Research and Markets

Research and Markets needed a centralized platform to manage their multi-currency activities efficiently and at low-cost.  

About Research and Markets

Research and Markets is the world’s largest market research store. It aims to connect businesses with market insights and analysis they need to enable intelligent decision-making.

Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Research and Markets offers insights into over 800 industries from Automotive to Telecommunications to Zoology. It’s worked with some of the world’s most recognizable brands, from IKEA to Samsung, P&G to Glanbia, and NBC Universal to Credit Suisse.

The Challenge

For Research and Markets, there had been big banking upheavals in their local market. In Ireland, where the company was headquartered, one of the largest banks in the region was leaving the country. For a company that operated across the world, this made finding a new local banking solution an obvious priority.

Like many of TransferMate’s clients, Research and Markets opened a current account with a traditional bank. They chose an Irish bank with an international reach, but they also wanted a solution that would add real value to how they paid and received funds from around the world, while also gaining control over localized bank accounts in the territories where they operated.

“With TransferMate, we were able to open currency accounts as well, meaning we could store value in those accounts and then make payments out of those accounts when needed without having to exchange to other currencies’ said Anne Marie Ruttledge, Accounts Manager at Research and Markets. ‘We quickly realized that the fees from TransferMate were significantly less than what the banks were charging us on international payments. While these charges aren’t game changers when it comes to overall revenue figures, you’re always happy with lower costs for a service that is as good, if not better, than the previous solution.”

Another challenge beyond FX rates and fees was ensuring the solution was easy-to-use and implemented quickly.

“We were happy with the platform we’d been using previously. Any change meant learning a new system and, potentially, adding to our workload rather than reducing it. We needed something that could fit in seamlessly into that work process.”

A final challenge was simply the ability to pick up the phone and have someone at the other end of the line to answer questions quickly and resolve issues as soon as possible. Research and Markets wanted a constant contact they could reach out to whenever a challenge arose.

The Solution

Research and Markets were looking for a multi-currency solution with low-bank fees, a good foreign exchange rate, and a system they could operate easily.

Global Accounts by TransferMate was the ideal solution for those challenges. It allows individual businesses to open local bank accounts in covered currencies (30 at time of writing) in minutes, and then fully control those accounts from a central hub.

Research and Markets used Global Accounts to open different currency accounts in the ones they operate in. This was an improvement on the previous solution, particularly when it came to exchanging currencies.

It allowed them to move money around the world more easily, cutting out that double-exchange of one currency into another and back again. They can also pay bills in the currency that they come in as, and invoice clients in their own currency.

The TransferMate charges per transaction was also significantly less than previously.

“We’re now saving on exchange rates compared to what we were before. It also gives us more control over the international cash flow, because we can store value in any of our accounts and move it (or use it) when exchange rates are beneficial to us.”

The system has proven easy to use. While there were teething problems getting the team used to the new solution, especially when the previous one was so embedded in how they work, the Research and Markets team are now seeing the benefits.

“It is very easy-to-use and it’s working for us. What’s been important for us is having someone at the end of the phone and dealing with queries as we’ve had them. We needed to make changes to the system, and that one-to-one support made a big difference in implementation.”

And that level of customer service has been present right from the moment of engagement and continues today.

“If there are any issues the TransferMate team will call or email back straight away.”

With Global Accounts, Research and Markets are now able to have more control over their multi-currency activities, operate at a lower cost, have a solution their team is comfortable to work with, and a support system on hand if they run into any issues.

The Final Word

“We’d certainly recommend Global Accounts from TransferMate. We can manage multiple currencies very efficiently on the platform, and the support we’ve received from end-to-end has been excellent.”‍

Anne Marie Ruttledge, Accounts Manager at Research and Markets

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