British multinational merges Currency Fair in strategic investment

E-commerce has surged with the rise of online shopping as a result of the shutdown of retail due to Covid-19.  Picture: Nick Ansell/PA Wire

An Irish Fintech company has announced new investment from Standard Chartered, a British multinational financial services company. 

SC ventures, the fintech investment unit of Standard Chartered is merging Dublin based Currency Fair with Assembly Payments as part of its expansion into the rapidly-growing payments industry. 

Currency Fair, an online cross-border payments company currently employs 85 people across its offices in Ireland, UK Australia, China, Hong Kong and Singapore. 

Standard Chartered said the merger will increase employee numbers from 85 to 160 immediately with job numbers reaching 450 over the next four years. 

Assembly Payments, an Australian financial services company automates client's payment workflows and employs 74 people. 

Paul Byrne, CEO of Currency Fair will lead the business through the merger  which is still subject to regulatory approval. 

Speaking about the new investment, Bill Winters, group chief executive of Standard Chartered said the decision allows the company to expand the range of services they can offer to corporate and retail clients. 

Mr Winters said: “Digital payments is a core strategic area for Standard Chartered and our 2020 investment in Assembly Payments greatly enhanced our presence in the domestic payments business. 

"By bringing together the complementary strengths of CurrencyFair and Assembly, we are supporting the merged company in offering the full range of payment services, providing retail and corporate clients access to fast, high-volume domestic and cross-border payments.”
The move is the latest from multinational financial services companies seeking to compete in the financial payments sector, especially given the rise of e-commerce in recent years. 

Global e-commerce sales were estimated to be almost $26 trl (€21.9trl) in 2018 and have accelerated further as businesses and consumers look to the digital marketplace due to Covid-19

Meanwhile, digital payments giant Stripe is to open an office in United Arab Emirates' financial capital Dubai, its first expansion into the Middle East region.

Founded in 2010 by Limerick brothers Patrick and John Collison, Stripe is used by more than 50 companies, each processing more than $1bn annually to receive payments and bill customers.

Companies using the payments service include Google, Uber, Amazon and shipping giant Maersk.