London, 22nd February 2018 – Further demonstrating its positioning as an essential part of the financial ecosystem, Saxo Payments Banking Circle has been named Best Alternative Payment Solution at the 2018 Merchant Payments Ecosystem Awards.

Developed to provide a faster and more cost-effective way for businesses to make and receive international payments, Banking Circle is enabling a raft of Financial Tech businesses and Tier 2 and 3 banks to provide an efficient and effective cross border payment service, whilst focusing resources on the customer relationship. More than $50bn of volume is now processed on annual basis through the financial utility.

“We were up against strong competition at the MPE Awards”, said Anders la Cour, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Saxo Payments Banking Circle. “It’s therefore hugely rewarding to be recognised by the judges for our unique approach, which delivers a unique solution for FinTech businesses to add value to their customer proposition.”

A story of exponential growth, in the last 12 months new products have been launched including Banking Circle Virtual IBAN, a unique proposition delivering full transparency and faster settlement on payments and transfers, which gives banks and FinTechs a crucial competitive edge by enhancing the service they can deliver to their customers. As a multi-currency, multi-jurisdictional banking solution, Banking Circle Virtual IBAN negates the need to have several banking relationships and enables financial institutions to give their customers their own virtual IBANs.