Rewire by Remitly is a multinational digital financial platform operated by the fintech company Remitly Israel that provides online financial services tailored to the unique needs of migrant foreign workers and Israeli citizens who send money overseas. The Rewire by Remitly platform was originally built by the Israeli startup Rewire which was founded by Guy Kashtan, Saar Yahalom, Adi Ben Dayan, and Or Benoz.[1][2][3] In August 2022 an acquisition agreement was signed between Rewire and leading remittance company Remitly.[3] In January 2023, the deal closed and Rewire officially became part of Remitly, an American fintech company traded on Nasdaq. After the acquisition, the company in Israel was rebranded as Remitly Israel and the financial platform was rebranded as Rewire by Remitly.
In June 2020, Rewire won the FinTech category in the Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) competition, the world's largest startup competition for purpose-driven companies.[4] In 2023 Remitly Israel was ranked #31 in Dun & Bradstreet’s ‘Best High Tech Companies to Work For” list and in the top 10 ‘Best High Tech Companies Promoting Diversity and Inclusion’ list.[4]
History
Remitly Israel was originally the startup company Rewire which was founded in Israel in 2015 by Guy Kashtan, Saar Yahalom, Adi Ben Dayan, and Or Benoz in response to the growing demand for affordable and accessible financial services of the local foreign worker population. Initially it served the thousands of Filipinos working in Israel as domestic caregivers for the elderly and expanded its services to additional migrant populations looking to send money to India, Thailand, and China to name a few. Initial investors included Israeli-based groups such as Our Crowd, Viola Fintech and Moneta VC. Additional initial investors included BNP Paribas[5] (Opera Tech) and Standard Bank of South Africa.[2][3]
In 2021, the company announced that it had completed a series B funding round of $20 million and also a collaboration with Israel's Bank Hapoalim.[6] New investors joined this round of funding such as Renegade Partners, Glilot Capital Partners, and Jerry Yang, former Yahoo! CEO and director at Alibaba,[7] through AME Cloud Ventures.[1] At the same time, the company announced it had secured an EU Electronic Money Institution license (EMI), granted by the Dutch Central Bank, which allows the fintech startup to (I) issue electronic money, (II) provide payment services, and (III) engage in money remittance. Rewire was also granted an expanded Israeli Financial Asset Service Provider.
In February 2022, Rewire announced its partnership with insurance giant AIG and Insurtech company Quiver.[8] Later that month, Rewire announced a $25M strategic round of investment, in which insurance company Migdal participated.[9] This move was made to make insurance accessible to migrants.
In June 2022, Rewire announced its acquisition of the Israeli prepaid card company Imagen.[10]
In August 2022 Rewire announced the signing of a concrete agreement to be acquired by American online remittance service company Remitly which is traded on Nasdaq. The $80 acquisition deal was finalized in January 2023 and Rewire was rebranded as Remitly Israel while the Rewire platform was rebranded as Rewire by Remitly.[3]
Platform
The Rewire by Remitly platform is offered in twelve different languages. The online financial platform enables immigrants in Israel to send money to their countries of origin. Customers in Israel can issue a salary card (Rewire Card) that is connected to a Bank of Jerusalem account and their Rewire by Remitly account. Employers of immigrants can deposit salaries directly into the salary card.[3][11]
Awards
In 2020, Rewire won the FinTech category in the Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) competition, which draws inspiration from the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as it entered under the Reducing Inequalities goal. Rewire follows the idea of a Double Bottom Line, in which a company's value is measured by two bottom lines; conventional fiscal performance and positive social impact.[12]
In 2023 Remitly Israel was ranked #31 in Dun & Bradstreet’s ‘Best High Tech Companies to Work For’ and the top 10 ‘Best High Tech Companies Promoting Diversity and Inclusion’.[4]
