Currencycloud partners with Tribe Payments to launch new banking-as-a-service solution

The two fintechs hope to tackle extortionate foreign exchange rates for SMEs across Europe.

Global payments platform Currencycloud has joined forces with fellow payments firm Tribe Payments to build a new banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform for digital banks and fintechs. 

The partnership will allow the two firms to offer transparent foreign exchange costs with international card transactions, whilst also offering access to multi-currency wallets. 

As part of the collaboration, Tribe Payments is looking to offer virtual accounts in 35 currencies, enabling customers to receive and store funds and make payments by using Currencycloud’s infrastructure. 

Stephen Lemon, head of strategic partnerships and co-founder of Currencycloud, said: “Our partnership with Tribe payments is really helping digital banks and fintechs gain access to a wholesale, quick, and easy solution to enhance their customer experience." 

As well as offering new accounts, customers of Tribe Payments will have access to real-time, wholesale FX rates, further lowering the costs of making international payments. 

According to research from the European Central Bank, banks across Europe make millions each year by overcharging SMEs for foreign exchange services, which in some cases can be 25 times higher than for larger business customers. 

Alex Reddish, chief commercial officer at Tribe Payments, added: “At Tribe Payments, we are on a mission to make payment processing simple and secure while letting our partners scale quickly.” 

“So, this partnership with Currencycloud is perfect as it gives increased scalability to our partners, ensuring they are growing their competitive advantage. We are really looking forward to growing this partnership to mitigate our customer’s pain points.” 

The new foreign exchange integration will be made available later on this year and the two fintechs plan on continually growing their partnership.