Crown Agents Bank, the UK-regulated bank, specialising in FX and cross-border payments for emerging and frontier markets globally, announces a strategic partnership with AbbeyCross to provide FX Payments to emerging markets via the ABX Platform, a marketplace for emerging market FX and payments. Crown Agents Bank is one of the first banks to join the ABX Platform as a payment provider.

Crown Agents Bank handles cross-border payments in 100+ currencies across 700+ currency pairs. Through the ABX Platform, Crown Agents Bank will provide AbbeyCross users with competitive Emerging Market FX (EM FX) rates, efficient access to its global network and innovative cross-border payments solutions for fast and efficient settlement.

The ABX Platform provides direct access to multiple payment providers for competitive, payment-relevant FX rates in emerging market currencies. Through a single integration, wholesale market participants including commercial banks, Money Services Businesses (MSBs), NGOs and Charitable Trusts can access transparent and relevant pricing information for EM currencies. Users will be able to compare multiple rates and service providers and in turn, payments providers will be able to reach a much wider and deeper network of potential customers.

Colin Digby, Head of Strategic Client Coverage of Crown Agents Bank said: “Financial institutions are struggling to access hard-to-reach markets, especially as counterparties retreat from these increasingly underserved and challenging geographies. This is why the AbbeyCross ABX Platform is so important. It addresses the technical integration challenges and the transparency dynamic as it provides an easy single access point to these markets via multiple LPs. It’s a real game changer for us, the institutions we serve and the wider market.” 

Mike Robertson, CEO and Co-Founder of AbbeyCross said: “We are excited to have Crown Agents Bank join the ABX Platform as a founding payment partner. Their longstanding and rich experience in the Emerging Market FX and payments space builds on our mission to offer an enhanced user experience with greater provider choice, enhanced price transparency and a more efficient settlement experience, in turn enabling market participants to deliver better service levels to their customers and stakeholders.”