Lost or delayed cross-border payments resolved by a non-bank that introduces new payments tracking technology

Currencycloud today announced a pilot programme to provide SWIFT gpi tracking capabilities to their clients through a new API. „This new service, one of the first offered by a non-bank, will allow Currencycloud clients to track their customers’ cross-border payments directly, much like an Amazon parcel. They can even pass the service further onwards to their own customers so they can track their payments themselves.”, according to the press release.

Early participants in the programme include big names such as TransferGo, Penta and Money Mover.

It’s a big problem this solution is addressing; historically, a lack of visibility contributed to delays in cross-border payments as parties on both ends tried to sort out the status of a payment at any given time and reconcile associated fees along the way. All this created business uncertainty.

SWIFT gpi technology tracks a payment as it moves around the world and is able to identify where it is being held, or where it may have failed, in a matter of seconds – immediately removing the need to contact a banking partner, or the need for further investigation.

Currencycloud, one of the first non-banks to be a SWIFT gpi member, has been part of the community since June 2019 and has reaped the benefits.

Since the introduction of SWIFT gpi, 60% of failed payments made through Currencycloud are traced and resolved in less than one day, often in minutes. Prior to SWIFT gpi, Currencyloud estimates that 80% of failed payments on its platform would take more than seven days to resolve due to a laborious administrative process – this has been reduced to less than 5% with this new technology.

The reduction in administration time means Currencycloud’s clients who sign up to the programme are able to directly ensure their customers’ cash continues to flow, trading continues more smoothly, and their business operates with less friction.

Mike Laven, CEO at Currencycloud comments: “We have reduced time to resolution for payment tracking more than ten-fold since introducing SWIFT gpi, providing unprecedented speed in resolving clients’ issues around cross-border payments. We are proud to be one of the first non-banks to be able to offer these same benefits direct to our clients and to our clients’ customers, further reducing admin and saving business critical time when payments fail or are delayed.”

Lukas Zörner, CPO at Penta commented: “SWIFT gpi has been a game-changer for us and we are really excited to be able to pass on the benefits directly to our clients. Lost or delayed payments are a huge problem for our SME customers and can really hamper business growth. This will remove a massive concern for these businesses moving forward.”

Vikesh Patel, Head of UK and Ireland at SWIFT, commented: “The launch of SWIFT gpi has been a key step in engineering a dramatically enhanced cross-border payments experience, increasing the speed, transparency and predictability of payments – no matter where they originate or are going. We are very pleased to be working with Currencycloud to enable its customers to experience the benefits of gpi through API technology.”

Currencycloud is a trailblazer in removing friction in the cross-border market. The SWIFT gpi API programme, which is being trialled with six Currencycloud clients, is further proof of this.

Today, Currencycloud has 85 different APIs across four modules – collect, convert, pay and manage – that cover the entire workflow in B2B cross-border payments. The as-a-service platform is proprietary and is fully cloud-based on AWS using Restful APIs.

Launched in 2012, Currencycloud is based in London and is regulated in Europe, the U.S. and Canada, and has processed more than $50bn to over 180 countries. Currencycloud works with banks and Fintechs globally including Starling Bank, Standard Bank South Africa and Brookline Bank, as well as partnering with Visa to deliver innovation in travel payments.