CurrencyFair has bought a Hong Kong firm for its master plan to take on Asia
The Dublin money transfer company is making a big play as part of a €20m investment plan.
MONEY TRANSFER MARKETPLACE CurrencyFair has acquired a Hong Kong-based payments firm as part of a €20 million investment plan to expand into Asia.
The Dublin-based peer-to-peer currency exchange company has merged with Convoy Payments, a subsidiary of financial services firm Convoy Global which is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
The partnership deal involved the combination of the two businesses in Asia and a direct investment from Convoy Global in the new joint entity’s expansion in the region.
The expansion plans are also being funded by other US and European investment firms, including Octopus Ventures and Seligman Private Equity Select.
As part of the move, CurrencyFair plans to create 90 jobs over the next year and a half in product development, compliance, customer service and marketing as well as in developing more partnerships.
According to the company, it reached profitability earlier in 2018. This follows its most recent filed accounts, which showed that it had made a loss of €8.2 million during the year that ended June 2016.
Asian market
Since it was set up in 2009, CurrencyFair has focused on the development of cheaper services that allow individuals transfer funds internationally.
The fintech firm will now launch services for China’s renminbi (RMB) currency on the platform, which has over 100,000 customers.
The deal also gives CurrencyFair another foothold in the US market due to Convoy’s existing presence there.
CurrencyFair chief executive Paul Byrne said the push into Asia will bring fairer financial services to the market, which will account for around 33% of global money transfers by 2026.
“We will now be able to provide business payment services for non-Chinese companies seeking to pay their Chinese suppliers as a first step to a broader expansion across the region,” Byrne said.
“Being able to offer RMB gives CurrencyFair access to the inbound Chinese money transfer market, estimated to be worth $61 billion in 2016.”
