WorldRemit Steps Into B2B Transfer Market

Remittence technology firm WorldRemit is stepping into the cross-border B2B money transfer market with the launch of WorldRemit For Business, reports in Africa News said Wednesday (June 12).

WorldRemit for Business enables small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to pay employees and contractors across 140 countries. U.K.-registered businesses will have first access to the cross-border solution, reports noted, allowing SMBs to track the movement of funds in real time and receive notifications about foreign exchange rates to initiate transfers at the opportune moment.

“When I first started WorldRemit, I was frustrated with the high charges and long delays in sending money abroad both as a business owner and consumer,” said WorldRemit Founder and Executive Chairman Ismail Ahmed in a statement. “Over the past nine years, we’ve made it easier for 4 million people around the globe to send and receive money.”

In another statement, the firm’s senior product manager for business, Shane Lennox, said, “With more people moving and settling across borders, the nature of business is becoming increasingly global. This new product offering is catering for those in need of a digital service that solves a number of pain points faced by SMEs with international staff and contractors.”

The launch of WorldRemit for Business comes just days after the company announced it raised $175 million in venture capital. The Series D round was led by TCV, Accel and Leapfrog Investments, all returning investors. The company said at the time it would use the investment to focus on international expansion.

Last year the company became the first U.K. financial services company to secure money transfer licenses in all 50 U.S. states, with the U.S. now the company’s second-largest market.

“In 2018, mobile and online payments to emerging markets reached a record high of $528 billion and we expect this number to increase,” said TV General Partner John Doran in a statement this month.

While WorldRemit has gained traction as an enabler of mobile and digital peer-to-peer payments across borders, the company’s launch of WorldRemit for Business signals its expansion into the B2B payments market.