Eris FX
Eris FX is a technology-based challenger in the UK retail foreign exchange industry which we estimate produces £500 billion of transactions per year and predominantly serves small and medium sized businesses paying overseas suppliers and individuals buying property abroad.
The service is delivered by the company’s own custom-made software which shows a live price stream allowing the customer to choose exactly when and at what rate to buy their currency. The currency is delivered electronically to the nominated bank account the next day.
We feel that the service differs radically from any other in the industry.
Our USP’s are: ○One size fits all pricing structure, ○Live streaming rates, ○Publicly published ‘what you see is what you get’ prices ○No additional transfer fees ○Hugely competitive rates and savings ○No dealers ○No negotiating ○No disclaimers
It is an ethical and sustainable business with a clear, open pricing structure which can compete with any provider in the industry.
NB: The company has a total of 341,000 Preference Shares that are redeemable at a set price of £1 per share once throughout a consecutive six month period if the company reports a pre tax profit of at least £100k in each month during such period and the cash balance does not fall below £700,00. They have no voting rights, no right to dividends and no right to equity distributions; they have therefore not been factored into the pre-money valuation. However, this means that on liquidation, £341,000 is distributable to the holders of these preference shares in preference to other shareholders, if funds are available in such circumstances.
Eris FX will open up the deliverable retail foreign exchange industry to clear fair pricing and competition, empowering customers to shop around and compare prices for currency in the same way that they can do for other commodities. We are aiming to produce a radical change in the way the industry operates giving consumers a fair, open, legal and competitive marketplace in which to buy currency.
In an industry that has been dominated for decades by outmoded dealer-led telephone services and opaque pricing practices by the banks and specialist currency companies, Eris FX aims to disrupt the market with its cloud-based technology, clarity of pricing and ethical approach to the consumer.
Eris FX hopes to achieve this in two ways :
1. Changing the way the industry operates by challenging the legality of what in our view are dubious marketing practices by other market participants, in particular the use of website currency converters which show inaccurate consumer prices, through the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA).
Lobbying Government and the FCA for regulation of the industry so that currency companies wishing to operate in the UK would have to publish their standard customer dealing prices on at least one FCA-approved price comparison site.
2. Promoting our own core marketing messages of:
Clear, all-inclusive pricing. The only company to show ‘what you see is what you get’ fair, honest, clear and consistent pricing as live streaming dealing rates on its website.
Market-leading pricing and dare to compare. The only company to price compare against specialist competitors (not banks) via mystery shopping exercises.
Empower the customer. The only company to provide an online comparison tool that lets potential customers compare our rates with any other provider live or historically.
Price the deal not the customer. The only company to offer every customer an identical price, completely bucking the industry norm.
The company foresaw a move towards online currency purchasing by small businesses and individuals and has designed and built what we believe is the first only streaming rate online FX dealing and payments platform aimed at the consumer and SME market.
We feel it was ahead of the curve and is now at the leading edge. It was the foreign exchange equivalent of trying to launch Spotify when the market was still using vinyl records, with the cassette, CD and iTunes phases to go through before getting to streaming music.
It has:
– A fully operational and scalable business model using its own tried and tested next-generation cloud-based technology.
– Steady monthly revenue from a loyal active core customer base.
– Over 3,000 registered customers and over 10,000 deals completed.
– Average value of monthly trades in excess of £1m over the last 4 years.
– Excellent customer feedback on Trustpilot.
– FCA authorisation.
The funds raised in this round are primarily to be used for marketing, to scale the business and to drive customer acquisition.
The company is delighted to announce that it has just recruited Iain Brear formerly of Monitise Ltd., a listed mobile banking, payments and commerce IT provider where he was Group Marketing Director. He joined in 2009 and helped build the business from 0 to 40 million consumers using Monitise services by 2015.
Iain will promote Eris FX’s unique selling proposition and develop a distribution strategy and promotional methods including PR, social media, SEO and email as well as advertising and events. He will maximise customer conversion, customer value and transaction price by concentrating on higher value transactions in the consumer sector to start with.
The online marketing strategy will include ambush marketing on key competitors, natural search optimisation, best in class presence and positioning as ‘different’ in category.