HomeSend
Revolutionising Cross-Border Payments

As cross-border trade and e-commerce continue to grow, the need for a better cross-border payments experience is gaining traction—one that is faster and more certain. However, today, a majority of financial institutions employ traditional banking approaches that are unable to fully meet the needs and expectations of people and businesses. A lack of accurate predictability around timing and the amount received, in addition to the lifting fee levied on every transaction results in major problems, especially in the payment and reconciliation of invoices. Addressing these challenges with its unique cross-border payment solution is Belgium-based HomeSend. The company has built a robust network of financial institutions that are geared toward modernising cross-border bank payments by allowing businesses and individuals to transfer funds in a way that is safe, fast, and cost-effective.

Founded in 2014, HomeSend’s original focus was to drive financial inclusion through the enablement of cross-border remittances in emerging markets. And while cross-border remittances still remain central to the company’s operations, HomeSend has since evolved by expanding its technology and geographical footprint to enhance its capabilities. “The fast fund delivery to the payee using any payment channel, competitive FX rates, zero lifting fees, and transparency in costs is what makes our cross-border payment solutions second to none,” says Lorenzo Basso, director of business development at HomeSend.

With its robust network, HomeSend ensures that its clients receive funds in the fastest possible time. “We support quick fund delivery to payees in the market and offer competitive foreign exchange rates to our partners,” says Basso. Additionally, as HomeSend is directly connected to a multitude of local partners across the globe and therefore controls the end-to-end payment flow, its customers know the total cost of a transaction upfront. All of these capabilities can be attributed to HomeSend’s state-of-the-art real-time transaction processing engine with API-based interfaces. At the same time, with its ability to support fund transfers to a variety of payout methods and provide multiple foreign exchange management options, HomeSend has ignited many success stories over a wide spectrum of financial markets.

In recent years, owing to its unparalleled core competencies, HomeSend was on the radar of payments technology giant, Mastercard. As Mastercard sought to expand its capabilities beyond its traditional card business and offer new and compelling payment solutions to its customers worldwide, they invested in a series of assets, including HomeSend. Today, HomeSend is a joint venture between Mastercard and Wameja, with Mastercard being the majority shareholder. With this partnership, HomeSend supports Mastercard in servicing banks with their cross-border payment needs. “Our relationship with Mastercard allows us to plug our technology and capabilities into the industry-leading organisation’s growing presence in account-based cross-border payment services,” states Basso. Mastercard’s services are getting great traction in the market with a number of Mastercard’s customers already announcing adoption, including Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of Montreal.

Moving forward, the company plans to expand its foreign exchange management capabilities as well as integrate its treasury function and transaction processing engine to optimise FX sourcing and liquidity management. As a result, HomeSend will be able to offer a more competitive service that guarantees fast delivery of funds around the clock. At the same time, the company is developing service enhancements for its fund tracking and tracing offerings to provide better visibility on payment status at any point in the transaction. “From a geographical standpoint, we will continue to add new channels and markets to better serve the needs of people and businesses everywhere - China being a key market that we are looking to add shortly,” concludes Basso.