Remitly Purchases Israeli Platform Rewire

For the past seven years, Israeli payment remittance platform Rewire has dedicated itself to reinventing how migrant workers send money to their families. As a licensed electronic money institution (EMI), it facilitates transactions for hundreds of thousands of users in a system traditionally crowded with red tape and expensive bureaucracy.

In a move that is likely to supercharge Rewire’s mission, the company announced in mid-August that it was acquired by fellow immigrant-directed financial services company Remitly for $80 million in cash and stocks.

Remitly Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Matt Oppenheimer has portrayed the deal as beneficial to both companies and their customers. “From the start, Remitly has focused on delivering trusted digital financial services to serve immigrant communities around the world,” he said in a statement. “We share with Rewire a deep commitment to our customers and that mission. Peace of mind starts with a trusted means for sending money home for critical costs.”

According to a press release announcing the purchase, Remitly intends to integrate its platform with Rewire’s cross-border remittance technology. This acquisition is the largest by Remitly, a rising star in the payments world that facilitated more than $20 billion in transactions last year.