It was estimated that the fintech sector reached $55.3 billion in investments last year and had a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of about 25-30% for the period between 2019 up until 2025. This growth supports these fintechs’ continued investment in product enhancements and smarter FX-led solutions – which your business can then access.

In Australia, the number of Australian fintechs more than doubled in the five years between 2017 and 2021.

The current relationship between fintech businesses and traditional banks

As fintechs continue to innovate in this space, they are pushing banks to provide more transparency, offer more digital solutions and provide value to their customers.

The breed of FX and payments companies who have modelled their services in a more agile manner versus traditional banks, offer online payments services faster and with more personalisation than before. In particular, FX fintechs have simplified making and receiving international payments, making them cheaper and beneficial for the SMEs or eCommerce merchants using their services. So how have these fintech companies continued to impact the FX and payments landscape?

1. A move towards omnichannel efficiency

Fintech companies have mapped their product suite directly to their client journey while ensuring that engagement is digitally-led. A key outcome of employing this approach is to help an SME business to provide a seamless experience for their customers.

At WorldFirst, we have made the management of funds generated through marketplaces easier, streamlining the following benefits for our clients, who can benefit from:

• no transfer or collection limits
• free overseas accounts in 14 different currencies
• payment options in 40+ currencies

WorldFirst helps online merchants seamlessly drive their businesses through the use of our World Account – a free-to-open account which acts as a single channel whereby merchants can securely manage their international payments.

2. Ensuring more flexibility

Some fintech companies offer greater flexibility in the types of payments they manage. But what about international transfers? Historically, international transfers have carried high fees which any financial director in their business would look to avoid or reduce. What are the types of flexible services which SMEs could use?

At WorldFirst, our clients can benefit from spot contracts, which is the simplest form of international payment. As a client of ours, you can access a rate based on live market rates or “spot” and you can choose whether to transact there and then. With a spot contract, you can make a payment quickly; as soon as you’ve agreed your rate and sent us the funds, we’ll take care of the rest.

The benefit of this way of making international transfers is that fees are lower than some traditional banks. Depending on the sum, the fees go as low as 0.15%.