Wallets/zepz
Zepz
0 standards supported
Overview
Zepz is a UK-headquartered digital cross-border remittance group, the parent company of the consumer brands WorldRemit (Zepz) and Sendwave 1, 2. Originally founded as WorldRemit in 2010 by Ismail Ahmed, the group rebranded its corporate entity to Zepz in 2021 after acquiring Sendwave, while keeping both customer-facing brands. Zepz moves money digitally from migrants in higher-income countries to recipients across Africa, Asia, Latin America and beyond — primarily into bank accounts, mobile money wallets and cash pickup 1.
History
2010 — WorldRemit founded 1 in London by Ismail Ahmed, a Somali-British former UN remittance adviser.
2010-2019 — Digital-first remittance growth 1: WorldRemit builds an app/web-based alternative to cash-agent incumbents, serving 150+ countries.
2020 — Acquires Sendwave 2: WorldRemit acquires Africa-focused, low-fee mobile remittance app Sendwave for ~$500M.
2021 — Corporate rebrand to Zepz 2: The holding company becomes Zepz, operating WorldRemit and Sendwave as distinct consumer brands; raises a $292M round at a >$5B valuation (Accel, TCV, Leapfrog, others).
2022-2025 — Consolidation + cost discipline 1: Rounds of restructuring amid fintech downturn while continuing to grow remittance volumes across two brands.
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: Zepz Group (London, UK) — holding company for WorldRemit and Sendwave.
Founder: Ismail Ahmed (WorldRemit founder).
Major investors: Accel, TCV, Leapfrog Investments, Technology Crossover Ventures, Farallon Capital, others.
Regulators:
- United Kingdom: FCA (authorised payment institution / e-money).
- United States: FinCEN MSB + state money-transmitter licenses.
- Other markets: per-country financial regulators.
Technical integration
Zepz operates app/web digital remittance across two brands 1:
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Channels | WorldRemit + Sendwave apps (iOS + Android) + web |
| Identifiers | Email + phone number + recipient bank account + card number |
| Funding | Sender debit/credit card, bank transfer |
| Payout rails | Recipient bank deposit, mobile money (M-Pesa, MTN MoMo, Airtel, etc.), cash pickup |
| Coverage | Send from ~50 countries to 130+ receive markets |
Implementations & partners
Operator: Zepz Group.
Consumer brands: WorldRemit (Zepz) (broad corridor coverage), Sendwave (Africa-focused, low/zero fee, mobile-first).
Payout partners: M-Pesa (Safaricom), MTN MoMo, Airtel Money, Orange Money, banks and cash-pickup networks across Africa/Asia/LatAm.
Competitors: Remitly, Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria Money Transfer, Xoom (PayPal), Wise, TapTap Send.
Status
Active, dual-brand digital remittance group 1, 2:
- Zepz Group (London) — parent of WorldRemit + Sendwave.
-
$5B peak valuation (2021); ~20M customers served across brands.
- Founder Ismail Ahmed; backed by Accel, TCV, Leapfrog.
Sources
Source
Biography extracted from zepz.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.