In a hyper interconnected world, receiving and sending money across borders forms an integral part of our daily routine. Yet with complex regulatory requirements for specific markets, and the use of multiple intermediaries the process to transfer money from one border to another can be cumbersome and expensive. Meeting the growing need for more efficient, secure and compliant capital movement around the world is EMQ.
“We are creating a simple one-stop integration via EMQ to ensure businesses can send money anywhere in the world and to any end point,” explains cofounder and CEO Max Liu.
EMQ operates a comprehensive global money movement network that can effectively settle any cross-border movement of capital, while adhering to complex regulations and compliance standards in different markets.
Its flexible and scalable infrastructure eliminates unnecessary intermediaries and directly integrates to all the end-points, facilitating seamless, real-time and cost-effective cross-border settlements.
The company’s network seamlessly integrates ecosystem participants to allow for more efficient financial settlement solutions.
“We call ourselves the financial plumbers; we lay pipes in every country,“ Liu says. “The application of EMQ’s network is flexible and adaptable. And can be deployed across multiple vertical industries,” he adds.”
Adhering to the financial regulations of many countries can be a complex and lengthy process if not managed well. EMQ adopts a ‘hub and spoke’ model, working strategically alongside a local partner bank in each of them.
“Building bank partnerships across the region takes time and patience to cultivate,” says Liu. And for every country it enters, it also needs regulatory clearance.
However, Liu’s company not only works towards building partnerships with banks. In every country, it also builds comprehensive networks of strategic partnerships and last-mile solutions, offering customers immediate access to thousands of distribution points.
Turning challenges into opportunities for growth
Even as the company grows beyond its home base rapidly, there was never any question for Liu that EMQ would begin in Asia Pacific.
Liu explains: “We built the network here first because of the market across the Asia Pacific region is highly fragmented.”
“Every country in the Asia Pacific region has a different set of regulations, a different local settlement system and a different currency. Due to such challenges, businesses and individuals will increasingly require a network that is versatile while making cross-border payments streamlines, low-cost, secure, and real-time,” Liu says.
EMQ works towards providing a unified, more affordable and efficient cross-border settlement solution for businesses and individuals in the region.
By turning these challenges into opportunities for growth, EMQ has built a strong footprint in the region while expanding to the world’s fastest economies. The company is currently operational in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan and The Philippines.
So what’s next for EMQ?
“Our goal is to allow companies and individuals to move money anywhere in the world in a seamless and compliant manner. Following our expansion in the Middle East, we’re launching our network globally.
“By the end of the year, we will be able to offer pay-outs in Africa and Europe. And in 2020 we will be entering the US market and we’ve set our eyes on Latin America too,” says Liu.
“We always follow our customers.”