Financial services company INTL Fcstone Inc (NASDAQ:INTL) has announced that its London-based Global Payments Division facilitated approximately 101,000 cross-border payments on behalf of its customers in Q1 of 2016. This represents an increase of 14% YoY over the same period for 2015.
The Company also disclosed today that it transferred more than $22 billion of payments in the 2015 calendar year, and is on track for a record year in 2016.
INTL FCStone’s Global Payments Division specializes in transferring funds in local currency to the developing world.
The company maintains a network of approximately 300 correspondent banks, critical relationships spanning more than a decade, which bring efficiency and security to the payments process. The service is available to 175 countries in 150 currencies.
The Company also disclosed today that it achieved a milestone by signing its 500th institutional client in April 2016. The Global Payments Division counts a substantial percentage of international aid and development organizations, non-governmental organizations and global financial institutions as clients, as well as multinational corporations.
Carsten Hils, INTL FCStone
Carsten Hils, Global Head of INTL FCStone’s Global Payments Division, commented on today’s news,
I believe our growth is indicative of the quality of our people and unique offering, which allow customers to execute payments in exotic currencies by utilizing our vast network of local correspondent banks. With more than 20 years of experience in providing payments to the developing world, our services provide clients the advantages of partnering with a foreign exchange solutions provider that liaises directly with local banks and regulators, and possesses deep knowledge of local markets. We have a very unique geographical reach and provide an unmatched level of transparency to the payments process, which ultimately allows our customers to control pricing and avoid the pitfalls associated with sending hard currency to be converted in local markets.
The Global Payments Division is a global business with offices in Singapore, London and New York, servicing clients 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Client services, operations and IT specialists provide efficient payment execution as well as market commentary on developments within those countries for which the Company facilitates payments. Team members regularly travel through Africa, Asia and Latin America meeting with the local correspondent banks, regulators and other market participants to provide clients with intelligence on issues that could impact the country’s financial system.
Hils concluded,
We are extremely proud of the added value our team brings to clients on a daily basis by providing local market intelligence. Among our other value propositions, we believe this sets us apart, and as such we deliver expertise through our proprietary Global Payments Network. GPN is an online portal where we distribute all market commentary, as well as unique insights impacting local currencies markets. These insights help our clients to make educated decisions on how to process payments effectively. I look forward to communicating our continued successes throughout the year and beyond, as we target new verticals for global payments.