Ebury Portugal has a new address, and it’s about more than office views. The British fintech, owned by Santander and specialized in international payments and currency exchange, moved to a new spot in central Lisbon next to Novobanco. The plan is to grow its team by up to 70%, passing 60 employees in the country. Why now? Because the company wants to play in a bigger sandbox.
From SME favorite to big-company contender
Country manager Gonçalo Vilas Boas, who took over from Duarte Líbano Monteiro in May, calls his approach one of continuity. The growth, though, is real. Ebury has almost 1,300 clients in Portugal and expands by roughly 20-25% a year. Hiring is the fuel: four more sales people are planned within a year, and four more IT specialists by the end of the fiscal year in April.
The bigger shift is the target. Ebury grew up serving small and medium businesses, but it already touches the large corporate market. Vilas Boas says that on pricing and currency protection, the company already competes with major banks. What it lacked were integrations with treasury platforms and ERP systems. That gap has now closed, opening doors in sectors like energy, automotive and large construction firms with branches around the world.
Why currency risk software matters here
Picture a finance team juggling payroll, cash management and foreign payments in separate tabs. Ebury wants to sit inside that daily routine. Long term, it hopes to offer something close to currency risk software woven into management tools like Cegid, communicating with ERP systems in a personalized way. Its vision, as Vilas Boas puts it, is to be synchronized with the client. Worth watching, according to devs.com.pt, is how fast that transformation from payments provider to embedded finance tool actually happens.
FX risk management for businesses in a shaky world
Tariffs first looked scary. Clients paused orders, then came back. Today, exporters to the United States have grown in volume, with wine and some finished textiles leading the way.
Imports tell a messier story. Take a steel importer buying in dollars from India. With European quotas and a possible 50% tariff, the company may not learn until the ship reaches Rotterdam or Leixões whether it can clear its cargo. Imagine $600,000 of steel waiting at a port while only $200,000 is worth taking out. That’s the kind of mess that turns FX risk management for businesses from a side topic into a daily habit.
His advice is simple. Ask whether the company has a budget rate. A CFO who says “my budget is 1.05 euro/dollar” gives purchasing a clear line to follow. Rising fuel and transport costs squeeze margins too, so the exchange rate that companies once ignored now gets attention.
AI that cuts false alarms
Ebury is also investing in AI, with humans keeping the final say. Account managers use it to prep meetings, sales teams to find leads, and compliance to review money laundering alerts. The payoff: about 40% fewer false positives. That matters, because a blocked payment can make an importer miss a ship and wait another month.
What’s next
Centerbridge Partners joined as a shareholder after European Commission approval in August, and the group closed its fiscal year at £289 million in turnover (around €339 million). Peru, Colombia and Southeast Asia are on the radar. Portugal ranks fifth or sixth among Ebury’s roughly 30 countries, though local turnover stays undisclosed.
If you like following technology news updates, this story shows how fintech and software are blurring together, and Ebury’s Lisbon move is a decent signal of where hiring and investment in Portugal are heading.
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