Marcus Richards
Clear Currency’s mission is simple: to provide individuals and SMEs hassle-free and cost-effective access to the multiple products and services they will need when involved with international trade – e.g. FX & payments, including risk mitigation, multi-currency VIBANS – all managed by one cutting-edge technology environment and backed by an expert team.
At Clear Currency, our mission is to take the headache out of making and receiving international payments.
Tell us about yourself?
I have been in Financial Services for 22 years. At the start of my career, I worked at a range of firms… in accountancy, banking… Several years ago I was lucky enough to find myself working for an FX & payments firm and my career really took off.
I learnt all the ins and outs of the industry from top to bottom, and 15 years later I am the CEO at Clear.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
My advice to myself, and anyone else for that matter, would be to believe in everything you’re working to create. The results that you think you can achieve are achievable.
What problem does your business solve?
In a nutshell, we make FX & payments hassle-free for individuals and businesses. For example, with our help, a private client can purchase their dream retirement home abroad or a business owner can pay their overseas workers. If it involves international trade, we can help.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
For me, the inspiration behind our business is that we are committed to delivering the best for our clients and giving them great experiences. The leadership team is there to deliver on the potential that the business has always had.
What is your magic sauce?
There’s no magic sauce really. What we are all about is hard work, using our skills and long-standing experience in FX to ensure our clients get a great service.
There’s a lot of jargon in FX and we pride ourselves on cutting through that to take the headache out of currency exchange; we try to keep industry speak to a minimum.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
Clear Currency’s plan for the next 5 years is to continue to grow the business, and develop our product suite.
Over the next few years we’ll be plugging more products and services into our integrated platform for SMEs, and continuing to expand the offer and enhance the client experience.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
In terms of revenue we are growing fast which is fantastic.
The biggest challenge then is to keep pace with this growth i.e. continue to recruit the best talent and invest in the right tech solutions. My role is to make sure I have all the ingredients needed to make this happen.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
The management team conducted a management buyout in 2020 to help release the potential of the company, embarking on an ambitious new strategy to grow within the industry.
Our investment in tech and people, aligned with our knowledge of FX and payments, has helped thousands of clients to save money on their international payments. If you’re interested to find out more about Clear Currency, or would like to become a client, visit www.clearcurrency.co.uk or reach out to us at +44 (0)20 7151 4832.
