In Tel Aviv, a neobank built specifically for migrants was founded. It was launched in Europe last summer and now it’s live across the whole Eurozone, helping migrants manage their finances abroad and send money home to regions across Asia and Africa.
Migrants mostly seek a one-stop-shop in which they are able to manage all their finances in just one app. At this moment, they have as many as four accounts to make the transactions to home possible. This is where Rewire comes in.
It offers two major services – banking in Europe (including an account and debit card) and international money transfers to countries such as India, Nigeria, and Kenya.
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Co-founder and CEO Guy Kashtan: “Eventually, we want to be the financial marketplace for migrants. Hosts don’t treat migrants like normal customers”
“Hosts don’t treat migrants like normal customers,” says Kashtan, “they assume that migrants don’t want to consume advanced financial services on a regular basis like native customers. It’s a chicken and an egg situation”.
As about 100,000 customers use Rewire, it processes approx. $300 million a year. Its revenue comes from money transfer fees, but Kashtan adds that in the next several years money transfers will be free like its basic banking services, as they will be able to charge bank and lending partners fees instead.
