Product Q&A recap on multi-currency accounts

Klasha facilitates seamless cross-border payments for businesses. With Klasha, global and African businesses can move money to and from Africa using local African currencies and methods.

We recently launched multi-currency accounts to allow merchants to create virtual accounts in different currencies, such as USD, ZAR, NGN, KES, and more, from the Klasha dashboard. On August 22nd, 2024, we hosted a Product Q&A on multi-currency accounts to discuss how the features can help businesses scale and answer pending questions from merchants.

This event featured Kachi, our Head of Product at Klasha, Feyikemi, our Senior Product Manager, and David, our Chief Compliance Officer. Below are some of the questions that were asked. 

Question: What are the key features of the multi-currency wallets for merchants?

Businesses in multiple markets need to make payments globally. To do this, they have to open different accounts in various markets, which can be expensive and tedious. Moreover, handling transfers and reconciliations in each account can be very uneasy and discouraging for merchants.

We have designed our multi-currency wallet to address these core needs. A multi-currency wallet typically allows you to receive, hold, and send funds to over 120 countries in 50+ currencies. Currently, we have the USD, ZAR, NGN, and KES available for merchants. This allows merchants to manage their finances effectively and keep funds in the currencies that work best for them.

It’s easy to use and intuitive, just like a regular bank transfer from a typical bank app without complicated procedures.

Question: What are the associated costs or fees for creating multi-currency wallets?

There are no fees for creating a multi-currency wallet on Klasha. Businesses can create these accounts effortlessly without any limitations or charges. Creating an account takes two to three steps. 

This means that whether you are a startup or a large business, you can create a multi-currency wallet without incurring an initial set of fees or subscriptions.

It's free and allows you to break barriers or limitations regarding cross-border transfers. So, there are no charges. 

Question: How does the multi-currency wallets integrate with existing merchant accounts and platforms?

Before, merchants could easily create multi-currency wallets on the Klasha dashboard. However, as demanded during sign-up, only existing merchants can create multi-currency accounts without further KYC processes.

The process is also simple for new merchants. Once onboarded, they can easily create multi-currency accounts. We designed it to eliminate the complications of having to create accounts in different countries.

Question: Are there any transaction limits or caps for using these features?

No, there are no limits. At Klasha, we aim to help businesses fulfil their cross-border payment needs without predefined limits or restrictions. This flexibility allows them to grow their business without fluctuating volumes they can process.

We allow merchants to do as much as possible to meet their business needs. It will be best to contact our sales team for businesses with exceptionally high volumes or specific needs. They can tailor solutions to ensure a seamless operation. You can reach our sales team at  vip-support@klasha.com.

But other than that, we have no issues with transaction limits for a regular business.

Question: How does Klasha ensure compliance with international banking regulations for IBANs?

Klasha has a deep-rooted system for international banking regulations that allows us to maintain regulatory compliance by ensuring we do correct KYC and onboarding processes. We request the proper information to continue to ensure that we engage in continuous DD processes, check and monitor transactions, and meet all the required thresholds set by regulators to use the wallets. 

Questions: What security measures are in place to protect the funds in the multi-currency account, especially when dealing with different currencies?

We take security seriously and make it our responsibility to ensure that funds are safe and secured and that our merchants do not have to worry about the risks that abound in these markets.

First, we use advanced encryption protocols to protect data and transactions. This ensures that the information you transmit between you and our platform is secure from infringed or unauthorised assets.

Also, we enforce IP whitelisting. This means you can only send requests from organised servers that we have whitelisted. Furthermore, we have platform protection. Security goes beyond the core technical parts. Some parts have to do with unauthorised access to your platforms. With this, we have ensured that before you could even have access to a platform, you have to go through a two-step authorisation process for us to ensure that you are the right person making and having access to the accounts.

To protect the dashboard's features, we have implemented rules and permission settings, which gives the merchant or the right person the authority to administer or allocate necessary permissions to just a few subsets of people who should be able to use those features.

For instance, if you or your finance team have to make a transfer, the merchants can permit the finance team to pay from the dashboard or the customer success team. Every other staff member with access will not have access to that payout feature, but they can access transaction history and see what is happening to administer support to their customers.

We also have fraud detection and monitoring tools, which regularly check the system to ensure suspicious users are spotted on time. If spotted, we take adequate measures where necessary. We are PCI DSS certified, so where card data is supposed to be transmitted, we handle it with the required PCI DSS standard.

These are a few of the protocols we have in place to ensure security, and we can assure you that you need not worry about the security of the funds within our system.

Questions: Are there any plans to expand these features to other currencies and regions?

Yes, we are. We are constantly building to meet our merchants' ever-growing demands. We presently offer wallets in ZAR, KES, USD, and NGN. GBP is coming soon. If you want any specific currencies, email us at vip-support@klasha.com and our team will work to provide them.

Question: Are there any specific KYC requirements for merchants to use these new features? 

No. The documents provided at the point of onboarding into Klasha are sufficient. 

Questions:  How does your new USD account work? Looking at the fact that your markup on Naira to USD is not at the rate available in the market?

Typically, the BaaS platforms come with fees for creation and platform fees. We have paid some of these fees, so you don’t have to pay them. All our fees are competitive to ensure your profits grow. 

It's important to note that we are also flexible. Depending on the volume, we can offer further merchant discounts. So feel free to reach out to us, and I'm sure there will always be a situation. 

Question: Are there any APIs available for developers to use these features in their own applications?

Yes, the multicurrency wallets are available via API. 

You can make your transactions by calling from your system to our system. But, it has to be a whitelisted system. You can always go through our API documentation. It's easy to understand. We also have a team available to guide you or answer your queries, if you have any, when you go through that documentation. So yes, it's available via the API—and all our products are. 

Question: Are there any transaction limits or fees associated with sending or receiving payments in different currencies through your platform?

Yes, there are fees. However, our fees are competitive. We mostly do not charge any fees. But in some currencies, we do.

In this case, it depends on the originating currency. If it is the same currency inflow, let's say in KES or ZAR, if you are using a bank account, that is free. But of course, certain rules attach some fees to processing.

Depending on the payment method you use to fund the wallet, it can be free or not free. However, whatever the fee, we try not to mark up when it comes to inflow. We are also very flexible when it comes to your margins and rates. As for payout, we charge flat fees. On most platforms, fees are percentage-based.

So, when you pay out, no matter the volume, you will usually pay a single fee.

Question: What's your KYC compliance level,  Data Protection and different currency transfer and exchange rate considerations?

Our KYC levels are flexible for this multi-currency wallet. They're similar to those we use when onboarding merchants on the Klasha dashboard.

We have a system that reports suspicious activities and files STLs. The Klasha system is very secure in terms of data security and protection. We have various levels of security that ensure that no external force can just get into the system. For data, we are NDPR compliant. We ensure that customer-sensitive data is well secure and that we comply with GDPR rules and relevant privacy laws.

The Klasha multi-currency accounts simplify international transactions, reduce administrative complexity, and save time and costs associated with currency conversions. Click here to create a multi-currency account in your preferred currencies.