remittance
Pomelo exits stealth mode with $20M seed to rethink international money transfer
Eric Velasquez Frenkiel had a seemingly simple thought when visiting his family in the Philippines, impressed by the cashless economy that had formed. Instead of sending money to his family once a yea
Africa-focused fintech Zazuu raises $2M to scale its cross-border payment marketplace
The remittance inflows to sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade have been on an upward trajectory since 2020; last year, it increased by more than 6% to $45 billion. However, the steady rise of remi
Papaya Global to buy Azimo for $150M-$200M to expand its payroll payments to more markets
Six months after raising $250 million, Papaya Global is making a key acquisition to expand its cloud-based HR and payroll platform globally on the heels of major surge in remote working. The Isra
Nigerian digital bank Yep! raises $1.5M pre-seed for its ‘financial super app’ play
Agency banking is big business in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. It involves agents or merchants, who act as human ATMs, offering financial services such as transfers, savings and payouts to the unde
Tanzanian fintech NALA raises $10M seed to build Revolut for Africa
NALA, a Tanzanian cross-border payments company that recently pivoted from local to international money transfers, said Thursday it has raised $10 million in a new fundraising round. The seed round is
Is cryptocurrency an alternative to remittances or an additive factor?
Is cryptocurrency an effective replacement for remittances? No, at least not yet.
Taptap Send raises $65M to build cross-border remittances focused on the most underserved markets
Cross-border remittances — when people living and working abroad send money back home to friends and family — continues to be a huge part of how those living in developing countries, off t
Chipper Cash gets $2B valuation with $150M extension round led by FTX
Chipper Cash, an African cross-border payments company, has raised $150 million in a Series C extension round led by Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX. The investment comes ba
Crypto remittances are a lifeline for the world’s most vulnerable
Crypto has already revolutionized remittances in unstable, conflict-ridden places. Afghanistan presents a textbook use case for cryptocurrencies in failed states.
Kenya’s Wapi Pay raises $2.2M pre-seed for cross-border payments between Africa and Asia
According to the World Bank, it is more expensive to send money to sub-Saharan Africa than to any region in the world. It is also the most expensive region to send money from. In Q1 2020, people spent
Accel-backed mobile money platform NALA to start offering remittance services to East Africa
According to a McKinsey report, the total number of mobile money services worldwide was 282 in 2017, with more than half of those operating in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2020, these numbers increased si
Afriex raises $1.2M seed to scale its payments and remittances platform across Africa
Sending money from the U.S. to Nigeria can be a painstaking process. For remittance platforms like Western Union, it will cost a transfer fee and take between one to five business days for money sent
Sendmi lets you allocate part of your paycheck for remittance
Meet Sendmi, a fintech startup that is launching today in the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. Sendmi works pretty much like a 401k or a Flexible Spending Account. But instead of saving m
TransferWise’s debit card launches in Australia and New Zealand, with Singapore to follow
International money transfer startup TransferWise’s debit card is now available in Australia and New Zealand, with a Singapore launch expected by the end of this year as the company expands its pres
Remitly raises $220M to expand from money transfers to financial services, now at ~$1B valuation
When it comes to financial services in emerging markets, remittances — people sending money to each other across international borders, often not to established bank accounts — continues t
Facebook is discontinuing P2P payments in Messenger in the UK and France on June 15
Facebook is pulling away from its ambitions to provide peer-to-peer money transfers via Messenger in Europe. Today, the company announced that it would be discontinuing the service — which let i
Regarding Facebook’s cryptocurrency
If Bloomberg and the New York Times are to be believed, later this year Facebook will introduce a cryptocurrency which will allow WhatsApp users to send money instantly. Yes, that’s right: Faceb
Alibaba’s Ant Financial buys UK currency exchange giant WorldFirst reportedly for around $700M
Ant Financial, the financial services behemoth affiliated with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has made its first big move into Europe. It’s acquired London-headquartered payments company Worl
TransferWise moves into Asia Pacific with opening of regional HQ in Singapore
TransferWise, the billion-dollar valued startup that reduces the cost of cross-border payments, has taken a big step to globalizing its service after it opened an Asia Pacific office in Singapore. Th
Veem, formerly Align Commerce, gets $24M from GV, others for its Venmo for SMBs
Remittances — the business of money transfers — is a fragmented and huge market, currently estimated to be worth some $25 trillion annually. Now, one of the more interesting startups in th