Financial services behemoth Visa has completed the acquisition of Currencycloud for a multi-million dollar figure. Currencycloud — which develops APIs that power embedded B2B cross-border payments and currency exchange services — has been partners with distributed ledger startup Ripple since July 2020.
Visa Completes Acquisition Of Currencycloud
Announced on Tuesday, the Currencycloud acquisition has set Visa back £700 million (equivalent to $930 million). Visa’s purchase of Currencycloud is intended to improve transparency, flexibility, and speed when making cross-border transfers or conducting foreign exchange business for the clients of the two companies.
Visa and Currencycloud signed a definitive deal in July this year, and the pair has finally completed the acquisition of the London-based firm. It should be noted that the acquisition is based on an existing strategic partnership between the two companies as Visa already owns an equity stake in Currencycloud. Moreover, Visa joined the Currencycloud financing round last year alongside other investors such as the Japanese financial group SBI.
Currencycloud joined Ripple’s payment network RippleNet earlier this year to explore new mechanisms for international transactions, with a focus on the regions where regulatory policies smother opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Visa Looks To Revolutionize Digital Payments
Visa is expecting digital assets to play a much bigger role in day-to-day payments in the future. As such, the payments giant has taken vital steps over the last few months to incorporate crypto services into its products.
In March, Visa started settling digital currency transactions on the Ethereum blockchain directly using the USDC stablecoin. In August, Visa spent 49.5 ETH on a CryptoPunk, which the firm’s head of crypto described as a great way to learn more about the booming NFT market through firsthand experience. Earlier this month, meanwhile, the firm unveiled a new global crypto-centric consulting unit amid a spike in client interest.
After the Currencycloud venture, the next logical steps for Visa entail increased involvement with the crypto industry.
