Podcasts

WorldRemit’s Catherine Wines: ‘We’re trying to make money transfer as easy as sending texts’

  • Catherine Wines is the co-founder of WorldRemit.
  • She joins us on the Tearsheet Podcast to talk all about international money transfer.
close

Email a Friend

Catherine Wines has seen how technology has impacted the remittance business. When she co-founded WorldRemit in 2010, she envisioned doing to remittance what the online travel agencies had done to their industry. Fast forward a few years and her firm, WorldRemit is one of the fastest growing tech companies in the U.K. and from a valuation perspective, is progressing toward unicorn status. On the podcast this week, we talk about what prompted her to take on such a large, stodgy industry and why it's been so hard to move money internationally. We discuss her view on the role of cash in our economy and WorldRemit's international growth plans. Catherine Wines is our guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast. SubscribeiTunes I SoundCloud Below are highlights from the episode, edited for clarity. Why get into remittance? I used to work in another company doing remittance, but the old fashioned way. People would need to go to a shop to send money. When I left my previous company, I met Ismail Ahmed through a common friend. He had this idea of bringing remittance into the 21st century by bringing the industry online. We've often made the comparison to travel agents. Years ago, when you wanted to book a flight, you used to go to a travel agent in a physical location. It was the same with money remittance. Now, you wouldn't think of booking a flight by going to a shop. You do it online. That's what we wanted to do with moving money: make it a lot more convenient and a lot cheaper. By doing this, we knew we would compete with the large incumbents like Western Union and Moneygram. Why has it been so hard to move money internationally? You have to establish quite a large network. In order for us to be able to send money and have a customer receive it almost instantaneously, you need to have a lot of partners in the recipient's country like in Africa, the Philippines, or Africa. Building that network takes a long time and is quite costly.On the send side, in order to be able to send money, you need to get a license, and that can be quite expensive and time consuming. For example, in the U.S., you have to apply for a license in each and every state. We started in 2014 and now, we have licenses in 48 of 50 states. Where are the banks in the remittance business? Banks have never really gone into remittance because of the need to build these partnerships. Banks couldn't provide the service that their customers wanted. Our products is very much for economic migrants, working overseas and sending money home. They need to send smaller sums of money pretty quickly. Banks just couldn't compete because they work on Swift, which is quite slow and expensive. Where do you see growth in the business coming from? Sending money is about a $500 billion market. A large amount is still sent informally, like people carrying cash with them. There's a big push to move that to more formal channels, like us, making it more convenient and cheaper. We started seven years ago in Europe, and now we've expanded to 50 send countries going to about 140 destinations. We're still a relatively small competitor compared to Western Union, so we're trying to grow our business in existing markets while we expand to new ones.

0 comments on “WorldRemit’s Catherine Wines: ‘We’re trying to make money transfer as easy as sending texts’”

Podcasts

Looking deeper at mortgage demand and products with BMO’s Tom Parrish

  • A BMO survey found that 64% of Americans are delaying homebuying due to concerns about mortgage rates.
  • Tom Parrish, managing director of consumer lending product management at BMO, joins us on the podcast to talk about home buying, financing, and general market trends.
Zachary Miller | September 25, 2023
Partner, Podcasts

‘Getting the model right’: How Regional Finance balances customer-centricity and fraud prevention in digital lending

  • In this episode of the Tearsheet Podcast, Regional Finance explores credit modeling in the digital lending landscape, focusing on the balance between serving customers and preventing fraud.
  • We speak with Chris Martin, head of product management at the $1.5 billion consumer lender, and with Argyle's Matt Gomes, who leads the firm's data and tech efforts in banking and lending.
Zachary Miller | September 21, 2023
Podcasts

Evolving Regulations, Evolving Payroll: The future of Earned Wage Access with Clair CEO Nico Simko

  • In this episode of the Tearsheet Podcast, join us as we delve into the evolving landscape of Earned Wage Access with Nico Simko, CEO of Clair.
  • Nico walks us through the changing regulatory environment, defensible distribution strategies, and his vision for a full-service frontline bank for hourly workers.
Zachary Miller | September 19, 2023
Partner, Podcasts

Navigating the future of digital banking: A conversation with Deloitte’s Nick Cowell

  • Join Nick Cowell, Deloitte Partner, as he discusses the digital banking landscape in North America and how traditional banks are adapting to meet evolving consumer demands.
  • Explore the changing dynamics of the banking industry and learn about the rise of digital neobanks, evolving customer expectations, and the critical success factors for incumbent banks in a digital-first world.
Zachary Miller | September 14, 2023
Modern Marketing, Podcasts

Marketing financial services to Gen Z with Step’s CJ MacDonald and Visa’s Ruben Salazar

  • FIs are beginning to wake up to the importance of Gen Z as an emerging customer. But they don't necessarily know how to reach them and what to say.
  • We speak with Visa's Ruben Salazar and Step's CJ MacDonald about what's working in marketing to the young generation as part of our podcast series on Gen Z.
Zachary Miller | September 12, 2023
More Articles