Anders la Cour, CEO & Co-founder; Credit: Banking Circle

Luxembourg-based payments specialist Banking Circle has reported a significant uplift in payments flow and clients a year after it launched its Banking Licence.

At the end of February 2020, Banking Circle received its Banking Licence from the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg, enabling it to give financial institutions direct access to real-time payments regardless of borders or size. It also launched its new headquarters in Luxembourg.

Twelve months on, the company is reporting significant growth as it continues to support the cross-border flows of payments businesses and banks, while they focus on delivering solutions to their end customers.

Key achievements and targets include:

  • Doubled client base since acquiring Banking Licence to over 150 financial institutions including Stripe, Alibaba and Paysafe
  • Processed 6% of Europe’s B2C e-commerce flow in 2020
  • Processed €155 billion of payments volume in 2020
  • Targeting €250 billion run-rate annual payment volumes and 100 million annual bank transfers by the end of 2021

“At the heart of the Banking Circle mission is the driving focus that cross-border payments take too long and cost too much”, explained Anders la Cour, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Banking Circle. “The key is to reduce the number of stages of any transaction, which is why we are focused on building one super correspondent banking network. We are doing ‘the heavy lifting’ for our clients, investing in the difficult job of integrating a vast network of local clearing and payments schemes”. 

The Banking Circle strategic roadmap is driven by the goal to provide best in class payment rails through a combination of direct clearing with central banks and a strong correspondent banking network. Today, Banking Circle delivers access to twelve local clearing schemes through a combination of direct clearing and partner banks, enabling cross border payments in 25 currencies. It has also built partnerships with banks globally, enabling the payout capability clients need in geographies and currencies where it does not currently offer local collection.

“Building on the considerable success achieved in the last twelve months, we have ambitious targets for the future which are possible because of the unique combination of in-house experts, a strong network and our majority shareholder, EQT, which supports the long-term vision with the funding necessary”, continued Anders la Cour. “The end game for Banking Circle is to see the time and cost of cross-border payments reduce significantly. Through the investment we are making in the payment rails across all key geographies and jurisdictions we are providing direct access to clearing in multiple countries unconstrained by the same legacy issues of correspondent banks. And, in this current environment that makes us a compelling solution for Banks, Payments businesses and Corporates”.