New Saxo Payments white paper identifies challenges facing FX and Payments businesses as 1 in 5 say it takes 2-3 months to set up currency account, FX and payment facilities
London, March 2017 – Saxo Payments, the global transactions services provider, has today published a new white paper – Missing the Opportunity – which examines the challenges facing FX and Payments businesses when it comes to adding value to their client proposition. Whilst cost comes top of the list of concerns for half of payments-related businesses when it comes to cross border transfers, the speed of setting up a currency account, FX and payment facilities is the greater risk when it comes to servicing clients.
One in five respondents to the Saxo Payments exclusive research said that it takes 2-3 months to set up new accounts with their current provider. And nearly half (44%) cited payment settlement times as causing the longest delay to the processing of FX payments – again hampering the service delivered to their clients.
“As a game-changer in the international payments industry, we wanted to identify the particular challenges facing FX and Payments businesses and banks that are servicing global enterprises”, explained Anders la Cour, Chief Executive Officer of Saxo Payments.
“The exclusive research featured in our new white paper highlights that if the current limitations in cross border payments are allowed to perpetuate, there could be a real risk of businesses operating in the international marketplace finding themselves underbanked.”
Saxo Payments’ white paper asks ‘Are FX and Payments businesses missing out because they can’t support the international trading ambitions of their clients?’. As well as examining the challenges facing the sector as a whole, research was conducted amongst FX businesses in particular, to identify the factors having a direct impact on their customer proposition.
A point of differentiation for FX businesses is to extend their value proposition. Having the ability to open currency accounts on behalf of clients is a key added value. However, FX businesses revealed that over half (51.6%) are not able to do this for their clients with their current banking provider. And nearly a third (29%) said it took 2-3 months to set up currency account, payment and FX facilities, displaying a distinct lack of speed in a fast-moving marketplace. Almost half (48.4%) of FX businesses also said that their current provider does not help them reach or expand into new international markets.
“Our new white paper identifies that although there is a growing global economy, too many businesses are still finding it hard to access the services and support they need to capitalise on this opportunity”, concluded Anders la Cour. “The emerging FinTech sector is providing some solutions, but it won’t be able to provide a genuine alternative to traditional players until it can deliver a truly competitive, added value service.
Download the Saxo Payments FX white paper here.