Wapi Pay
Wapi Pay is a Singapore-founded, Kenya-operated cross-border payments fintech that enables retail, business, and OTC transfers across Africa, Asia, the UK, the US, Canada, and the Caribbean via mobile app, business API, and local payout rails (mobile money, banks, wallets).
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersSingapore, Singapore
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Wapi Pay does
Wapi Pay is a cross-border payments fintech founded in Singapore in 2019 by twin brothers Eddie Ndichu (CEO) and Paul Ndichu and now operationally headquartered across Nairobi and Kampala. The company facilitates retail and business transfers across Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria), Asia (China, India), the UK, the US, and more recently Canada and Jamaica, processing approximately KES 50 billion (~$400 million) of remittance volume in 2024.
The platform is built around four interconnected products: a Personal mobile app for self-serve cross-border transfers with wallet and virtual card functionality; a Business product offering batch payouts, approval queues, reconciliation, and webhook-driven automation; a Treasury/OTC desk for larger-value FX and supplier settlement with human quote-review workflows; and a Developer Portal exposing a REST API with sandbox testing. Underlying the product surface is an integration layer connecting local payout rails — M-PESA, Airtel Money, MTN MoMo, Tigo Pesa, Vodacom, PesaLink on the African side; Alipay, WeChat Pay, and UPI on the Asian side; and bank rails in the UK, US, Canada, and Jamaica — supported by KYC/AML screening against UN and national sanctions lists. In February 2026 the company added the Remittance Credit Scorecard (RCS), an AI-enabled tool that converts remittance transaction histories into credit ratings for Kenyan banks and SACCOs.
WapiPay monetizes through transaction fees and embedded FX spreads on each transfer, with OTC and business API clients on negotiated pricing. The company raised a single disclosed pre-seed round of approximately $2.2M led by MSA Capital in August 2021 and operates with a small team of 1–10 employees. Its 2026 expansion into Canada (FINTRAC licence, June 2026) and Jamaica (Bank of Jamaica approval via JN Money Services, April 2026) signals an ongoing build-out of regulated corridors and a shift from a single-continent Africa–Asia remit to a multi-regional cross-border payment and embedded-credit platform.
Wapi Pay firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Wapi Pay
- Legal name
- Wapi Pay
- Website
- https://wapipay.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Wapi Pay is a Singapore-founded, Kenya-operated cross-border payments fintech that enables retail, business, and OTC transfers across Africa, Asia, the UK, the US, Canada, and the Caribbean via mobile app, business API, and local payout rails (mobile money, banks, wallets).
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Wapi Pay industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cross-Border Payments
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)
- SIC
- Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Consumer P2P International Remittances (FSAGAKAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cross-Border & FX Payments Platforms (BPAMAFAK), Cross-Border Payouts & Mass Disbursements (Pay-outs) (FSAMAIAJ), P2P Transfers & Remittances Platforms (BPAMAFAE), Marketplace & Platform Seller Payouts (FSAMAKAE)
Keywords
Where Wapi Pay is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Singapore
- HQ country
- Singapore
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices3 records
Markets served
Wapi Pay business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Others, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Transaction Fees: Fees charged per transfer shown before confirmation. Sender bears transfer fees with additional fees possible for certain payout channels (mobile network operators, banks, card schemes). Beneficiary-side charges may be deducted by receiving institution.
- FX Spread: Currency conversion applied at transaction time using rates determined with reference to Central Bank of Kenya and other market sources. Spread embedded in displayed exchange rates.
