Highs, lows, blood, passion and fight. History is made, but the story continues tonight.
The day has arrived. We make the journey across London this evening to face José Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur in the Semi-Final of the Carabao Cup.
It’s the first time The Bees have reached the last four of a major domestic cup competition, with Newcastle United one of four Premier League sides we’ve overcome to set up a Semi-Final clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
With us every step of the way has been IFX Payments. An Official Club Supplier since 2018, IFX signed a new three-year deal with the Club last year, which saw the specialist foreign exchange and payments consultancy become an Official Club Partner and Official FX Partner. IFX’s logo has appeared on the left sleeve of all shirts during our historic run to the Semi-Final, and they will be with us again in North London this evening.
Ahead of the game, we caught up with IFX’s Chief Executive Officer, Nick Williams.
When and how was IFX formed?
We formed IFX back in April 2005 on my family’s farm in Amersham with a focus on selling foreign exchange services to both corporate and retail clients. Over the past 15 years, the business has evolved from a traditional brokerage firm into a global Banking as a Service fintech, providing payments and reconciliation services by way of an online platform that we launched in early 2020 called ibanq. Today we have offices in Amersham, London, Warsaw, Dubai and Australia, service thousands of clients all over the world and process over $4billion of trade volume per annum.
For those who don’t know, what service does IFX offer its clients?
Whether you're paying staff or suppliers around the world, buying a property overseas, or sending money to friends and family abroad, you need a trusted partner to identify the right solution for all your currency exchange needs. At IFX we offer a suite of FX and payments services, whether through traditional telephone brokerage services or our innovative new virtual IBAN platform ibanq that allows customers to plug into our fully automated API built to seamlessly integrate with the client’s own existing systems for straight-through processing and improved efficiency. ibanq permits businesses to connect into our global network to offer mass payments and real-time financial services, and our cross-border payment solutions enable businesses to streamline large-scale payments in over 90 currencies to more than 120 countries without having to maintain local currency accounts.
2020 was a tough year for business. How has IFX adapted to operate in the current climate?
As a technology-led business with a cloud-based infrastructure we were well equipped to work remotely, so when the pandemic hit, we were able to quickly mobilize our teams to ensure we could service our clients with minimum disruption. As an organisation we are big believers in trusting our people and offering them the flexibility to manage their work commitments around their personal lives, and I think it’s been through that cultural dynamic and reciprocation that we’ve been able lean on one another to successfully navigate through the past year.
What are IFX’s goals for 2021?
In a word – ‘Investment’. Investment in developing product features to offer our clients new and exciting capabilities. Investment in our banking network to offer faster settlement speeds and expanding our payment routes and currencies. Investment in our people to offer stimulating new challenges and career opportunities. And investment in new geographies and regulatory permissions so as to expand our market reach.
IFX and Brentford have been working together since 2018. How has IFX assisted the Club during that time?
We help the Club to ensure that their overseas payments in foreign currency for player transfers and any international activities are cost effective.
What have you made of Brentford’s Carabao Cup run this season, and how pleasing has it been to be part of the journey?
This isn’t a cup run off the back of the lucky draw; Brentford have knocked out four Premier League clubs along the way and deserve to be in the Semi-Final. Going up against bigger, more resourceful competitors and executing a sophisticated strategy to achieve success is our mantra at IFX so it’s been a pleasure to sponsor a club with the same philosophy and be part of this incredible cup journey.
What’s your score predictions for tonight’s game against Tottenham?
As an Arsenal fan myself, I’ll be cheering on Brentford more than ever tonight. Ivan Toney looks to be the real deal, and with the likes of Dasilva and Canós in great form, I’m going with 2-1 to The Bees!
Finally, how can Bees fans find out more about IFX?
Whether you’re looking for FX brokerage services or wish to utilize our ibanq platform, call IFX on +44 (0)20 7495 8888 or email us at [email protected], and our dedicated team will be delighted to help.