Visa acquisition strategy adds Currencycloud
Just over a week ago, Visa confirmed it would be buying Currencycloud. The acquisition sees the cross-border payment platform valued at £700m, although as Visa is already an investor in Currencycloud as of 2020, the net amount it will be paying for the company is lower.
In Currencycloud, Visa is buying a company that has seen significant growth over the past few years. Its last set of public numbers – for 2019 show revenue was £27m but given processed volumes have roughly doubled since then, revenues are likely similarly up.
Some thoughts on the investment:
- The acquisition will strengthen Visa’s B2B cross-border payments offering, particularly in areas such as speed of FX processing and transparency of FX rates. This enables Visa to challenge in the increasingly strong and digitally focused B2B payments space, in which Currencycloud has built a strong presence.
- It indicates Visa is taking embedded payments seriously. Currencycloud is a key player in the embedded payments space (we’re partnering with them on a series of reports on the subject) and is likely to see considerable growth as more companies embrace the opportunities it presents.
- Visa continues to build capability. As we saw from Visa’s Earthport acquisition, Visa’s global reach and connections to financial institutions across the globe mean the leverage it can gain from the acquisition is likely far greater than any other player (save Mastercard). Visa’s market cap of $550bn also puts an acquisition of this size (c.$1bn) into context.
Expect more details once the transaction clears all the regulatory hurdles.
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Lucy is Head of Content & Editor-in-Chief at FXC Intelligence, overseeing all content and taking deep dives into the trends and data driving changes in payments.
Before joining FXC Intelligence, Lucy worked as a technology journalist and editor, interviewing CEOs and major names across enterprise technology, including fintech. She has an MSc in Development Anthropology from Durham University.
