Strategies of OFX for Small and Medium Businesses: CEO Skander Malcolm Discusses H1 2025 Outcomes
In the first half of 2025, Australian digital currency exchange OFX announced its strategic shift towards the B2B market, aiming to navigate the complexities of the Small and Medium Business (SMB) sector. This move comes amid a challenging macroeconomic environment that has impacted the company's financial results.
According to OFX's H1 2025 results, the company's net cash held decreased by 19.5% Year-over-Year (YoY) to A$74.7 million, primarily due to a share buyback of A$3.3 million and a debt repayment of A$11.5 million. Despite this, the company's net interest income remained flat at 3.8% YoY to A$4.4 million. However, fee and trading income declined 0.09% YoY to A$114.5 million, and net operating income (NOI) decreased 3.5% YoY to A$111.2 million.
In an interview with the media, OFX's CEO, Skander Malcolm, outlined the company's strategy for the SMB space. Malcolm emphasised a gradual but purposeful shift from serving individual SMB clients towards building comprehensive B2B payment solutions that can scale with their clients' growing international business needs.
Key Approaches for Navigating the SMB Space
OFX is targeting high-growth SMB segments with increasing cross-border payment needs, recognising these as critical to expanding their footprint in the B2B market. To cater to these clients' complexities, the company is upgrading its technology to provide more tailored, scalable solutions. This includes multi-currency transactions, compliance, and integration with business accounting systems.
OFX is also increasing collaboration with banks, fintechs, and other financial service providers to broaden distribution channels and reach a wider network of SMBs transitioning into B2B clients. A strategic priority is improving the user experience and providing dedicated account management for SMBs, ensuring personalised service and support that B2B customers require.
Using data insights to better understand SMB customer behaviour and payment flows helps OFX optimise its offerings and provide more value-added services. The company is also investing in its New Client Platform (NCP), designed for borderless transactions and global spend management, which was launched for Australian corporations in June.
Risk Management Strategies for SMBs
The interview with Malcolm also discussed OFX's strategies for risk management for SMBs. The specifics of how OFX is addressing the SMB market and its risk management strategies were not disclosed in the interview.
Despite the challenging macroeconomic conditions, OFX saw significant growth in the Corporate segment, with regional revenue for Europe increasing by 77.6% YoY. The Enterprise segment also continued to grow, with revenue up 6% YoY to A$4.4 million, achieving a three-year compound annual growth rate of 24.5%.
However, OFX experienced negative Q2 results due to market conditions that fell short of expectations. The long-term strategy of OFX involves a significant shift towards the B2B market, with the NCP expected to introduce new income streams for the company.
In conclusion, OFX is working diligently to address the challenges in the SMB market and position itself as a trusted partner in the evolving cross-border payments landscape. The company's strategic focus on growth segments, platform capabilities, partnerships, customer experience, data insights, and risk management is designed to support the growing international business needs of its clients.
- Skander Malcolm, OFX's CEO, stated that they are investing in technology upgrades to offer tailored, scalable solutions for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs), such as multi-currency transactions, compliance, and integration with business accounting systems.
- In their effort to navigate the complexities of the SMB sector, OFX is also looking to collaborate with banks, fintechs, and other financial service providers to broaden their distribution channels, reach a wider network of SMBs, and provide dedicated account management to ensure personalized service.
