Rapyd Debuts Virtual Accounts, a Local Payment Tool

FinTech-as-a-service platform Rapyd has launched Virtual Accounts, a product designed to let businesses expand globally while still supporting local payments.

According to a company news release Wednesday (May 4), the product lets businesses anywhere in the world accept local bank transfers in more than 25 currencies, including from the U.S., U.K., European Union, and the Asia-Pacific region.

“The launch of Virtual Accounts comes at a crucial time for businesses searching for payment support to allow them to tap into the global marketplace,” the release said. “While 93% of businesses report cross-border commerce is a high priority for their organizations in 2022, nearly 1 in 4 say supporting local payment methods is their biggest operational challenge holding them back.”

The London-based company said Virtual Accounts acts as a local bank — minus transaction fees and operational expenses — to allow for faster and easier payments.

Rapyd argues this replaces the old system of relying on cross-border wire transfers to a single bank account and managing separate accounts for each market.

Read more: Rapyd Acquires Neat to Advance Cross-Border Trade

“One of the key factors that holds businesses back from expanding globally and reaching the next level of growth is the lack of infrastructure to support local payments,” said Khyati Soparkar, head of global product marketing at Rapyd. “Virtual Accounts provide businesses the confidence to grow worldwide knowing they have a trusted payments solution in place.”

Rapyd said businesses can use as many Virtual Accounts as needed to collect and organize funds across countries, currencies and customer needs. The product can also be paired with Rapyd’s Rapyd Collect, Rapyd Disburse and Rapyd Wallet offerings.

Rapyd’s payments network supports more than 900 payment methods across more than 100 countries and global payouts in more than 200 countries. Earlier this year, the company acquired Neat, a cross-border trade enabling platform that focuses on helping small- to medium-sized businesses and startups.