- Kwadwo, a fintech startup founder in Kenya, is almost at his wit’s end because he just can’t find a way to pay for his business tools like AWS, Slack, Mailchimp, etc.
- Bola, the finance manager at a large supply chain company in Nigeria, is struggling to send a chunk of money to her supplier in London.
- Ebiyaa, the owner of a fast-growing restaurant in Ghana, needs to pay her grapes supplier in France.
They all have the same problem – paying for things or sending and receiving money internationally. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably had similar issues, too.
The answer seems simple: cross-border payments. But Eben Ghanney, founder of WeWire, who had also experienced these problems, quickly found out that it wasn’t that simple; existing solutions were either not readily available or often tedious to use. This began the WeWire journey!
Building WeWire
While Eben was a country manager with a retail-based financial company, he saw a massive demand for cross-border payment solutions from many business owners who wanted to move money from one market to another. At the time, liquidity was either unavailable in the currency they needed or priced too high. When the first two aligned, settlements took too long. This caused businesses to lose money and opportunities. It hindered growth and stopped ambitious companies from operating globally.
Businesses needed a fast, reliable, and dynamic payment vehicle for their multi currency needs. In April 2022, WeWire was formally launched to solve these cross-border payment problems. The dream was to create a sustainable and scalable product that sits at the intersection of businesses and the markets they want to reach.
The first WeWire OTC desk was set up in April 2021. Businesses soon began arriving with Cedis, Naira, and Kenyan Shillings, asking for international payments to be made to the US, UK, China, and numerous other nations for their import, manufacturing, technology, and logistics operations. At the end of its first year of business, WeWire hit a transaction volume of $210 million!
WeWire replicated the OTC platform with a customer-facing web app that allows customers to enjoy fully digital cross-border payments through multi-currency wallets and dollar-denominated virtual business cards. Through their most recent strategic partnership, they now provide virtual NGN accounts to business owners worldwide.
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Expansion
Expanding internationally became a no-brainer as WeWire’s clients began to grow into new markets. Watching their clients grow and break international boundaries without limitation was exciting.
Following the expansion drive and increased capabilities across countries and currencies, WeWire grew exponentially. By 2023, they had recorded an all-time high of $1.1 billion in transactions processed across 80+ countries. They say the average lifespan of a startup is three years, but in a little less than that time, WeWire has beaten the odds, painted Ghana orange, and continued to expand its reach and impact into new countries.
At the core of what drives WeWire’s passion is the opportunity to give businesses a chance to play globally without worrying about payments or losing funds. The vision has continued to expand its wings beyond Africa’s borders, and WeWire now trades multiple foreign and local currencies in China, Germany, Mauritius, Canada, Belgium, and many other countries. WeWire boasts a smooth, fast, and fully compliant onboarding process with a turnaround time of T+1, a record in the industry!
Over the past few years, WeWire has processed transactions for Financial Institutions, Pharmaceuticals, Automobile Companies, Agribusinesses, Hospitality, importers and exporters, manufacturers, FMCGs, Travel Agencies, Cargo and logistics, Oil & Gas, and OEM Distributors.
Agriculture and food are vital sectors because they represent value in the drive toward ending poverty and hunger and achieving food security in Africa’s poverty-plagued environment. WeWire is deepening its activities in the agricultural sectors, helping aggregator farmers, food producers, importers, exporters, and restaurant owners access liquidity to trade and on-the-go treasury management for their funds.
Becoming Something More
Growth births evolution. To accommodate the vision and the market opportunities beyond the continent, Wewire Africa has rebranded to WeWire.
With payout capabilities in over 80 countries, including China, Canada, USA, UK, Belgium, Germany, and many others, it is crucial that the brand represents its value proposition—global cross-border payment solutions. WeWire has helped over 1,500 businesses cross borders through payments, and now its new playground is the entire globe.
From a financial technology company out of Ghana, WeWire has grown its technology and its people beyond Africa. Unsurprisingly, in December 2023, WeWire was recognized as the Largest B2B Tech Startup out of Ghana and won the Fintech of the Year award at the Ghana Innovation and Startup Awards. These awards are not just laurels, but a testament to the reliability of a product that has helped thousands of businesses thrive.
What the future holds
In 2024, WeWire looks to build its global presence and deepen its activities in markets beyond its current locations. In about 22 months, the company has given customers access to a round-the-clock OTC money transfer service, multi-currency wallets, virtual accounts, and virtual cards. WeWire is taking on a new adventure to place a mobile and more accessible version of its product on the market and provide an integration that allows businesses to aggregate rates across multiple liquidity providers. The vision? The company’s leadership sees a world where businesses of all sizes can use WeWire as a hub for business payments, treasury services, and financial education.
The end goal is to make business and individual cross-border payments happen faster than ever. As we gaze into the horizons of innovation and opportunity, WeWire stands poised on the brink of a new era in global finance.
WeWire’s extraordinary journey is paving the way for a world where borders are not barriers but gateways to limitless opportunity. They want to help businesses break boundaries, cross borders, and soar to new heights of success. The future of cross-border payments is here, and it’s called WeWire.
