Ebury and Nium expand partnership to power cross-border payments in Brazil

London and São Paulo, February 22, 2024 – Ebury, one of the world’s largest fintech companies specializing in transactions for SMEs, today announced its partnership expansion with Nium, the leader in real-time global payments, to deliver a groundbreaking global remittance service in Brazil.

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. The institution is known as Ebury Bank in Brazil, reflecting the local FX banking license held in the country.

Together, Nium and Ebury will enable businesses to send or receive fast, reliable, and affordable cross-border payments to and from Brazil. This builds on the duo’s existing partnership in Europe, in which London-based fintech Ebury leverages Nium’s global payments infrastructure to send international supplier and payroll payments around the world. 

Nium’s bulk cross-border payments solution for banks and financial institutions will be integrated into Ebury’s high-scale payment flows to improve the speed, efficiency, and cost of international business transactions. 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.

“Our mission is to connect Brazilian consumers to the world and the world to Brazil’s consumer ecosystem. And 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,” said Luiz Henrique Didier Jr., Executive Director at Ebury Bank in Brazil.

Building on its global customer base and breadth of coverage across APAC, the U.S. and EMEA, Nium is focused on LATAM as a strategic growth market. The fintech has been operating 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.

Brazil’s digital payments market is projected to grow to a total transaction value of US $170 bn in 2024. Government statistics indicate there are over 21 million SMEs in Brazil today, with a total estimated population of over 215 million people.

“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,” said Christina Hutchinson, General Manager, Brazil and Head of Business Development, LATAM at Nium.