British payments start-up Currencycloud is to be acquired by Visa, the payments company said Thursday. This is the second major fintech firm acquisition this year by Visa.

Visa said that the acquisition had valued Currencycloud at £700 million ($962 million). At the beginning of 2020, an $80 million investment in Currencycloud had been led by the payments giant. Therefore the amount of money that Visa would be paying for the deal would be reduced by the value of the outstanding equity that it already owns in Currencycloud, Visa said.

Software for banks and fintech firms to process cross-border payments is offered by the London-headquartered Currencycloud which was founded in 2007. Currencycloud is among the many fintech companies that are business focused and operate behind the scenes and hel;p in running of popular banking and payment apps such as Monzo, Starling and Revolut.

“Consumers and businesses increasingly expect transparency, speed and simplicity when making or receiving international payments,” said Colleen Ostrowski, Visa’s global treasurer.

“With our acquisition of Currencycloud, we can support our clients and partners to further reduce the pain points of cross-border payments and develop great user experiences for their customers,” she added.

The stock of Visa has gained more than 22 per cent in the past one year primarily because of a surge in digital payments during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Crunchbase, the acquisition of Currencycloud is the second fintech deal this year for Visa. A deal for purchasing the Swedish firm Tink for $2.1 billion was arrived at by the card network company last month. Prior to that, Visa’s efforts to a United States rival, Plaid, was turned down by anti trust regulators of the country.

The investors in Currencycloud include the likes of Google parent company Alphabet’s venture capital arm GV, French bank BNP Paribas and Japanese financial services firm SBI Holdings and has raised more than $160 million in total.

“Re-imagining how money flows around the global economy just got more exciting as we join Visa,” said Mike Laven, Currencycloud’s CEO.

“The combination of Currencycloud’s fintech expertise and Visa’s network will enable us to deliver greater customer value to the businesses moving money across borders.”

With more than 500 banking and technology clients in more than 180 countries, Currencycloud will be allowed to operate form its headquarters in London and retain its currency management team. Visa said that the acquisition deal is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

(Adapted from CNBC.com)