- Business API and OTC Services: Larger-value FX and treasury support with dedicated desk review for supplier settlement and business treasury needs, likely commanding premium pricing for human-assisted transactions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Personal transfers via mobile app |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Business API and payout services |
| Other | Multi-year contract | OTC desk for large-value settlements |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Wapi Pay product offering
Product offeringCore offering
WapiPay is a cross-border payments platform that enables individuals and businesses to send, collect, and settle money across Africa, Asia, UK, US, and Caribbean corridors. The platform combines a consumer mobile app for personal remittances, a business payouts platform with batch processing and reconciliation, an OTC desk for larger-value FX and treasury settlement, and a REST API for programmatic integration. Settlement is executed through local payout rails including mobile money (M-PESA, Airtel Money, MTN MoMo, Tigo Pesa, Vodacom), bank transfers (PesaLink), and digital wallets (Alipay, WeChat Pay, UPI).
Product overview
WapiPay operates as a cross-border payments platform offering a unified system for personal, business, and treasury payment flows. The product portfolio consists of four interconnected offerings: (1) Personal App for consumer transfers with wallet and virtual card access; (2) Business platform for batch payouts, collections, approval workflows, and API-driven automation; (3) Treasury/OTC desk for larger-value FX and settlement operations; and (4) Developer Portal providing REST API access for programmatic integration. The platform connects local payout rails across Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria), Asia (China, India), UK, and US markets, combining mobile money, bank transfers, and wallet payouts in a single system with rate transparency and status tracking.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Remittance Credit Scorecard (RCS): AI-enabled tool for Kenyan banks and SACCOs to factor diaspora remittances into lending decisions, converting transaction histories into credit ratings for remittance-dependent borrowers.
Products and services
- Personal Transfers (App) Mobile app-based personal account for everyday cross-border transfers, wallet balance management, virtual card access, and rate/route preview before confirmation. Targeted at individual senders (retail/diaspora) transferring to mobile money, bank accounts, and other WapiPay users across Africa, Asia, UK, US, and Caribbean corridors.
- Business Payouts & Collections Business-facing payment platform providing batch payouts, approval queues, reconciliation tools, and webhook events, with local collection and payout rails across supported markets. Designed for businesses needing supplier payments, customer disbursements, refunds, and distributed team/agent payouts across multiple corridors.
- Treasury / OTC Desk Dedicated OTC service for larger-value FX execution and fiat settlement, providing live quote review, beneficiary verification, desk follow-up, booking, and settlement. Targeted at businesses and treasury teams requiring human-assisted processing for supplier settlement and large cross-border FX transactions.
- Developer Portal / Payment API REST API and developer portal providing programmatic access to WapiPay's payment capabilities, including payout creation, webhook-driven status tracking, sandbox testing, beneficiary verification, amount validation, and reconciliation integration. Targeted at developers and businesses integrating WapiPay's payout and remittance flows into their own platforms.
- Remittance Credit Scorecard (RCS) AI-enabled credit scoring product that converts remittance transaction histories (payment frequency, size, and long-term stability) into credit ratings for remittance-receiving households. Sold to Kenyan banks and SACCOs to enable lending decisions for personal, small business, and asset financing loans for diaspora-linked borrowers.
Quantifiable outcome
- Processed KES 50 billion (~$400 million) in diaspora remittances in 2024
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Wapi Pay
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Wapi Pay technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration11 records
AI capability2 records
Feature5 records
Wapi Pay partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- JN Money Services LimitedcorePartnership enabling WapiPay's Caribbean expansion through Jamaica. WapiPay received regulatory approval from Bank of Jamaica to launch operations via JN Money Services, marking first Kenyan fintech entry into the Caribbean region.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Wapi Pay competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- WorldRemit: WorldRemit is a leading digital cross-border money transfer platform focused on diaspora-to-emerging-market corridors, including Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria. It directly competes with WapiPay on the same Africa-anchored consumer remittance routes with a similar mobile-first and partner-payout model.
- Remitly: Remitly is a US-headquartered digital remittance company serving diaspora corridors to Africa, Asia and Latin America via mobile app and partner bank/mobile-money payouts. It overlaps directly with WapiPay's consumer P2P international remittance business.
