Proxtera and foundation fintech partners WorldFirst, Liquid Group, Thunes and Wise have launched the beta version of a multi-currency exchange platform, starting with the Ghanaian cedi and the Philippines peso against the Singapore and US dollar.

Singapore-based global trading network Proxtera announced the creation of the foreign exchange (FX) discovery and action hub – called the Emerging Markets Currency Exchange (EMCX) – at the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF).

The EMCX digital hub is being trialled by active Singapore small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) trading across Africa and Asia in an effort to establish a platform that will offer reduced costs, faster FX and seamless, digital onboarding compared with traditional approaches.

Exploiting access to the global digital economy and the diversification of supply chains, Singapore businesses and SMEs have been actively expanding into emerging markets for new trade and services opportunities.

This development of geographic parameters for business has in turn exposed demands that require access to agile, efficient and competitive access to emerging market foreign currencies flows.

Through the EMCX hub, SMEs will now be able to benefit from accurate exchange rates to conduct their cross-border payment settlements in their local currencies through seamless connectivity provided by the company’s fintech partners.

The SMEs can further use the WorldFirst digital wallet and additional services to track and record all their multi-currency transactions. Businesses signing up to the EMCX will also have access to the Proxtera network and its ecosystem of trade.

“It is important that our fintech players stay agile and forward-looking in tandem with the dynamic business landscape,” says Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), speaking at the launch of the EMCX hub at the SFF. “The MAS is supportive of initiatives that address the need for faster and better emerging markets FX discovery and offerings. The EMCX is a transformative step towards greater transparency and smoother FX experience for the SMEs and MSMEs [micro, small and medium-sized enterprises] that wish to grow in these new markets.”