A new network from GoCardless brings together bank debit systems from around the world for the first time. It provides the most simple, predictable and transparent way to collect recurring payments, such as invoices and subscriptions, regardless of where your customers are located. https://gocardless.com/international-…
GoCardless , Nov 6, 2019
Go borderless: GoCardless launches the first global network designed for recurring payments
By Hiroki Takeuchi — Nov 2019 — 3 min read
I’m very excited to announce that today we are launching the first global network designed specifically for borderless recurring payments.
Our new global network brings together bank debit systems from around the world for the first time. It provides the most simple, predictable and transparent way to collect recurring payments, such as invoices and subscriptions, regardless of where your customers are located.
“Our vision is to make it easy for businesses of any size to collect recurring payments from anywhere, to anywhere, in any currency.”
The complexity of international payments is holding businesses back
What do many of the world’s most successful businesses of the last decade have in common? They all have commercial models that rely on recurring payments on an international scale.
But despite this explosion in recurring payments, the way companies collect them isn’t fit for the digital age. Businesses often think their only option is to collect recurring payments by credit or debit card, which have high involuntary churn rates, or by manual methods like bank transfer or cheque, which are slow and expensive.
These challenges are putting many businesses off the idea of growing internationally. 73% of decision-makers think their business would be more successful if it had greater access to international markets, but 39% think the complexity of international payments is holding their business back from expanding internationally*.
Using bank debit as the basis for everything GoCardless has done so far, we’ve been able to help over 50,000 businesses, including DocuSign, The Guardian and Bulb Energy take the pain out of getting paid, so they can focus on what they do best.
But as much as we have achieved to date, we recognise there is still a lot more we could do to power the world’s recurring payment needs.
Collaborating to fix recurring payments
Our new global network will transform GoCardless from a collection of national and regional bank debit schemes into a truly borderless network.
A big part of making our new network fully borderless is the ability to collect payments across multiple bank debit schemes and countries into a single bank account, all through a single interface.
As part of building our new global network, we’ve been working very closely with online money transfer experts, TransferWise. Myself and TransferWise Co-founders, Taavet and Kristo, all share the same vision to revolutionise borderless payments, so the collaboration was a no-brainer.
TransferWise will power the foreign exchange (FX) capability within our global network so that we can settle funds in our customer’s home currency.
This will hugely benefit businesses with ambitions to scale globally, as well as businesses already collecting payments from around the globe in a less-than-optimal way.
“GoCardless shares our passion for bringing fairness and transparency to the business banking sector. With GoCardless customers trading internationally in over 30 countries, giving them the ability to collect payments in currencies all over the world is a major step change for businesses trading across borders.” – Taavet Hinrikus, Co-founder, TransferWise
What makes our global network different?
Our new global network has been built to make international recurring payment collection fit for the modern age, but how does that benefit businesses?
It provides an automated way to collect international payments, without having to rely on the card networks or manual push-based mechanisms such as international bank transfers. We are able to settle payments directly into your bank account, in your home currency, across any of the 30 countries we cover today.
As we have built this global network, we have focused on three principles:
- Creating a simple way to collect payments, by bringing together geographically fragmented schemes that the banks have historically restricted access to.
- Providing a much more predictable way to collect payments, by creating a pull-based mechanism that gives you more control and visibility of your cash flow.
- Pricing our service in a transparent way that avoids hidden fees or nasty surprises that are typically associated with FX conversion. By partnering with TransferWise we can ensure you get the ‘real’ FX rate for every transaction.
We believe that our global network marks a step change in the value we can bring to the payments landscape. Our customers are now able to collect and payout payments across over 30 countries around the world, representing over 70% of global recurring payments volume.
“GoCardless has always been about taking the pain out of getting paid. Our global network does this in a very tangible way, so businesses can focus on what they do best.”
Go borderless
This launch represents another step towards our vision of creating the best way to collect recurring payments. We have now turned a series of geographically fragmented bank debit schemes into a single global network that enables businesses to grow without borders.
In just eight years, we have been able to take the pain out of getting paid for over 50,000 businesses, enabling them to focus on creating great products and services instead. I’m incredibly excited to see what our new network will enable even more businesses around the world to achieve in the years to come!
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TRANSFERWISE NEWS , 06.11.19
From mid-November, GoCardless customers will be able to collect recurring payments from overseas — at the real exchange rate. So businesses far and wide can get a fairer deal.
Until now, whether you run a gym or a newspaper, GoCardless customers could only collect recurring payments from overseas if they had a local bank account in that market. But soon this all changes. Powered by TransferWise for Business’ smart foreign exchange tech, businesses small and large will be able to collect recurring payments from over 30 countries without a local account.
This means businesses can soon receive payments at the real exchange rate in GBP, USD, EUR, SEK, DKK, CAD, AUD and NZD — converted to their home currency, without the crazy fees.
Why we made it happen
Back in 2011, both TransferWise and GoCardless were founded to solve a problem within finance — to make it fairer. For TransferWise, this meant exposing the banks’ hidden fees and bad exchange rates, offering an alternative way to send money abroad. And for GoCardless, this meant allowing businesses to collect payments effortlessly, with transparent pricing. Together we’re fixing old systems that just aren’t good enough any more.
But why partner now?
The subscription economy is booming, and so is the international nature of business. More and more companies need to collect and make payments overseas. But payments haven’t kept up. This is because global payment systems vary widely, with preferred payment methods changing from country to country. That’s something that TransferWise has been tackling.
Because we’re used to getting to grips with the nuances of different payment systems. From the UK to the US, international payments are what we do best.
So it made sense to power international recurring payments for GoCardless, who are already the first global payments network exclusively designed for recurring payments.
But why TransferWise?
Sure we’re great at offering the real exchange rate for hundreds of currency routes — but what else? We’re always transparent to our customers. This means we’re honest and our fees are fair and easy to understand — just like GoCardless.
So back to that bit about the real exchange rate. Banks make it pretty confusing to understand. Often they manipulate the exchange rate, taking an extra cut for themselves, or they’ll whack on an extortionate fee. And this goes against the transparency that both our companies feel so passionately about. Customers and businesses should know what they’re paying. And this is exactly why TransferWise and GoCardless have partnered — so doing business internationally doesn’t cost the earth.
What’s next?
From mid-November, GoCardless customers can receive recurring payments in GBP, USD, EUR, SEK, DKK, CAD, NZD, and AUD — excluding Australian business. But not long to wait down under, as Australian-based businesses will gain access to this new network in early 2020. So if your business is looking to collect payments effortlessly, take a look at how GoCardless could help your business get there faster.
From banks who use us to power international payments for their customers, to smaller businesses setting up batch payments — the TransferWise API is already powering businesses across the globe.
We’re thrilled to help GoCardless with their vision to let businesses of any size to collect payments from anywhere, to anywhere, in any currency.