- Sendwave: Sendwave is an Africa-focused mobile remittance app (now part of the WorldRemit group) that lets diaspora senders pay into mobile money and bank accounts across the continent. It directly competes with WapiPay on Africa-focused consumer remittance pricing and corridor coverage.
- Chipper Cash: Chipper Cash is a US/Africa cross-border P2P payments app enabling free or low-cost transfers between African countries and into mobile money and bank rails. It overlaps with WapiPay's consumer cross-border mobile money and inter-Africa flow.
Emerging players
- LemFi: LemFi is a Canada-based diaspora remittance startup targeting African and South Asian corridors with mobile app-based transfers to bank and mobile money accounts. It is an emerging player with overlapping customer segments and corridor strategy to WapiPay.
Broad incumbents
- Wise (formerly TransferWise): Wise is a global multi-currency account and cross-border payments platform serving both consumers and businesses. While its African presence is more limited, it competes with WapiPay on transparent FX pricing and cross-border payout use cases for individuals and SMEs.
- Nium: Nium is a global cross-border payments infrastructure provider offering APIs for payouts, issuing and FX to fintechs and enterprises. It overlaps with WapiPay's API-first business payouts and treasury offerings as a broader, more capitalised infrastructure peer.
- dLocal: dLocal is a cross-border payment processor specialising in emerging markets across Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is a broader incumbent focused on merchant payments but addresses the same emerging-market payout complexity that WapiPay navigates.
- Flutterwave: Flutterwave is a major African payments technology company providing APIs for payments, payouts and remittances across the continent. It is a broader incumbent serving similar business payout and cross-border use cases that WapiPay targets, with much larger scale and funding.
Others
- M-Pesa (Vodacom/Safaricom): M-Pesa is the dominant East African mobile money platform and a key payout partner for WapiPay. While not a direct competitor on consumer remittances end-to-end, it is the most critical ecosystem dependency and increasingly offers its own cross-border services, making it both a partner and a potential competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Wapi Pay social profiles
Digital presenceWapi Pay compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Wapi Pay financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Wapi Pay leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Wapi Pay funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Wapi Pay M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Wapi Pay
What does Wapi Pay do?
WapiPay is a cross-border payments platform that enables individuals and businesses to send, collect, and settle money across Africa, Asia, UK, US, and Caribbean corridors. The platform combines a consumer mobile app for personal remittances, a business payouts platform with batch processing and reconciliation, an OTC desk for larger-value FX and treasury settlement, and a REST API for programmatic integration. Settlement is executed through local payout rails including mobile money (M-PESA, Airtel Money, MTN MoMo, Tigo Pesa, Vodacom), bank transfers (PesaLink), and digital wallets (Alipay, WeChat Pay, UPI).
Is Wapi Pay a public or private company?
Wapi Pay is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Wapi Pay founded?
Wapi Pay was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Wapi Pay based?
Wapi Pay is headquartered in Singapore, Singapore, in the Asia region.
How does Wapi Pay make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Transaction Fees are the primary driver. The others are FX Spread and business API and OTC Services.
Who are Wapi Pay's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are WorldRemit, Remitly, Sendwave and Chipper Cash. LemFi is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Wise (formerly TransferWise), Nium, dLocal and Flutterwave. M-Pesa (Vodacom/Safaricom) is listed as an others.
Does Wapi Pay have an API?
Yes. WapiPay offers a REST API for developers to integrate payment capabilities. The API supports payout creation via POST /v1/payouts endpoint, webhook events for status tracking, JSON request bodies, and sandbox testing environment. Features include beneficiary verification, amount validation, webhook endpoint configuration, and reconciliation capabilities. Access is available through the developer portal at https://developers.wapipay.com/ Developer documentation is at developers.wapipay.com.
What industry is Wapi Pay in?
Wapi Pay's product category is Cross-Border Payments. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGAKAA, Consumer P2P International Remittances, with a secondary code of BPAMAFAK, Cross-Border & FX Payments Platforms. Its NAICS code is 522320 and its SIC code is 6199.