Global Currency Services & COVID-19: Where We Are Now

In March, Ontario braced itself to shut down for what many assumed would be a two -week extension of March break. Fearing the worst, we collectively held our breath and waited for the provincial list of essential services to be released. As my team and I hoped and expected, financial services were listed as essential services on both provincially issued lists.

Our Three Priorities

In planning over the last four months, and for the upcoming months, we have prioritized the health of our staff, the health of our clients, and the health of the economy in our decision making. 

In prioritizing the health of our staff, we decided to eliminate the transactions for people who had just returned from international travel.

In prioritizing the health of our clients, we opted to close our lobby in order to eliminate exposure to germs that might be present.

In prioritizing the health of our economy, we wanted to ensure that businesses were able to transact and issue wire payments to their suppliers. Invoices needed to be paid so that imported goods could continue to arrive. Keeping the supply chain open was a priority for us from the start of this pandemic.

In closing our lobby, and in liming our hours, we quickly developed a process to be able to help clients without having face-to-face interactions. New clients can establish an account relationship with Global Currency Services from the comfort of their own home or office, and we can move money without requiring physical cash or cheques. In short, we can keep everyone safe and ensure that businesses continue to thrive.

On July 15th, with some renewed uptake in European travel, we extended our hours and our services to include some cash services. Prioritizing our clients, we want to ensure that we’re able to provide them with the currency they need for the essential travel that they have planned.

From 9 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday, we are going to continue to maintain this new status quo. Our three health-related priories remain strong and, if we find ourselves unable to protect staff, clients, or the economy, we are prepared to act accordingly and make adjustments where needed. Upcoming changes to our physical space, our technology, and our team will allow us to enhance our current and future efforts. We want to thank all of our clients for understanding why we’ve chosen these three priories and why they are important to us. We want to thank the Provincial Government for understanding that the services we provide are essential. We also want to thank the Federal Government for the numerous business supports that it has extended to help the economy. Please feel free to view a list of our current services and reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

Many of our clients have used our services over the years for sourcing currency needed for their upcoming trips. Our business, like many businesses, offers many services, and we have two distinct client groups.

Clients that have only used our currency services are almost always travelers. They might not immediately understand why our business falls under the ‘essential service’ umbrella.

Other clients that use our services to transfer funds internationally, understand why our business remained open to the public over the past four months.

Imagine that you own a company that produces hand sanitizer. This company imports several of the product components, including product packaging, necessary ingredients, and needs to send international wire transfers to pay for IT support for their online store.

If this business can’t pay their invoices, they would no longer be able to manufacture the hand sanitizer that we all depend on.

Alternately, imagine that you have family in South America and they have been devastated by COVID-19. They are unable to work, and their government has not offered the same support that we have been lucky to receive here in Canada. Your family depends on your financial support to acquire the basic necessities of life – and if we aren’t able to send these funds on your behalf, your family must go without.

We are privileged to have been able to continue to serve clients over the past four months.

Our branch is currently open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday. We are very much looking forward to expanding our hours and our services in the coming months.

We’re essential only because your needs are essential . We’re going to continue to work hard to ensure that your personal and your business needs are met. Please get in touch with us here if there is anything that we can help you with at this time!