Ebury, the fintech specialising in transactions for SMEs, has expanded its partnership with Nium, the real-time global payments company, to deliver a new global remittance service in Brazil.
With the new remittance service, Nium and Ebury plan to enable businesses to send or receive fast, reliable, and affordable cross-border payments to and from Brazil. This move builds on the duo’s existing partnership in Europe, in which London-based Ebury leverages Nium’s global payments infrastructure to send international supplier and payroll payments around the world.
The announcement follows regulatory approval of Ebury’s acquisition of Brazilian fintech Bexs, which includes the businesses Bexs Banco (foreign exchange) and Bexs Pay (payments) in October 2023.
Ebury will integrate Nium’s cross-border payment solution for banks and FIs into its high-scale payment flows to improve the speed, efficiency, as well as to reduce the cost of international business transactions.
Luiz Henrique Didier Jr, executive director at Ebury Bank in Brazil, discussed the news: “Our mission is to connect Brazilian consumers to the world and the world to Brazil’s consumer ecosystem. The best way to do this is to use high-technology solutions and global coverage, such as those offered by Nium, which bring security and effectiveness to transactions. This is a game-changer for us. The product demos gave our team a lot of confidence and the technological integration process was seamless and conclusive, reflecting a great start for the partnership.”
The partnership will also enhance Brazil’s connection to new emerging markets that would otherwise be out of reach. Currently, Nium’s payment network supports payouts in over 100 currencies to more than 190 countries, 100 of them in real-time.
Supporting Brazil’s underbanked SMEs
Building on its global customer base and breadth of coverage across APAC, the US and EMEA, Nium is focused on LATAM as a strategic growth market. It has operated in the region for some time but marked its formal entry with the opening of a local office in Sao Paulo in August 2023. Nium’s agreement with Ebury is its first bank partnership in Brazil.
Christina Hutchinson, general manager, Brazil and head of business development, LATAM at Nium, also explained the need for the new solution: “Brazil has tremendous potential to set a global example in digital payment innovation.
“But today, businesses and individuals here continue to face costly hidden fees, significant delays, and uncertainty every time they send or receive international payments via traditional wires or legacy banking systems. We are thrilled to expand our existing collaboration with Ebury in Europe to help Brazil’s underbanked SME and consumer population access more affordable and efficient ways to send and receive money. This is another great example of how cutting-edge cross-border payment solutions are having a meaningful impact on the lives of millions of people around the world.”
Forecasts suggest that Brazil’s digital payments market could grow to a total transaction value of $170billion in 2024. Government statistics indicate there are currently over 21 million SMEs in Brazil.
