Global Exchange intends to double the size of the company in four years

Salamanca, 11th June 2018.- Global Exchange, the currency exchange company born 22 years ago in a small bureau de change at the border with Portugal, keeps getting bigger thanks to the growth in tourism and it is preparing to exceed new thresholds. Nowadays, it has 270 branches at 60 airports located in 21 countries, after having opened branches in Brazil, Russia, Switzerland, Denmark, Australia, Turkey and Hong Kong during the last two years. “We have gone from being a company eminently focused on the Latin American market to being a global company. Now we are the world’s second biggest company in the sector, with a 10% market share at airports with over one million passengers”, underlines Isidoro Alanís, Global Exchange President, during an interview with CincoDías.

The company is in the midst of the new strategic plan, in which it is estimated that it will double its size in four years. “We want to double the company’s size again. In 2017, we ended the year with 5.5 million customers and we want to reach the 10 million by 2021. We had a turnover of 1100 million and we will reach 2300 million four years later. We attained an ebitda of 15 million and we want to double it”, he emphasizes.

Alanís thinks that world tourism will continue to grow at 5 % per year (it reached a historic high of 1.2 trillion movements in 2017) and this progress will slow down the replacement of cash for others means of payment. “Cash is going to disappear for sure, but I think there are still 50 years left before that happens. Cash issuance in central banks is at historical highs, they have tripled and 70% of operations are carried out in cash. Moreover, there is still much informal economy and people is not willing to let everyone know about their life and to be told how they have to pay”.

The president of Global Exchange specifies that growth will not be limited to any geographical area in particular. “We will be wherever the opportunities are. We don’t care if that is in New Zealand, Argentina, Germany or Kenya. We still have 90% market share to gain. But the strongest company does not reach 22%. The first three manage a 40% and there is still a 60% in which you don’t have to compete with big competitors”.

This company started opening bureaux de change in cities and it has shifted the business towards big airports, where it has focused a big part of its latest openings. “Airports are the transit zones of world tourism and the WTO estimates that the tourism will continue to grow. We already have an image, brand and presence at airports and we are going to concentrate our efforts there.

Convenience, promptness and good prices

“We want to provide home delivery service for the currencies trough online orders or either to send them to the airports”, highlights Alanis. In his opinion, this channel is going to be very important as an additional service. “The digital world is going to transform our sector. Young customers want convenience, promptness and good prices.”

Sell dismissed

The company is run by five shareholders (Alanis and three brothers, with an 18% of the share capital each) and his mother, with a 28%). “Right now we are not considering having new shareholders in the short run, but we do not dismiss the idea in the long run if it is due to a growth decision and it requires additional capital”.

About Global Exchange

Global Exchange is a Spanish multinational and one of the top three worldwide specialised in the provision of currency exchange services at international airports and other major tourist destinations. Founded in 1996 in Fuentes de Oñoro, a small village in the province of Salamanca (Spain), Global Exchange has a branch network of more than 260 branches in 55 international airports over the five continents. Present in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Spain,Guatemala, Jamaica, Jordan, Morocco, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, Russia, Australia, Hong Kong and Turkey, the company ended up last year 2017 with 5,5 million Customers served and with over 2000 employees, 350 of them working in Spain.