Shortly after exiting the $5.3 billion Plaid deal, Visa has announced its next big move, a global partnership with payments giant TransferWise that will simultaneously debut Visa Cloud Connect. A cloud-based solution, Visa Cloud Connect will enable fintechs to securely connect to VisaNet, Visa’s global processing network through the cloud. The collaboration between both payments giants will facilitate the roll-out of TransferWise’s global debit card program.
According to Terry Angelos, a Visa Senior Vice President and Global Head of Fintech, the idea for Visa Cloud Connect was seeded when TransferWise highlighted an issue with finding an efficient way to enable cards to work across borders seamlessly the way their payments do.
While it would have taken the 10-year-old start-up 6-12 months, enormous investment to acquire local data centers, telecommunications infrastructure, and specialized payment hardware for every targeted market, Visa stepped in as the perfect partner to create the solution. From here, TransferWise can realize its borderless cards goal.
The TransferWise multi-currency account will allow the expansion of the unicorn’s debit cards across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, the U.K., and the U.S. Cardholders will be able to hold and convert 55 currencies at the real exchange rate with the multi-currency account. Customers will also be able to spend and withdraw directly from any of the currency markets.
Speaking on the collaboration, Kristo Käärmann, TransferWise CEO and Co-Founder said, “We’ve been working to remove borders in the world’s financial networks. Cards should work the same across borders too. In Visa we found a partner who shares our ambitions to make money work seamlessly no matter where you are.”
Jack Forestell, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Visa added, “We’ve created an approach that lets TransferWise tap into Visa’s global infrastructure—one of the most secure, reliable and resilient systems in the world—through a single integration. Through our work with TransferWise, we’ve created a blueprint for other fintechs to quickly and securely connect with Visa’s massive scale and reach.”
TransferWise celebrated its 10th birthday just last month. This latest news has undoubtedly increased the stakes on TransferWise’s expected London IPO this year, which is estimated to value the company at over $5 billion, making for a brilliant 10th year for the fintech. Visa Cloud Connect will be available to all clients by August of this year.
