Five-Year-Old Paysend Looks to a Big Year After Its Expansion to 7 Million Users

Digital alternatives to the long-time money-transfer services from The Western Union Co. and MoneyGram International Inc. are developing fast, a fact underscored by an announcement Tuesday by Paysend Group that its user count in the U.S. market now stands at more than half a million, up by two-thirds over the past year. Worldwide, Paysend now serves some 7 million users, nearly double the number a year ago.

The United Kingdom-based company, which opened its Americas base in Miami only in April, credits links to real-time services like Mastercard Send and Visa Direct for helping to fuel growth. It also relies on its connection to the card-based money-transfer app Movii. With the U.S. market growth, Paysend now processes for some 7 million users worldwide, the company says.

The company’s leadership isn’t shy about the ultimate implications of the company’s recent expansion. “Through Paysend’s partnership advancements within the U.S. market and Latin America, we’ve moved closer to increasing financial inclusion for the 2 billion unbanked and underbanked people around the world,” said Jairo Riveros, chief strategy officer and managing director of North America and Latin America for Paysend, in a statement.

The link to Visa Direct, for example, which was forged only in the past 12 months, allows U.S users to transfer money to Visa cardholders in 107 countries and territories. Paysend had earlier clinched a deal to use Mastercard Send, a similar service. “As more and more people in the U.S. and Latin America require services to help them send funds, Paysend has continued to expand its cross-border transfer services to include bank accounts in Latin America,” added Riveros.

Now the company is working to introduce this year international transfers via the automated clearing house. That service will rely on the Open*CP Fintech API from Central Payments LLC, a Dell Rapids, S.D.-based payments-technology provider and a unit of Central Bank of Kansas City. The application programming interface from Central Payments offers a banking-as-a-service capability.

Founded in 2017, Paysend has secured plenty of funding to support its ambitions. A year ago, it closed on a $125-million Series B round led by One Peak Partners LLP. It has also enjoyed fast growth in a highly competitive business that includes such rivals as PayPal, Wise (formerly TransferWise), and Revolut.