User story - SIRPLUS
"It is so easy to make international payments with Crezco. Having used Wise, Revolut and other banks before, it is clear Crezco was designed for businesses. Our payments are easily setup by team members, I authorise them in seconds, and reconcilliation within Xero is automated. There are no unnecessary layers of complexity or hidden fees."
Henry
Founder, SIRPLUS
Company intro
SIRPLUS is based on a simple idea: that throwing away fabric that's no longer wanted or isn't "cool" anymore isn't, well...cool anymore.
Every high street fashion brand has a story about their environmental credentials. But for us, it's at the core of everything we do and where we began.
Our origin was simple to start with. Henry Hales, our founder, discovered that London's shirt-makers often ended up with surplus fabric after making their garments. Usually that fabric was just thrown away, considered no longer sellable or useful.
So, SIRPLUS was born.
Key benefits
- Pay international suppliers in multiple currencies
- Prepare and share batch payments
- Track payments in real-time
Challenge
The creative team at SIRPLUS design and skillfully craft their pieces from the surplus fabrics and material thrown away by other manufacturing houses, being no longer considered sellable or useful. This is key to their environment and sustainable efforts. As SIRPLUS has grown, they have had to widen their supply chain to source the most appropriate and organic fabrics from further and further afield. SIRPLUS now works with suppliers across the globe. Working with multiple suppliers in multiple countries in multiple currencies presents multiple challenges. One being supplier payments.
"We buy surplus material from a dozens of suppliers all over Europe and paying all their invoices is a nightmare. The exchange rates are not good, it's slow and we have poor visibility on the status of payments."
SIRPLUS had to find a single solution to pay all their suppliers in every selected currency. Henry, the founder and CEO, needed a simple, cost-effective and secure payment solution to make payments internationally and to track them efficiently, without having to set up each payment himself.
Solution
Crezco's account-to-account payment allows SIRPLUS to make payments in 37 currencies to 180 countries. With open banking, international payments are easy because businesses do not need a separate account for foreign payments only. Instead company funds and payments are made directly from an existing bank, with FSCS deposit protection. Crezco collects the funds domestically in GBP and immediately converts the currencies with transparent exchange rates and low fees to settle locally with foreign suppliers.
"Crezco is a wonderful payment solution. Not having to create an e-wallet or to rely on other foreign currency accounts without deposit protection removes a lot of friction. Combine that with low fees, transparent exchange rates and bulk payments and you have the best payments provider for international supplier payments."
By leveraging open banking, Crezco provides frictionless, easy and secure international payments. SIRPLUS pays all its suppliers from one single platform, Crezco. The result is a simple and error-free payment solution, saving time and money.
"The Crezco team is awesome. Their product is not complicated to use but if you have any questions or need help, they are always available and happy to help. A real pleasure in a world that tries to automate and make everything impersonal."
Results
SIRPLUS saves dozens of hours each month making payments through Crezco. This is especially useful for Henry, the founder and CEO of SIRPLUS, who is now capable of initiating approved supplier payments in seconds. Payments are pulled in from Xero, checked by Josh, part of the SIRPLUS team, and approved by Henry, who no longer has to enter the details manually himself.
"I can now delegate payments to Josh and just approve them with a single click when he shares the pay run with me."
SIRPLUS also saves on fees by using Crezco for its international payments. Crezco's fees are only 0.3% (depending on the currency) while banks charge between 1% and 3%!
"It is so easy to make international payments with Crezco. Having used Wise, Revolut and other banks before, it is clear Crezco was designed for businesses. Our payments are easily setup by team members, I authorise them in seconds, and reconcilliation within Xero is automated. There are no unnecessary layers of complexity or hidden fees. This is the best way to make payments easily and securely to our suppliers around the world!"
With this partnership, SIRPLUS joins thousands of companies using Crezco today to simplify, accelerate and secure their international payments.
Next steps
SIRPLUS celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2021, and they are brimming with ideas of what to do and where they want to go next. They will stay close to their values and continue to work with suppliers who share the same values. Crezco will continue to help SIRPLUS grow even further. We are proud to share their values and to contribute to building a better world together.
"We’ll continue to design with a vision of your clothes lasting longer, being worn more often and adapting to a variety of seasons. We just opened a new flagship store in Marylebone and we are now open across six stores the city that we call home, London. We’ll continue to partner with causes to create positive change in the world. We’ll continue to listen to our local communities and our customers on how we can serve you best. Oh, and we still make our boxers from surplus fabric ten years on... some things are too good to change!"
