Fintech payments firm PIP plans expansion after €1m fundraising
INTERNATIONAL payments company PIP IT will triple its headcount over the next 18 months after securing over €1m in funding.
The Galway-headquartered business, which allows migrants to pay bills and transfer money overseas at much cheaper rates, intends to add 17 employees over the next 18 months.
PIP was originally launched last year after it began partnering with Ghana’s Zeepay.
It has also teamed up with Zympay in Zimbabwe and Impala Pay in Kenya and claims that migrants can send money home at much cheaper rates than more established players such as Western Union and Money Gram.
CEO and co-founder Ollie Walsh said the company was “digitalising cash”.
“We are trying to remove the two main obstacles migrants face when transferring money – risk and cost,” he said.“We want to play a big part in combating financial exclusion across the world, by helping the un-banked and under-banked to fully participate in the digital world.”
Walsh said PIP charges 1.5pc on transactions, which he said was a “significant saving”.
“To put it into some context for example, in a developing nation such as Ghana, one year’s health insurance costs $5,” he said.
“So, paying a single bill with PIP IT, as opposed to remitting cash, could pay for health insurance for a family member for a whole year.”
Around 250 million migrants sent around $600bn home across the world last year, according to Walsh.
PIP has 12 payment partners dotted across the world, including the UK, the Middle East, Canada, and India. The company will also expand its offering over the next two years with the launch of PIP V2.