A substantial majority of travel intermediaries view foreign exchange expenses as a significant operational hurdle, yet relatively few maintain precise records of these outlays, according to industry research shared by Fintech firm Modulr.
According to the latest insights from Modulr, this gap in visibility raises questions about whether unmonitored currency conversion costs are gradually eroding profit margins without detection.
The research findings indicate that the core issue often stems from the fragmented manner in which currency exchange is managed.
For numerous organisations, handling FX involves engaging a distinct service provider, following a disconnected workflow, and maintaining a separate trail of reconciliations.
Survey results reveal that an overwhelming proportion of respondents—93 percent—have incurred charges for converting identical sums more than once. In contrast, merely 5 percent have established procedures designed to prevent such duplicate conversions.
These inefficiencies create ongoing risk and administrative burden for businesses operating across multiple currencies.
Separate systems make it harder to track true costs in real time, especially in an industry where margins are typically thin and supplier payments must often be made in local currencies well after customer bookings are confirmed.
In response, Modulr has introduced an integrated foreign exchange capability embedded directly within its existing payments platform.
The new offering enables businesses to transfer balances between accounts on demand, without intermediate steps.
It also supports the issuance of virtual cards denominated in a supplier’s preferred currency, with funding drawn straight from a company’s main balance.
Pricing is presented transparently and competitively, featuring no additional charges at weekends and no fixed fees.
By consolidating payments, account management, card issuance, and currency conversion into a single environment, the solution provides a complete audit trail while eliminating the need to onboard or oversee additional external providers.
This approach aims to reduce friction, improve predictability of costs, and help finance teams regain clearer oversight of currency-related expenses that previously sat outside core systems.
The research and product launch together highlight a practical challenge facing travel intermediaries across the UK and Western Europe.
While most recognise FX costs as problematic, limited tracking and fragmented processes allow expenses to accumulate quietly.
An integrated platform-level approach offers one route to greater control, more transparent rates, and reduced operational complexity for organizations managing high volumes of cross-border supplier payments.
This launch marks a key step in the evolution of fintech ecosystems by embedding foreign exchange directly into an existing payments automation platform rather than treating it as a standalone service.
For the broader fintech landscape—particularly platforms and infrastructure providers supporting multi-currency B2B flows—it demonstrates how tightly integrated capabilities can reduce the operational fragmentation that has long characterized cross-border payments.
By allowing businesses to convert balances on demand, fund virtual cards in a supplier’s currency from a primary account, and maintain a single audit trail across payments, accounts, cards, and FX, the solution removes the need for additional providers and separate reconciliation processes.
In an ecosystem where fintechs increasingly compete on automation, transparency, and cost efficiency, such native integration helps platforms deliver more predictable margins for clients in sectors like travel while lowering the compliance and operational overhead that comes with managing multiple vendor relationships.
It also reinforces a wider industry shift toward embedded finance, where specialised functions such as competitive, fee-transparent currency conversion become native features of core payment infrastructure rather than bolt-on services, ultimately enabling faster scaling and more reliable financial operations across interconnected fintech networks.
