Fintech firm CurrencyFair is preparing for a major push on the business market as it targets Irish firms and seeks to boost export growth.

The company is offering fee-free international money transfers to Irish businesses for a year, taking inspiration from Cork-based Teamwork, which gave away free software to start-ups.

"Ireland is an exporting country and fintech companies and SMEs should be helping each other to create more cashflow to compete abroad," said chief executive Brett Meyers.

“We want to build on [Teamwork’s] example. Irish companies can take over the world. The banks can’t get rid of high rates but we can, so CurrencyFair wants to help start-ups and SMEs grow.”

The fee-free service will be available in Ireland first but the company hasn’t ruled out expanding it further afield.

New chief marketing officer Nils Anden said Ireland was CurrencyFair’s home market . “We’re an Irish company and we wanted to help Irish businesses,” he said.

The programme is currently capped at 500 businesses, which would make it manageable for the CurrencyFair team, Mr Anden said, and requires the businesses involved to open a CurrrencyFair business account. The transaction fees are being waived for a year from the date the account is opened.

It also marks an escalation of CurrencyFair’s push for business market share, an area that Mr Anden said it had not focused on previously.