Rapyd, a B2B fintech service provider recently revealed in an announcement via its LinkedIn page that it has partnered with US-based multinational payment giant Visa Inc, to boost its global expansion efforts and international business operations.

As per the statement released by the firm, the fintech service provider is expected to collaborate with Visa to offer fintech and payment services in areas which both parties deem as attractive and opportunistic enough to help in expanding their core product offerings which focus on both local and cross border market solutions. Also, the fintech service provider is expected to become a member of Visa’s fintech fast track program as one of the enablement partners in the payment giant’s efforts to improve fintech’s increased market reach via a variety of Visa Payment Solutions. 

The firm has now become a Visa issuer in the UK and plans to expand its issuing and acquiring footprint far and wide across the global market over time. For example, Rapyd can instantly issue a virtual Visa card that can be utilized by a gig-economy worker in Latin America to purchase goods on behalf of the platform or disburse funds to a worker on a Visa card in Asia-Pacific, all from a single integration on the Rapyd platform owing to its latest tie-up with VISA.

Both parties have shown great interest to work together in key European markets, which show signs for cross-border ecommerce growth. In 2018 cross-border ecommerce revenues reached € 137 billion in Europe, a 22.8% share of total online sales (EU16).

In the near future, European cross-border marketplaces are expected to grow by more than 50% which increases the need for innovative payment acceptance methods for both end customers and disbursement solutions for marketplace sellers.

Commenting on the deal, Sarel Tal – VP of EMEA at Rapyd said, “As businesses look for global expansion opportunities they must contend with the complexity of integrating local and cross-border payment capabilities, including collections, disbursements, and card-based solutions. Now Rapyd can leverage Visa’s offerings — Visa Direct for real-time funds transfers, Visa Token Services for secure digital payments, and Visa’s issuance capabilities – to enhance Rapyd’s core issuing and acquiring services, unlocking simple, relevant payment experiences for these businesses globally”. 

Speaking about this partnership, Matt Gill – Global Head of Strategic Partnerships & Ventures at Visa said, “Rapyd’s platform helps fintechs, merchants and marketplaces stand up payment-related services quickly and easily across multiple markets. We’re excited about our collaboration with Rapyd, and the many benefits we can provide to our mutual partners worldwide”. 

Karthik Subramanian

Karthik Subramanian has been a professional trader and fund manager over the last 18 years. He is basically a software developer who made the transition to financial domain around 18 years back as the attractiveness of the financial markets proved too much for him. He lives in Chennai in India along with his wife and son. He began his career as a software developer in 1999 and then gradually moved into the financial industry as he began trading stocks in his pastime. He then moved into the financial markets full time and then shifted his focus to the FX markets due to the liquid nature of these markets. Since then, he has been trading FX diligently and his favourite pair are the EURUSD and EURJPY. Over the last couple of years, he has found blockchain to be of high interest and considering his background in software and finance, he has since assembled a team of highly talented developers who have since worked on a variety of projects like crypto exchanges and blockchain architecturing. Now, he balances his time between trading and commenting on both the FX and crypto markets. He has worked with many publications including FX Street and Finance Magnates, which has helped him gain experience and also recognition across the industry. He loves to write and this passion has helped him to reach out across the FX and crypto industry. Right now, he works on his pet projects in the FX and crypto industry and spends his time writing and managing his blockchain team and helping it to reach higher.