UPT Partners with Visa to Launch Virtual IBANs for Corporate Cross-Border Payments

UPT is expanding its cross-border capabilities for Turkish businesses by integrating Visa’s Currencycloud platform. This move allows corporate clients to access virtual EUR and GBP IBANs in their own names, streamlining international collections and foreign exchange. For fintech professionals, it represents a significant deepening of the corridor between Türkiye’s financial ecosystem and global payment rails.

What was announced

UPT has partnered with Visa to implement Currencycloud, a move designed to provide corporate customers with sophisticated multi-currency account capabilities. Through this integration, businesses using the UPTION Corporate platform can now obtain virtual IBANs in Euro (EUR) and British Pounds (GBP) issued in their own company name. This functionality mirrors the existing European Account service that UPT currently provides to individual users via its mobile application.

The service is designed to simplify the management of international collections and payments by consolidating these processes onto a single platform. Beyond the provision of virtual IBANs, the implementation of Currencycloud brings real-time foreign exchange (FX) capabilities to UPT’s corporate offering. This allows businesses to access competitive exchange rates and execute cross-border transactions with greater transparency. While the initial rollout focuses on EUR and GBP, the company has confirmed that US Dollar (USD) support is intended for a future phase of the rollout.

This collaboration aims to reduce the friction typically associated with global trade for Turkish enterprises. By utilizing Visa Direct’s underlying infrastructure, UPT can offer a transaction experience that is uninterrupted and reliable, catering to the needs of businesses operating across the 176 countries where UPT maintains a presence. The system supports transfers to accounts and cards in multiple currencies, including TL, USD, EUR, and GBP.

"We continue to develop solutions that will make our corporate customers' international payment collection processes easier and more efficient. Thanks to this collaboration with Currencycloud, UPTION Corporate users will be able to obtain a Virtual IBAN in the name of their own companies and manage their international collection and payment processes through a single platform. While offering a fast, uninterrupted and reliable transaction experience with competitive foreign exchange rates, we aim to contribute to businesses conducting their global trade activities more efficiently."

Murat Kastan, CEO of UPT.

The companies involved

UPT, established in 2010, holds the distinction of being Türkiye's first national global money transfer and payment platform. It operates as a subsidiary of Aktif Bank, which is the largest privately-owned investment bank in Türkiye. UPT has built a significant footprint both domestically and internationally, reaching 400,000 transaction points across five continents. Its infrastructure supports money transfers to accounts, credit cards, and by name, making it the most widespread transfer system in the country.

Visa, a global leader in digital payments, provides the Currencycloud technology as part of its Visa Direct suite. Currencycloud focuses on simplifying the complexity of multi-currency movements for banks and fintechs, allowing them to offer local payment experiences globally. By leveraging Visa’s global network, UPT positions itself as a bridge between Turkish commerce and international markets. The parent company, Aktif Bank, has positioned UPT as a pioneer in financial technology, focusing on bridging the gap between traditional banking and modern, digital-first payment solutions for both retail and corporate segments.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has frequently tracked Visa’s expanding influence in the regional and specialized payment sectors. Recently, the publication covered how Visa Scores Regional Partnership with LALIGA to Drive Fan Engagement Across MENA, highlighting its strategic focus on the Middle East and North Africa. In the infrastructure space, The ai Corporation and Visa Partner to Revolutionize European Fleet and EV Payments demonstrated the provider's push into specialized commercial verticals.

Other recent reports have touched upon the broader ecosystem of cross-border and digital asset payments, such as dtcpay Secures $25M Series A to Scale Global Stablecoin Payment Infrastructure and the evolution of mid-market fintech services in FMPay Combines API-Led Payments with Human Risk Experts for Mid-Market Fintechs. These stories reflect a market-wide trend toward integrated, multi-currency financial services that this UPT and Visa collaboration now joins.

What this means

This announcement moves the needle for the Turkish corporate sector by addressing a specific pain point: the "identity" of international funds. In traditional cross-border banking, Turkish firms often struggle with reconciliation when payments arrive via third-party aggregators. By providing IBANs in the company’s own name, UPT is effectively removing a layer of administrative friction and potential delays. This puts pressure on traditional Turkish commercial banks that have been slower to modernize their FX and collection platforms. The industry question now is whether this model of "embedded" virtual accounts will become the standard for all emerging market businesses seeking to compete in the Eurozone and UK markets.