Toronto-based FinTech startup Buckzy Payments has added a new feature to its cross-border network, which now includes real-time international bill payment.
The company launched its platform in April, the same month the company closed a $1.75 million CAD Seed round.
Buckzy claims it is the first company to present a functional real-time bill payment network (Swift has been testing something similar this year in Europe), which it says is now available to its financial institution partners. Historically, customers have been required to either open bank accounts in other countries, or use bank drafts, wire transfers, or currency exchanges to settle these kinds of transactions.
“There have been a lot of rumblings in the industry, with various attempts at developing a cross border bill pay solution, but we’re the first to actually offer a real-time network, with access to a wider international biller base, through our unified API,” said Abdul Naushad, CEO of Buckzy. “The friction that has existed until now makes it very tedious, specifically within the consumer experience, but fortunately we’re able to piggyback on our real-time network, ultimately allowing financial institutions to offer this solution to their customers by providing an innovative alternative for cross-border bill pay.”
The service will initially be available in India, China, Philippines and the United States, with more than 25 more countries expected to be live on the network by the end of 2019. Buckzy is currently working with several international bill consolidators with a goal of bringing “hundreds of thousands” of billers into its network over the coming months.
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Buckzy Payments is headquartered in Toronto and was founded in 2018. Its offering is designed to facilitate real-time cross border payments for sending and receiving money instantly between bank accounts with zero transaction fees. The company launched its platform in April, the same month the company closed a $1.75 million CAD Seed round led by Ottawa-based Mistral Venture Partners.
Its platform enables cross border money movement between banks and 3rd party wallets to enable remittance, bill payments and P2P consumer transfers. The company is FINTRAC regulated, and partners with banks, networks, and financial service institutions, aiming to enable secure, compliant, real-time international B2B or peer-to-peer money movement through online or mobile banking.
Image courtesy Tech in Asia
