Remitly acquires Israeli remittance firm Rewire for US$80mn

Remitly, the mobile-first provider of remittances and financial services for immigrants and their families, has agreed to acquire Israeli-based counterpart Rewire in a deal worth approximately US$80mn.

Founded in 2015 with offices in Amsterdam and Tel Aviv, Rewire has built a financial services platform aimed at migrant workers. Remitly says that the fintech is “geographically complementary” to its own services, with CEO Matt Oppenheimer telling FinTech Magazine earlier this month that he draws constant inspiration from the “amazing stuff” happening in fintech outside the US and Europe.

Remitly expects that its latest acquisition will help it develop deeper relationships with customers, provide additional flexibility and convenience, and add further capacity and expertise through the onboarding of Rewire’s own product development and engineering teams.

Rewire ‘shares Remitly's deep commitment to customers’

Remitly CEO and Co-founder Matt Oppenheimer says: “From the start, Remitly has focused on delivering trusted digital financial services to serve immigrant communities around the world. We share with Rewire a deep commitment to our customers and that mission. Peace of mind starts with a trusted means for sending money home for critical costs. Rewire accelerates our progress as, together, we will continue to bring to market trusted financial services that are inclusive and accessible to all.”

Guy Kashtan, CEO and Co-founder of Rewire, adds: “We are thrilled to join the team at Remitly and continue our important mission of making financial systems more inclusive for migrants, as we see the community-based approach we have taken to build Rewire as highly complementary to Remitly’s approach. We see a huge opportunity as we combine forces to accelerate the adoption of some of the innovative products we have developed to enhance the lives of customers sending money around the world and managing their finances.”

The acquisition of Rewire is the latest step forward for Remitly following a period of solid growth. Earlier this month, it reported its Q2 results, which – on top of quarterly revenue of US$157mn – show that the company increased its active customers by 43% year-on-year, going from 2.4mn in the same quarter last year to 3.4mn this time round. In the same time, its send volume increased from US$5bn to US$7bn.

Remitly on a mission to transform lives of migrants

In June, Remitly signalled its intent by making two key leadership appointments. Hemanth Munipalli joined from Expedia as Chief Financial Officer before the company recruited Rina Hahn as its new Chief Marketing Officer.

In the August issue of FinTech Magazine, CEO Oppenheimer tells us the company is focused on transforming the lives of immigrants and their families by promoting trusted financial services, creating more accessibility and equity in the world of remittances.

It's a successful exit for Rewire, which earlier this year raised US$25mn in investment led by the likes of Migdal Insurance and BNP Paribas.