Masterworks worked with J.P. Morgan to develop a fully automated solution that would simplify the checkout and foreign exchange process for international investors and the company’s treasury team alike. The company embedded the AccessFX Merchant API from J.P. Morgan into the Masterworks Investor App platform. Now, the platform displays prices in individual users’ local currency based on real-time exchange rates. This helps investors complete their transaction completely in-app without context switching based on a transparent, competitive exchange rate.

When an investor makes a purchase, the solution uses the AccessFX API foreign exchange rates to calculate the local currency amount and requests an in-app pay-by-bank transfer through a third-party API directly from the investor’s personal bank portal. The investor logs into their personal banking portal to approve the request and complete the payment. Next, the AccessFX API automatically performs a spot foreign exchange transaction based on the amount calculated and deposits funds into the Masterworks J.P. Morgan account. Lastly, the funds are distributed to the Masterworks fund accounts for each artwork.

With end-to-end integration, the process – from settling the FX trade to balancing Masterworks’ different currency accounts and depositing funds into each artwork’s fund account – is entirely touchless and takes place in only one business day.