Backed by BBVA, a Fintech Startup Creates a ‘Borderless’ Payment Account

Denizen Financial Inc., a San Francisco-based startup backed by one of Spain’s biggest banks, has created what it calls “the first true global, borderless account” that allows customers to receive money in one country and pay it out in another while avoiding international transfer fees and foreign-exchange fees.

Denizen says its new global account, which includes a debit card and mobile app, currently is available to expatriates in the United States and Spain, and will be expanded to the United Kingdom and as many as 10 European Union countries in 2018’s second half. While the initial market is expatriates, the company also plans to offer it to immigrants, refugees, and frequent business travelers.

“National borders act as barriers to the free movement of money, inhibiting individuals and limiting the potential for global commerce,” Denizen co-founder and chief executive Joaquin Ayuso de Paul said in a news release. “Denizen is on a mission to simplify banking for global citizens. By delivering the world’s first truly borderless account, we make it easy for anyone to access the financial system from anywhere, then carry it with them as they move for work or travel.”

Denizen received initial funding from New Digital Businesses, a unit of Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) that has offices in Silicon Valley, Madrid, London, and Hong Kong. In the U.S., Denizen’s banking services are provided by BBVA’s Birmingham, Ala.-based affiliate, BBVA Compass Bancshares Inc.

Denizen’s account is the latest entry in the increasingly competitive cross-border payments market that now includes blockchain and cryptocurrency firms such as Ripple Labs as well as newer online money-transfer firms such as WorldRemit, TransferWise, Remitly, and PayPal Holdings Inc.’s Xoom.