ⓘ Featured image: Hubpay founder & CEO, Kevin Kilty; credits: LinkedIn
Dubai-based Hubpay, a digital wallet solution for remittances has recently announced that it has closed a seed funding round with the US-based venture capital firm, Signal Peak Ventures, with participation from Falcon Network. The amount funding has not been disclosed yet.
The company in a statement said that the funds will be deployed towards the launch of its digital wallet in the Middle East market. The company is in the advanced stages of licensing process from the Money Services License in the UAE.
The company through its platform aims to enable a low-cost digital remittance and international bill payment ecosystem – addressing both the remittance market and mobile money market.
Commenting over the funding deal, Kevin Kilty, founder & CEO of Hubpay in a statement quoted,
“The fintech market in the Middle East is at a turning point. A wave of new digital regulatory regimes has been launched enabling businesses like Hubpay to offer fully digital solutions to users in one of the largest remittance markets in the world,”
Sharing his vision for the post-COVID-19 crisis, Kilty further added,
“In a post-Covid-19 world, the digitalisation of remittances will accelerate, creating better access and supporting financial inclusion for the international remittance community.”
As mentioned in a press release issued by Hubpay, UAE is the third-largest market for remittances in the world, with a $44 billion worth of payments made in 2019. Gulf countries are exceeding remittances those of the US, and the majority of these flows going to be the fastest-growing mobile money markets in the world; India, Pakistan, Philippines, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. The remittance channels provide a direct route to the $3trn digital wallet market across Asia.
As part of Hubpay’s international strategy, the company has been selected for the Visa Fast Track program, enabling Hubpay to leverage Visa’s payment infrastructure and further scale the business.
Adding to which, Otto Williams, Vice President – Strategic Partnerships, Ventures and Fintechs, CEMEA at Visa said,
“The Visa Fintech Fast Track program makes it easier for fintechs to partner with us and access the global Visa payments network. Channelling the payment capabilities, brand assets and expertise of Visa, with the ideas, passion and entrepreneurial spirit of fintechs, enables our continued growth. We look forward to working with Hubpay and connecting them and their solutions with our bank and merchant partners, so that innovative new commerce experiences can be delivered with scale and with pace.”
