Collections, payouts and multi-currency accounts for businesses that buy and sell across borders, arranged through licensed partners and operated on Helm, the firm’s trade payments platform.
Selected engagements from more than 250 licences obtained since 2013, for payment, e-money, cryptoasset and consumer credit firms.
Volkswagen
Payment InstitutionObtained Nexpay’s FCA Authorised Payment Institution licence.
Electronic Money InstitutionObtained Dzing Finance’s FCA Authorised Electronic Money Institution licence.
Obtained Orbital’s FCA Authorised Payment Institution licence.
Importers, exporters and wholesalers move money across borders every week: paying suppliers in one currency, receiving from buyers in another, and holding balances in between. We arrange the accounts, the payment rails and the currency facilities those businesses need through licensed partners in each region, and operate them on Helm so that one business sees every account, every payment and every balance in one place.
The service is built for trading businesses in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East that sell into or buy from Europe and North America, and for the freight forwarders and trade platforms that serve them.
Local collection accounts in the buyer’s currency and payout accounts in the supplier’s, held with licensed partners.
Cross-border payouts on local rails with competitive conversion and full documentation for customs and tax.
Collections from overseas buyers by local transfer, card or wallet, settled to the business’s home account.
Spot and forward conversion through licensed providers, with rates and fees set out in writing.
Helm offers trade finance for importers, exporters and wholesalers.
The platform that brings every account, payment and balance into one view, with the documents and reporting a trading business needs.
| Deliverable | What it contains | Who relies on it |
|---|---|---|
| Corridor plan | Accounts, rails and providers for each corridor with fees and settlement times | Finance director |
| Onboarding pack | The documentation licensed partners require, prepared once and reused | Partners |
| Helm workspace | Live accounts, payments, balances, documents and reporting | Finance, operations |
| Monthly report | Volumes, fees, conversion rates and settlement performance by corridor | Board, finance |
Trading businesses in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Nigeria, Kenya, the Gulf, India and South-East Asia, and their counterparties in the United Kingdom, Europe and North America.
Helm is the operating platform. Accounts and payments are provided by licensed partners in each region, and the business contracts with those partners through Helm.
Most businesses are live within two to four weeks of providing their documents, depending on the corridors and partners involved.
A monthly platform fee for Helm and the partner’s transaction and conversion fees, all set out in writing before onboarding.
Yes. Forwarders and platforms offer the service to their customers, with Helm as the shared workspace.
A reply within three business hours and a written proposal on scope, cost and timing the same day.