By Kylie Madry
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Latin American corporate card provider Clara is to allow cross-border transactions and said it expects up to $100 million in payments to be made using the service by the end of the year.
The service, which allows clients to pay bills in major foreign currencies, will launch first in Mexico, where Clara was founded, the company told Reuters in a statement on Monday.
It plans to later make the service available in Colombia and Brazil, it added, without giving a time frame.
Customers in Mexico will be charged in pesos while the beneficiary will receive payment in their chosen destination currency, the firm said.
The corporate credit provider, which also offers expense management products, said its decision to launch in Mexico was in part to capitalize on the country’s so-called nearshoring boom as U.S. multinationals move operations to the country to bring production closer to customers.
Clients involved in nearshoring requested the service, as they need to acquire services and materials from various parts of the world, requiring payments in different currencies, Clara said.
Earlier this month, Clara announced it was moving its headquarters from Mexico to Brazil, betting on the South American country becoming its largest market by 2024.
Half of the company’s leadership is already based out of Brazil, Clara said on Monday.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Conor Humphries)
