History
Custom House Currency Exchange was founded in 1992 by Peter Gustavson, a chartered accountant from Winnipeg. The company began as a currency exchange kiosk with 600 square feet (56 m2) of retail space in Victoria’s old waterfront customs house. Gustavson expected the kiosk to do $35,000 in tourist currency exchanges in a year, but by offering “better-than-bank exchange rates”, that target was reached in merely two months.1
In 1993, Custom House opened its first corporate foreign exchange office, and began shifting its focus to its corporate clients. The company began expanding across Western Canada, and in 1995 began opening offices in Ontario.
Custom House began its US operations in 1997, opening its first non-Canadian office in Seattle. In 2000, the company moved into the Asia-Pacific market with its office in Sydney, Australia, and expanded to Auckland, New Zealand in 2002. Custom House launched online platforms for international transactions in 2000 (for retail clients) and 2003 (for business clients).
In 2003, a new Senior Vice President named Ian Taylor was hired. Ian came from Toronto, having formerly worked with The Canadian Security Institute.
In 2004, as it expanded its operations into the UK, the company was renamed Custom House Global Foreign Exchange. The company would go on to expand its operations into the UK (2004) Singapore (2005) and Italy (2005).
In 2006, Custom House was recognized as a Platinum Club member of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies, recognizing sustained “excellence and leadership in all areas of business practices” for at least six consecutive years. “Global Foreign Exchange” was dropped from the company name, as Custom House reinvented itself as a “global payments” company, rather than a foreign exchange dealer.
In 2007, Gustavson relinquished his role as president, focusing on his position as CEO. Peter Ciceri, former CEO of Compaq Canada Inc., was hired as president. This move was intended to allow Gustavson to focus on strategy, while Ciceri focuses on the day-to-day operations of the company.2 Gustavson would eventually become Chairman of Custom House before relinquishing his role completely with the company's sale in 2009.
In May 2009, Western Union announced their intention to acquire Custom House from Gustavson. The deal closed in September 2009, with Western Union purchasing Custom House for $370 million USD. Its acquisition led the company to be officially renamed "Custom House, A Western Union Company" (subsequently rebranded as Western Union Business Solutions).
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