World First USA, an international payments industry, and Rakuten.com, one of the world’s largest e-commerce marketplaces, today announced a partnership that brings foreign currency exchange services to their community of online merchants. As part of the agreement with the Austin-based international payments company, World First will provide exchange services in 140 currencies and 45 countries worldwide for Rakuten.com sellers, who will also have direct access to the benefits of World First’s award-winning customer support.
“It’s a great time for buyers and sellers to engage on a truly global marketplace that’s experiencing tremendous growth,” noted World First Head of Global Partnerships Seth Harvey. “The goal of this partnership is for Rakuten to benefit from World First’s global footprint, enable its merchant network to save on expensive currency transfers, and allow Rakuten to grow its customer base in a competitive e-commerce industry.”
Rakuten.com merchants can now start selling their wares on the marketplace and work with World First to open a U.S. receiving account, allowing for them to easily transfer funds back to their domestic currency.
“Our primary goal is to ensure that the buyer and seller have the most optimal experience possible on our marketplace,” added Drew Rifkin, Director Strategic Partnerships and Sales at Rakuten.com.
A specialist alternative to traditional banks’ generalist approach, World First has successfully exchanged more than $35B for more than 100,000 individuals and businesses since 2004. World First currently employs over 600 people across six international offices of London, Sydney, Austin, Amsterdam, Singapore and Hong Kong with plans for further expansion into new countries. Rakuten.com provides over 22 million products in 24 categories and includes a network of over thousands of small and large business shop owners. Initially founded as Buy.com in 1997, the platform was acquired and rebranded by Rakuten Inc. in May 2010.