Fexco is an Ireland-based

financial services Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...

and

financial technology Fintech, a portmanteau of "financial technology", refers to firms using new technology to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data are ...

company focusing on

bureau de change A bureau de change (plural bureaux de change, both ) (British English) or currency exchange (American English) is a business where people can exchange one currency for another. Nomenclature Although originally French, the term "bureau de chang ...

and

payment card Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner (the cardholder) to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and ma ...

services. Its head office is located in

Killorglin Killorglin () is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. As of the 2016 CSO census, the town's population was 2,199. Killorglin is on the Ring of Kerry tourist route, and annual events include the August Puck Fair festival, which starts with the crown ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

. As of 2019, Fexco reports it has more than 2,500 staff and of these, 1,200 are based in Ireland, with other staff in 29 countries worldwide, including the UK, Spain, New Zealand, USA, Middle East and Asia.

History

Fexco was set up in 1981 by Brian McCarthy, originally to provide

services to the Irish market. McCarthy, now acting as Fexco chairman, is also chairman of the Irish Prisons Board. Former

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Taoi ...

Dick Spring Dick Spring (born 29 August 1950) is an Irish businessman and former politician. He was a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North from 1981 to 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997 ...

was appointed as an executive vice-chairman of Fexco in 2002. As of 2009, services offered by Fexco included prize bonds,

dynamic currency conversion Dynamic currency conversion (DCC) or cardholder preferred currency (CPC) is a process whereby the amount of a credit card transaction is converted at the point of sale, ATM or internet to the currency of the card's country of issue. DCC is gen ...

and related customer services. In 2010, Fexco acquired 75% of

Goodbody Stockbrokers Goodbody Stockbrokers is Ireland's longest established stockbroking firm with roots dating back to 1877. As well as being one of the leading institutional brokers, it is one of the largest private client firms in Ireland. It is a member firm of ...

for a reported bargain price of €24 million with the management take the remaining 25% stake in the business. The

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

commented that the modest price tag placed on Ireland’s oldest stockbroker and "one-time bastion of Ireland's Protestant business elite" was just another measure of the dramatic decline of the Irish economy. In February 2015, Denis McCarthy was appointed chief executive officer of Fexco. McCarthy had been active chief executive since Gavin O'Neill departed the company in 2014. The Currency Exchange Corporation was acquired by Fexco in 2016. In 2018, Fexco turned down a deal to sell Goodbody to a Chinese consortium for €150 million. In November 2019, it was announced that Goodbody could to be sold to

Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ) is a Chinese majority state-owned commercial bank headquartered in Beijing and the fourth largest bank in the world. The Bank of China was founded in 1912 by the Republican government as China's central bank, repl ...

for approximately €150 million, however by July 2020 it was reported that Bank of China was withdrawing from this acquisition citing uncertainty over the Coronavirus pandemic. In March 2021, AIB confirmed that it had agreed to acquire Goodbody Stockbrokers for €138 million.

References

External links

Official website
Financial services companies of the Republic of Ireland Foreign exchange companies Financial technology companies Irish brands {{Ireland-company-stub