A New Product Launched Aimed to Help Community Banks with Cross-Border Payments Experience

Community Banks and Credit Unions often struggle to provide the same service to corporate clients doing business internationally as larger financial institutions. A new product that is looking to help community banks and credit unions to effectively receive incoming wires from foreign remitters on behalf of clients to help provide not only efficiency but better visibility.

The product is coming from AscendantFX, a technology based payment provider focused on the international markets. Financial Institutions will be able to receive foreign currency payments in their name without a necessary local area presence. Additionally, the community banks will not need a SWIFT code. 

Products such as Virtual Accounts, the name of the new service, that helps level the playing field with global banks should be considered and followed by community banks and credit unions, given the fact that large banks have an advantage in terms of scale when it comes to funding these types of services for corporations.

Community banks will be able to improve cash management capability for corporate clients. Additionally, Virtual Accounts will aim to provide the same competitive real-time rates for FX conversion pricing. 

United States dollar accounts domiciled in the United States and Euro and British Pounds Sterling accounts domiciled in London that are opened in the organization’s name all have a unique account number within AscendantFX’s Virtual Accounts solution. For almost all incoming wires, whether in United States Dollars or a foreign currency, there is one set of instructions, eliminating the need for separate settlement instructions for each different currency.

Financial institutions have a quicker notification of funds, providing improved cash management capability for customers helping midsize banks order the same service as larger banks. Funds received into the account are automatically credited to the bank through end-of-day ACH for timely deposit. “Providing separate incoming wire instructions for each wire can be extremely cumbersome for financial institutions.

Virtual Accounts provides a streamlined and frictionless payments experience for financial institutions, allowing them to compete in local markets by offering a superior customer experience”, said Dan Caputo, VP Global Payment Solutions at AscendantFX.