Anders la Cour, Saxo Payments: "Traditional cross border bank transfers are no longer the only solution"

Saxo Payments went to market in April 2015. Who are Saxo Payments and what is your goal?

Registered as a payment institution in the European Union, Saxo Payments specialises in providing global payment account transactions and foreign exchange services to payment providers, including acquirers, payment service providers, FX brokers, money transfer businesses, e-wallets and alternative payment providers. The Saxo Payments Banking Circle provides a seamless conduit for bank transfers in multiple currencies anywhere in the world, enabling businesses to make transfers in real-time, at a fraction of the cost of traditional banking services.

In contrast to conventional international banking processes, the Saxo Payments Banking Circle enables almost immediate transfers to bank accounts worldwide at very low cost. Designed to empower the swathe of FinTech businesses seeking to exploit the global digital marketplace, Saxo Payments mitigates the prohibitively expensive traditional banking fees – often around 5% per transaction. The Saxo Payments Banking Circle allows merchants to receive funds within minutes of clearing rather than having to work to conventional banking timescales and at a fraction of the cost of traditional providers.

We genuinely believe there is a better way for international payments to be managed – with serious benefits for payment providers and their clients. Saxo Payments is therefore enabling enterprises with international client bases to focus on their core business while extending their value chain and product offering. We are doing this by giving them the ability to offer their clients the facility to manage global transfers quickly and cost effectively, truly empowering global trade. Our ground-breaking solution ensures that financial regulation is completely adhered to, without impacting on business success.

Our mission is to create a marketplace for global trade, by cutting out cost and time from the processes that have been accepted as ‘the norm’ for years.

Looking back on your first year in business, what are your thoughts? Are you happy with what you have achieved?

Saxo Payments was established in 2013, but we brought our first customers on board in 2015. The response to our innovation from the FinTechs serving the business sector has been particularly positive. They have welcomed the benefits we can bring their businesses both in terms of improved efficiency for their customers and in terms of cost-savings. This is providing us with a really strong foundation to continue to build the membership of the Banking Circle.

You also just released a whitepaper, exploring the innovation levels among issuers, acquirers, PSPs, and merchants, with regard to cross-border payments. What was the outcome of this research?

With international trade increasing rapidly, payments processes need to keep up to ensure they do not hold businesses back from their full potential. Traditional cross border bank transfers are no longer the only solution, but we wanted to know if companies are aware of the alternatives or simply sleepwalking through the process, paying high fees for poor foreign exchange rates and slow transfers.

What we found, released in the whitepaper, was that the majority (63%) of the businesses servicing international trade are not satisfied with how long international transfers take to arrive in the recipient’s account, and just 38% believe they get a competitive FX rate for cross border payments with their current provider. However, a third of respondents haven’t even looked around at other options – with lack of time for research given as the most common reason.

It seems companies are too embroiled in day to day tasks. This is making it hard for them to see – or make the time to find out about – the bigger picture, to realise they could get a better payments service which would support the geographical expansion of these businesses as well as generating big savings by spending less resources on dealing with the payments.

Encouragingly, the research revealed that businesses would be willing to switch provider if they could see the benefits. 79.4% stated that if they found a solution which cost less, they would change payment provider, and 63% said that a service providing faster transactions would push them to make the move.

The most exciting part, for us, is the high proportion of respondents who recognise the opportunities of newer and lesser-known providers, and would be willing to employ one if it meant a better and cheaper service. Again, the reason they have not yet made that move is the lack of time to research alternatives, rather than a lack of alternatives. Just 27% were even aware of any new entrants in the market, showing just how time-poor businesses are when it comes to researching the payments process options.

How are you planning to evolve in the coming year? What new innovations can we expect?

We want to build the membership of the Banking Circle – the more members the greater the benefits for all. We therefore plan to move into new geographies to ensure we can support the geographical expansion ambitions of our clients. We are also looking at extending the currencies we can handle. And at Money2020 Europe we launched a real-time FX tool for corporate treasury departments and FX brokers to ensure that treasurers have the best possible transparency to help them mitigate risk which is core to their role.

About Anders la Cour

Anders la Cour is Chief Executive Officer of Saxo Payments, a subsidiary of Saxo Bank. The innovative new Saxo Payments Banking Marketplace enables immediate transfers to bank accounts worldwide, empowering businesses seeking to exploit the global digital sector.

About Saxo Payments

In 2013, Saxo Bank formed a new entity, Saxo Payments A/S, with the purpose of using Saxo Bank’s core capabilities within the non-cash payments market. Saxo Payments A/S is a specialist in forex and payments. Saxo Payments is registered as a payment institution in the EU. Saxo Payments specialises in providing global payment account transactions and foreign exchange services to payment providers, including acquirers, payment service providers, FX brokers, money transfer businesses, e-wallets, and alternative payment providers.