“For iBanFirst’s Hungarian clients, this acquisition will facilitate and accelerate inbound and outbound sterling transactions,” said Johan Gabriels, the regional director for Southeast Europe of iBanFirst. “The addition of local U.K. accounts to the platform will allow us to provide our clients with an optimized, fast, and cost-effective service. This way, they don’t feel the difference of transferring outside the European Union.”
The move comes as economic ties between the United Kingdom and Hungary and the value of financial remittances has grown despite trade difficulties after Brexit, according to iBanFirst. It says that by 2021, the volume of exports from Hungarian domestic firms had risen to GBP 3.61 billion, and that of imports from the island nation had increased to GBP 1.52 billion.
The acquisition by iBanFirst, founded in 2013, builds on its partnership with investor Marlin Equity Partners in June 2021 and will accelerate the French company’s international expansion while consolidating its leadership in B2B foreign exchange transactions across Europe.
“This acquisition supports our ambition to become a global leader in multi-currency payments for SMBs,” explained Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier, CEO of iBanFirst. “Our arrival in the U.K. represents a key milestone and marks our presence in 10 countries. In the future, we plan to continue growing across Europe and are turning our attention, in particular to Switzerland, Scandinavia, but also North America.”
Cornhill executive director Vivek Savani said the company is proud to be joining iBanFirst.
“Thanks to iBanFirst, Cornhill clients will benefit from an enhanced cross-border experience with features like the Payment Tracker, which lets clients trace payments the same way consumers can track parcels,” he added.
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