MEDIA RELEASE

OFX, global cross border payments company, born in Sydney, celebrates its 25th birthday

9 October 2023

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SYDNEY – OFX Group Limited (OFX), is an Aussie growth company that started life in the late 1990s in a garage in the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Its initial focus was on providing Australians with a better deal when transferring money overseas, quickly establishing a strong reputation both in Australia and abroad. Over the years it has steadily expanded its operations across many jurisdictions and, in its last fiscal year, generated 65% of its revenue from regions outside Australia including Asia, North America and EMEA – a rare example of an Australian company that has genuinely ‘gone global’ and succeeded.

In the early days, OzForex, as it was then known, was one of the first cross border payments companies to offer the service via an online portal. Its founders, Matt Gilmour and Gary Lord, recognised there was a better and cheaper way for small and mid-sized businesses and individuals to send money globally. The business was ‘boot strapped’ in the early days, but was always run on the basis that it was economically and socially sustainable.

OFX’s service has broadened to web, apps, phone, and APIs for Corporate and Enterprise clients, with 90%+ of all transactions completed digitally. This digital innovation was, and continues to be, complemented by the opportunity for clients to talk to a real person, these days known as OFXperts, which has proven to be a very successful and much-loved combination. OFX’s Net Promoter Score was +71 in FY23 – almost unheard of in financial services – which comes from clients being able to choose the way they access OFX products and services.

Today, OFX is proud to have 700+ employees in nine countries, with offices in Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Dublin, Toronto, Edmonton, San Francisco and Auckland. The business is a 24-hour operation, leveraging its 59 operating licences globally and relationships with 15 Tier 1 banks around the world. In FY23 it grew underlying EBITDA by 40%, and EBITDA margins were 29%, making it amongst the most profitable and sustainable in the industry.

In recent years, as the industry has consolidated, OFX has also grown via investments and acquisitions. These have proven very successful for its investors, the largest acquisition being Firma Foreign Exchange Corporation, which generated over 30% EPS accretion in its first full year. The investment in TreasurUp and the acquisition of Paytron Holdings further strengthened OFX’s product and platform capabilities, creating substantially stronger growth prospects for its B2B clients.

OFX has continued operating through every major global event since its inception including 9/11, the Global Financial Crisis, the COVID Pandemic, Brexit and the war in Ukraine. This experience, and ability to operate through the cycle, is highly valued by its clients and speaks to the strong foundations on which the business has been built. That experience and a mature governance program, Board, and management team is also highly valued by its banking partners and regulators covering the 59 licences that OFX operates under across the world.

OFX prides itself on being a great place to work, with its mantra of ‘You can make a difference’. Employee Engagement increased in the last annual survey, with the flexibility OFX offers its employees being among the key reasons. A supporter of diversity, OFX has a female Chair in Patricia Cross, 50:50 gender representation on its Board and strong female representation across its leadership. 41% of OFXers across the world come from culturally diverse backgrounds and 48% speak a language other than English.

Reflecting on OFX’s 25th anniversary, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Skander Malcolm, said “OFX has been successful through our history because we start with a focus on our clients and balance that with the needs of all our stakeholders – employees, regulators, communities, partners and banks. From day 1 that was the case and it’s still at the heart of what we do. We’re committed to our clients. We’ve worked hard to become a successful, sustainable global company, having built a strong culture of risk management to complement our focus on clients. As a business we have navigated many milestones, opportunities and challenges – and we’re confident the best is yet to come.”

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