to support.
This development was revealed days after ClearBank’s partnership with challenger bank OakNorth reached the media. Observers say that another partnership is indicative of ClearBank’s future role in the British payments processing sector.
Moorwand is a British firm licensed by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority. The electronic money institution is regulated by the FCA “to issue electronic money and provide payment services throughout EEA”. ClearBank, on the other hand, is a clearing agency that seeks to automate business processes as well as make it possible to make faster payments.
Moorwand insiders told the media this week that the company will utilise ClearBank’s Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) product to access API-based services. Executives at Moorwand confirmed on Tuesday that this will include access to faster payments across CHAPS and BACS. The company also mentioned ClearBank’s Faster Payments infrastructure.
“We are excited to be able to offer even more value-add services to our issuing portfolio thanks to our partnership with ClearBank”, says Robert Courtneidge, Moorwand’s Chief Executive Officer. “They are strides ahead of competitors in the field of ‘Banking as a Service’ and real-time payments capabilities are in demand from our client-base.”
Observers in the UK say that industry players will need this new service from Moorwand as it will make it easier for said players to transfer money internationally at cheap and transparent overseas transfer rates. The keyword, according to Moorwand, is transparency. Moorwand executives say that the company seeks to make payment processes more transparent because there has been some confusion on Bank Identification Number (BIN) access. Moorwand, according to ClearBank, has developed a powerful yet simple service that will solve the BIN problem.
Like Moorwand, OakNorth will utilise ClearBank’s platform so that it can provide real-time payments to its customers. ClearBank has a Faster Payments infrastructure along with other products that have been described by fintech experts as “innovative”.
It is noted by experts that ClearBank is doing better than its competitors. Last week, OakNorth COO Amir Nooriala said that the firm’s “API and virtual account support capabilities are best-in-class”. Nooriala also said that OakNorth “found a long-term, strategic partner” that will enable the company to provide a “more seamless experience” for its clients.
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