Wells Fargo Goes Digital – Not Crypto – for Cross-Border Transactions
Wells Fargo is collaborating with fintech company TransferMate to offer US-based international businesses a more cost-effective solution for receiving payments from global customers. As the bank strives to stay competitive in the digital economy, TransferMate, one of the world’s leading cross-border B2B payments providers, will deliver its Global Invoice Connect platform for Wells Fargo clients.
The electronic invoicing platform supports US dollars and local currencies in over 50 countries around the world through a local funds transfer. TransferMate says it reduces administrative overhead by automatically matching the payment received to the invoiced amount, eliminating manual reconciliation, reducing expenses and improving cash flow by ensuring receipt of the full invoiced amount and by “receiving funds faster and at a lower cost than a traditional international wire.”
Says Terry Clune, co-founder and CEO of TransferMate,
“With this relationship, TransferMate and Wells Fargo are leading the charge in reducing the friction between borders for international businesses, and those aspiring to expand abroad. Global Invoice Connect is a prime example of two innovative financial services companies coming together to deliver a powerful new payments technology that helps businesses stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly fast-paced world.”
While cryptocurrency transactions are designed to offer a competitive advantage by eliminating banking fees, TransferMate pitches limited bank fees and competitive foreign exchange rates that may be better than the rate offered by a customer’s local bank.
Says TransferMate chief financial officer and co-founder Sinead Fitzmaurice,
“Wells Fargo is one of the leading banks in the world, with an extensive client base across the globe, and we look forward to working with them to deliver a more efficient process, that allows for greater transparency and control for their customers’ receivables.”
Judd Holroyde, head of global product management at Wells Fargo says,
“The pace of globalization in the digital economy continues to grow and opens a wide variety of new opportunities for businesses around the world. In our continuing commitment to innovate new ways to help break down physical borders and ease access to new markets for our customers, innovative partnerships have become a critical aspect of delivering these digitally-forward solutions. Collaborating with a leading fintech like TransferMate to bring Global Invoice Connect to market is a powerful demonstration of how partnership and collaborative design can result in real value for customers by significantly reducing the costs and complexities associated with managing international receivables.”
Wells Fargo, which agreed to pay a $575 million settlement at the end of last year in connection with systemic wrongdoing, joins a long list of banks and financial institutions, including JP Morgan Chase, Fidelity and SBI, that are implementing innovative fintech solutions to maintain their edge in the digital economy.
As cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based solutions shake up the financial services industry, major legacy players are addressing issues of transparency, speed and high fees in an effort to improve infrastructure and offer more competitive services for businesses and retail customers.
Says Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund,
“I think the role of the disruptors and anything that is using distributed ledger technology, whether you call it crypto assets, currencies, or whatever – and it’s far from the bitcoins that we used to talk about a year ago – that is clearly shaking the system.”
She adds,
“We don’t want innovation that would shake the system so much that we would lose the stability that is needed.”
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