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Sendwave

“Can a zero-fee remittance app become the full financial operating system for cross-border diaspora communities — combining wallets, stablecoin spending, credit, and remittances in one mobile product?”

Founded2014
HQBoston, Massachusetts (Delaware-incorporated), United States
FoundersDrew Durbin, Lincoln Quirk
Total raised~$500M acquisition price (WorldRemit/Zepz, 2021); prior Sendwave funding undisclosed
Latest roundAcquired by WorldRemit Group (Zepz) for ~$500M in cash and stock, February 2021
IndustryFintech / Cross-border payments
The story

Founded in 2014 as a lean mobile-first remittance startup focused on Africa, Sendwave differentiated on zero-fee transfers and direct mobile-money-wallet delivery. After its $500M acquisition by WorldRemit (now Zepz) in 2021, it was positioned as the low-cost, mobile-native brand within the Zepz group. From 2023 onward, Sendwave began evolving from a pure remittance pipe into a broader financial super-app for cross-border communities — launching a US banking product (Sendwave Pay), then a digital-dollar wallet, stablecoin-linked Visa cards, and (through the Pomelo acquisition) credit and card products targeting immigrant and diaspora segments.

Last 12 months
2024-09
2025-10
2025-12
Product timeline
2014
Founded in Boston; launched mobile-first remittance service targeting African countries, beginning with Kenya and Ghana, with direct-to-mobile-wallet transfers.· pivot
2020
Expanded beyond Africa to South Asian markets including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.· banking
2021
Acquired by WorldRemit Group (subsequently renamed Zepz) for approximately $500M; operates as an independent brand within Zepz.· acquisition
2023
Launched Sendwave Pay — a FDIC-insured bank account with debit card for US customers, offering up to 0.51% APY and reduced remittance fees.· banking
2024
Zepz acquired Pomelo, a San Francisco-based fintech focused on cards, lending, and credit building with strong Philippines presence, to expand credit services for cross-border communities.· acquisition
2025
Launched Sendwave Wallet (October 2025) — a globally accessible digital-dollar wallet — followed by stablecoin-linked Visa cards powered by Bridge (Stripe company) in December 2025.· card
2025
Signed agreement with Stripe to expand into new markets including the US, Canada, and Australia.· banking
Regulated entities
4
regulatory licences held by Sendwave
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
6 layers disclosed in Sendwave’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Stripe
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Card issuing
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Sponsor bank
in the full report
Crypto
in the full report
Accounting gap: minor
6 more providers across 5 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.