• Morten Juhl Lilleøre, COO at Banking Circle


• 11.07.2025 09:43 am

Financial IT: Recently, Banking Circle announced the launch of Swiss franc payment capabilities. Could you share what motivated this initiative and how it fits into your broader strategy for European and global coverage?

Morten Juhl Lilleøre:
This past week, we were pleased to announce the launch of our Swiss franc offering—a project we’ve been working on for several years. Introducing Swiss francs complements our Nordic currency coverage, along with our support for pound sterling through Faster Payments. Our ambition is to open up access to all European currencies where it makes strategic sense, ultimately progressing toward a broader global scale. This expansion aligns with our mission to make cross-border payments more seamless and efficient for our clients.

Financial IT: Banking Circle is often described as having a unique value proposition in the market. What do you see as your key differentiators compared to traditional incumbent banks?

Morten Juhl Lilleøre:
There are a few important dimensions to our differentiation. Most significantly, we offer a single API integration that essentially opens the world for our clients. Unlike many incumbent banks that require multiple connections and complex onboarding processes, we provide one streamlined integration. This enables businesses to access our entire suite of clearing and settlement capabilities in a straightforward way. From a client perspective, it’s a much simpler and faster experience.

Financial IT: How do you balance the need for innovation in payments infrastructure with the regulatory requirements of operating as a licensed bank across multiple jurisdictions?

Morten Juhl Lilleøre:
It’s an important balance to strike. I’m very proud of the trust we’ve earned both from clients and from regulators. For example, Banking Circle is a fully licensed bank headquartered in Luxembourg, and we maintain regulated branches throughout Europe and beyond. Regulators in each jurisdiction have given us the mandate to operate a banking business, which is both a responsibility and a validation of our model. This regulatory trust, combined with strong client relationships—Visa being one example—creates a powerful foundation for sustainable innovation.

Financial IT: Looking ahead, what are your priorities for expanding Banking Circle’s payments capabilities globally?

Morten Juhl Lilleøre:
Our focus for the future is to continue enabling new clearing capabilities, expand into additional countries, and deliver truly global instant payments. The payments ecosystem needs to become more automated and seamless to support modern commerce, and that’s exactly what we are building. Our goal is to remove friction and help businesses transact instantly and transparently across borders.