Innovative FinTech firm, Money Mover’s overseas payments service gives small and medium sized businesses the chance to secure their upcoming foreign currency costs for up to six months as Article 50 looms 

Online overseas payments service, Money Mover, today urges Britain’s SMEs to consider reducing uncertainty surrounding their foreign currency transactions by ‘locking in’ an exchange rate for their upcoming overseas payments.[i] This comes as the House of Lords passes the EU Withdrawal Bill, which allows the Prime Minister to trigger Article 50, expected to happen next week.

Money Mover’s payments service, unlike most banks, gives SMEs total transparency over the cost of their overseas payments before they make the transaction. In addition, by aggregating payments, Money Mover gives SME customers access to better wholesale foreign exchange rates as well as the ability to secure the price of their overseas currency payments for up to six months – a service the established institutions typically only offer to large corporates.[ii]

Hamish Anderson, CEO of Money Mover, says: “Britain’s small businesses are facing unprecedented levels of uncertainty in light of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union. Many small British businesses make invoice payments, pay salaries and manage their treasury accounts overseas. Money Mover’s service gives these firms the ability to eliminate some of the uncertainty they face by locking in rates for their payments for the next six months.”

Money Mover was established three years ago, with a mission to overcome the lack of transparency and high costs that small businesses face when making overseas payments through established banking methods. They wanted to give SMEs access to the wholesale rates and services that the largest companies benefit from and to cut, what they felt, were unnecessary fees and charges.

The online service, which uses the latest digital technology, is clear and easy to use. Backed by significant investment capital, the business has grown rapidly, and is part of the PWC ‘Future of Work’ programme.

Hamish continues: “Our aim is to empower SMEs to make informed decisions about currency exchange and global payments. By giving full and upfront information about the cost of a transaction, Money Mover can help SMEs free up capital set aside to cover uncertainty, and ultimately help them expand their businesses, employ more people, and deliver greater value to the economy.”

[i] By ‘urging SMEs to consider reducing their uncertainty’, Money Mover is in no way providing financial advice or forecasts for the future. Foreign exchange rates fluctuate and the rate SMEs can ‘lock into’ now may go down as well as up, ultimately meaning the customer has ‘locked in’ to a less optimal rate than they could get at a later date in the next 6 months. What they will achieve by choosing to ‘lock in’, however, is certainty over their overseas costs for this time period. This will be of value for those SMEs who would like to see more certainty over their upcoming expenses and want to minimise their short-term FX risk.

[ii] Research from Accourt, commissioned by Money Mover in late 2015 and published January 2016, into international payment and transfer costs incurred by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Accourt tested the international payment services provided by six major UK banks as part of their online banking services for small and medium-sized business customers. Accourt tested each bank across a range of transaction sizes and currency pairs and gathered information about the fees charged and the currency spread applied to each payment.