COVER STORY Bankling partnerships
Andrew Bywater Head of Enterprise Sales BCB Group
to BCB’s payment accounts and FX services in more than 20 fiat currencies. Camille Tas, Head of Sales, says that it is from such beginnings in trading services that larger and deeper relationships develop. “Once we are giving a banking partner FX business, they can get to know us, our clients and our trading flows, and they will then consider us for a larger relationship with payment accounts and other services,” she says. “It takes time to develop these relationships, but the confidence and trust that come with time are essential.” One of the most crucial arrangements with banks, which deliver significant benefits to BCB’s customers, are connections to payment rails within local jurisdictions, because providing ‘the last mile’ in payments is what creates a truly international payments service. Barratt explains: "Our customers are typically international and so they want cross-border payments. But what they are also often looking for is to be able to unlock new jurisdictions for their business. For example, our banking partnerships recently enabled us to launch local rails in Australian dollars with the two local payment systems. For our clients, that means they have an easier route to launching in Australia.” Australia is just one example of accessing local payment rails. BCB has relationships in multiple markets and continues to expand, with prospects in the Middle East and Asia expected to come to fruition this year. The holy grail, however, will be the US banking system. Barratt admits that “regulatory uncertainty” makes the US a hard nut to crack but she is optimistic: “I’m very excited for this year. It is very complex in the US, but I think we are seeing the first movers in bigger banks starting to look at this.” BCB’s network of banking partnerships with Tier 1 and 2 banks extends across Europe and Asia. Barratt is reluctant to give a precise number but says BCB has well over a dozen banking partnerships, making it one of the leaders in the digital assets market for building relationships with the mainstream banking sector.
Clients want to know who we are working with, and it is really valuable to tell them we are working with high-calibre banking partners with good creditworthiness. Andrew Bywater
Confidence is key Barratt’s move into the digital finance sector began when she was approached by Revolut and decided digital assets were the future. She later moved to stablecoin payments group Orbital where, as well as gaining more experience of the market, she found herself as a client of BCB. Watching BCB at work and expanding its business, she jumped at a chance to join the company when the opportunity arose. “BCB Group has a great story to tell because it is regulation-first and heavy on compliance. Being able to articulate that to big banks is always well received,” says Barratt. It is also well-received by BCB clients, says Andrew Bywater, Head of Enterprise Sales. “Clients want to know who we are working with, and it is really valuable to tell them we are working with high-calibre banking partners with good creditworthiness,” he says. BCB does not advertise the names of all its banking partners but is happy to discuss such details with clients and potential clients. Forging a global network of partnerships BCB’s banking partnerships cover a range of business activities including treasury and safeguarding, trading and foreign exchange, and these relationships are key
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