Frank’s idea grew into ¤100m company

FRANK MURPHY invented what is now generally called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) in the mid 1990s – the success story of Monex is as a result of that.

Basically, DCC converts the value of the local currency of a country into your familiar currency at an ATM.

So, if you withdraw £50 Sterling from an ATM in London it will tell you how much that’s worth in euro, thanks to DCC; very handy when you’re abroad.

The DCC service was first implemented with the Hertz rent-a-car franchise in Ireland in 1996.

As the world's largest provider of DCC solutions, Monex now serves a wide variety of geographic areas and market sectors including: retail, financial services, E- Commerce and hospitality.

The company's client list includes well-known companies from a wide range of industries, that include Bank of China (Hong Kong), Ryanair (Europe), Europcar, Hertz Car Hire, Fullerton Hotel, Ritz Carlton Hotels, Shangri-La Hotels and Marriott Group.

Based in Killarney, the company is now estimated to be worth in excess of €100 million and handles more than €20bn worth of credit card transactions annually.

In 2012 Monex paid shareholders Frank Murphy and Michael Crowley a €6.4m dividend, with the Banteer farmer claiming 84%.

That year he also claimed over €705,000 in patent royalties from the company.

Among the current options for the company is to sell, if the price is right, or float on the stock exchange.