Trust is the cornerstone of today’s digital world. It is the basis on which data is securely transferred, ideas are shared, and business is done. For Currencycloud, it underpins our mission to transform the way money moves around the world. With this in mind, we are proud to announce that we have been granted an e-money licence by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), effective 1st April.
With the rise of mobile payments, contactless cards and digital banking, it might seem strange that we still talk about “Electronic Money”, or e-money as a separate category. As with so many other areas of our modern lives, the majority of our financial transactions – certainly for businesses – are handled electronically. In line with this evolution, businesses and consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with not being able to physically ‘see’ or ‘touch’ their money. However, it is for this reason that we must be able to absolutely trust those organisations that are handling, transferring and storing it.
The e-money market has been regulated since 2002. Although initially confined to banks, it was opened up to alternative players in 2011, to enable the design of new and innovative electronic money services and promote competition in the market. This is one of few such licences granted in the UK, marking Currencycloud out as a trusted financial services provider. It means we now have regulatory approval to hold a ‘balance’ on behalf of our clients that they can access at any time, giving them complete control over their international payments.
This authorisation underlines the investment we have made in our systems, processes and controls to ensure that we are providing our clients, and our clients’ end customers, with a high level of security. The rigorous accreditation process required us to supply an information security policy, supported by industry standards, to cover network, data storage and physical security.
We demonstrated our effective disaster recovery and business continuity plan, and shown the right level of support to prevent harmful service interruptions. We have also demonstrated strong IT governance is in place, meeting requirements in best practice for software development technology.
Most excitingly, this accreditation will allow us to develop and roll out a new wave of features for our Payment Engine, growing our services and offering greater value to our clients. Yes, “new” digital money has brought risks, but it has also provided next generation businesses an opportunity to grow quickly whilst meeting international regulatory requirements. And wherever financial transactions are involved, robust and granular security must follow.
