Flywire partners with First Data in strategic agreement

Flywire and First Data have announced a new strategic agreement aimed at streamlining cross-border transactions for their respective client bases. As part of the agreement, First Data and Flywire will form a reciprocal referral relationship, providing clients with a seamless integration between Flywire’s international payment and receivables platform, and First Data’s vast client network and technology solutions.

Frank Bisignano, Chairman and CEO of First Data, said “First Data serves millions of businesses and thousands of financial institutions in more than 100 countries around the world. We are excited to partner with Flywire, an innovative leader in international payment processing, to simplify cross-border payment acceptance for clients in the education and healthcare industries. ”

Bisignano said that First Data looks at partnerships as two-way streets, where the focus is on bringing volume to each other’s respective businesses in a way that complements the capabilities and strengths of each. It’s what he says will make the First Data/Flywire partnership something that’s grounded in delivering client satisfaction and expanding the capabilities they need to satisfy the needs of the global citizen.

“This is a partnership built on a mutual commitment to client satisfaction,” Bisignano said, “and delivery. This combination can add tremendous value to our respective client bases.”

For Flywire, we can now offer our clients — the hospitals, the universities, the real estate brokers, the import/exporters — the opportunity to offer expanded card payment options.First Data will leverage Flywire’s presence in the education, healthcare, and business-to-business segments to increase its penetration in those markets. First Data will also resell and refer the Flywire platform to its clients, including those within the education and healthcare space, as well as clients in the travel and leisure, luxury goods, professional services, publishing, and technology industries

Flywire CEO Mike Massaro said “Our goal is to take the friction out of cross-border transactions, wherever it may exist. Partnering with First Data significantly expands the payment options for our clients’ customers and has the potential to make the benefits of our platform available to tens of thousands of additional businesses and institutions around the world.”