Currencycloud teams up with Plaid

London-based Currencycloud has partnered with open finance platform and payments network Plaid to offer new solutions that aim to make it easier for UK firms to operate in multiple currencies.

The strategic partnership will embed Plaid’s Payment Initiation Services (PIS) into Currencycloud’s platform to enable customers to pull money directly into their account from any bank.

Following the integration into Currencycloud Direct, the solution will be available across the entire Currencycloud platform.

Currencycloud said that, until now, customers using the Currencycloud Direct white-label solution have had to leave the app to make a top-up payment into their account from their chosen bank – a process it called “very manual, laborious, and time-consuming”.

Stuart Bailey, chief product officer at Currencycloud, said: “We are always looking for ways to improve our customers’ experience.

“The integration of this solution will do just that, removing friction in their experience by keeping them on our platform from the start to finish of each transaction.”

Head of European partnerships at Plaid, Farid Sedjelmaci, said that while business is more “borderless” than ever, it remains “incredibly difficult to move money across countries”.

“Accepting, settling, and converting payments is complicated, expensive, and can take time. However, fintech companies like Currencycloud are reshaping the processes and simplifying foreign exchange,” Sedjelmaci added.

“Combining Plaid’s PIS with Currencycloud’s all-inclusive platform for foreign exchange provides a smooth payment experience that obscures all of the complications with online global money movement.”

Currencycloud, which is regulated in the UK, US, Canada and the EU, has processed more than $100 billion to over 80 countries since 2012.

In July this year, Currencycloud was acquired by Visa in a deal that valued it at £700 million.