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5 Aug 2021 10:07
5 August 2021
Cornerstone FS plc
("Cornerstone" or the "Company" or the "Group")
Cornerstone becomes authorised e-Money Institution
Expansion of offering and addressable market with FXPress operating subsidiary being granted an Electronic Money Institution licence
Cornerstone FS plc (AIM: CSFS), the cloud-based provider of international payment, currency risk management and electronic account services to SMEs, announces that the Group's primary operating subsidiary, FXPress Payments Services Ltd ("FXPress"), has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Authorised Electronic Money Institution ("AEMI"), effective 4 August 2021. This allows the Group to broaden its product offering and enables it to act as a participant in the UK's Open Banking Initiative as an Account Servicing Payment Service Provider, in line with the Group's stated strategy.
The AEMI designation upgrades FXPress from its previous status as an Authorised Payment Institution and increases its capital adequacy requirement to €350,000. As an AEMI, the Group can issue electronic money and allow clients to leave money on account - effectively providing them with multi-currency currency accounts and e-wallet functionality. FXPress's designation as an AEMI also supplants the more limited licence it holds in Avila House as a Small EMI, which is restricted to holding an overall e-money balance that does not exceed an average of €5 million.
In addition, this new authorisation will enable the Group to develop further products and services that take advantage of the UK's Open Banking Initiative, which is designed to drive innovation and competition in UK banking services through the secure and transparent sharing of financial information. This supports the Group's previously stated strategic aim of creating a broad portfolio of technology-enabled cross border payment and foreign currency services.
Julian Wheatland, Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone, said: "The receipt of this full e-Money licence by FXPress represents an important milestone for Cornerstone and the achievement of another of the strategic goals that we set out at our IPO. It will enable us to allow customers to hold and retain funds in their multi-currency account as well as expand our offering by developing new products and services that leverage the UK's Open Banking Initiative. We look forward to continuing to build on these strengthened foundations to achieve our aim of delivering transformational growth."
Enquiries
Cornerstone FS plc | +44 (0)203 971 4865 |
Julian Wheatland, Chief Executive Officer Judy Happe, Chief Financial Officer |
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SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad) | +44 (0)203 368 3550 |
Mark Brady, Neil Baldwin |
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Peterhouse Capital Limited (Joint Broker) | +44 (0)207 469 0930 |
Eran Zucker, Lucy Williams |
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Pello Capital Limited (Joint Broker) | +44 (0)203 700 2500 |
Dan Gee, Mark Treharne |
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Luther Pendragon (Financial PR) | +44 (0)207 618 9100 |
Harry Chathli, Claire Norbury, Joe Quinlan |
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About Cornerstone FS plc
Cornerstone FS plc is a payments focused fintech business that makes managing currency simple for SMEs. It provides international payment, currency risk management and electronic account services using a proprietary cloud-based multi-currency payments platform. These services are delivered directly and via white label partners on a SaaS basis to SMEs that engage in international trade. Cornerstone also serves some high-net worth individual clients.
Headquartered in the City of London, UK, Cornerstone is listed on AIM under the trading symbol 'CSFS'. For more information, please visit www.cornerstonefs.com.
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