As businesses take greater advantage of the digital age of communication and commerce, employees are frequently sent abroad to conduct business, and business buyers are increasingly eyeing overseas suppliers for their needs. Payment processors are evermore challenged to overcome the complexities of cross-border payments. But the demand for a solution means many innovators are rising to the challenge.
One such company is digital payments processor WEX, which revealed Monday (April 20) that it has just expanded its capabilities of processing cross-border transactions. In a statement, the company revealed that WEX business customers can now issue and settle payments in nearly a dozen currencies.
WEX now offers its virtual debit, credit and prepaid cards in 11 currencies. In addition to its existing support of the U.S. dollar, British pound and the euro, WEX can now process payments in the Australian dollar, Swiss franc, South African rand, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian krone, Danish krone, Swedish krona, and Polish zloty.
Now, businesses both based across Europe and international companies that do business in Europe can more easily conduct transactions with far less friction, especially during business travel abroad. According to WEX Europe managing director Myles Stephenson, adding a slew of new currencies to its v-card offering is a direct result of market demand.
“We’ve listened to our customers’ needs and business challenges, and implemented a solution that provides even more cost-effective ways to make international payments,” the executive said. “This update enables WEX Europe customers to pay their global suppliers in local currencies more efficiently.”
The matter of cross-border payments is often a major point of friction within the global supply chain. In addition to constantly fluctuating foreign exchange rates and varying preferences among suppliers to get paid in their domestic currency, the industry must also be vigilant of regulations that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
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But for WEX, supporting an array of currencies also provides businesses in the supply chain with greater efficiency. “It also eliminates the risks of currency fluctuation, improves reconciliation in local currencies to ensure no variances, and makes any card network charges fully transparent,” Stephenson said.
In its announcement, WEX also revealed that it would add even more enhancements to its v-card service offerings, though did not elaborate on what those upgrades might be.
