London and Valletta, June 19th - Digital financial institution wamo has started operations in Europe where it expects to attract 10,000 customers before the end of 2021.
wamo, a digitally native fintech aimed at small and medium-sized companies, is incorporated in the United Kingdom and has headquarters in London and Malta.
With technology and innovation at its core wamo aims to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. wamo uses smart tech to streamline every aspect of day-to-day financial management processes making it possible for both businesses and consumers to 'do it all' from one app.
Sinan Elver
The company is committed to constantly improve the security of transactions and has mechanisms in place to safeguard customers' money.
Last month, wamo raised one million euros investment from a group of angel investors, bringing the total amount raised to over 1.9 million and securing funding for its expansion plan in Europe.
Fast, global, agile and fully digital, wamo hopes to become the solution of choice for over 10,000 European SMEs and retail clients looking for convenient, efficient solutions to their everyday financial management needs.
Registered in the UK and the EEA, this is a company that was able to grow and settle a position during the unique challenges of the 2020 market, where it found that significant value can be unlocked for SMEs when they are given the capability to make or receive payments strategically by attracting rewards, improving working capital, driving efficiency and optimizing processes.
Adoption of paytech to digitise payments and offer rewards helps SMEs to extract value for their business.
SMEs need solutions to develop digital capabilities that can be implemented quickly and go beyond basic payments capabilities.
The company has so far received support from investors from Canada, Turkey, Malta and the United Kingdom. wamo has offices in London and Malta.
"The future of financial services will be impacted deeply by the emergence of embedded finance: finance that promises to be more internet-like, more interconnected and more customizable, with novel components that can be effortlessly inserted into individual businesses in different sectors. " explained Yanki Onen, CEO and founder of the company.
Onen, the driving force behind the company, has 20 years’ experience in the banking and finance industry with a career spanning investments, banking and brokerage, where he developed a keen, solution-focused interest in fintech and the smart future of finances.
“Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) encounter many challenges and complexities in running and growing their businesses, digital solutions have certainly not reached their full potential when fewer than 10% of the 180 million micro and small merchants (MSMs) around the world can accept digital payments. We’re here to help change that. " he added.
With a market of 25,1 million small companies in Europe, wamo is looking to become a first choice in the post-pandemic age of fintech.
Issuance of Electronic Money and payment services are provided by PayrNet Limited. With each transaction PayrNet holds an amount equivalent to the money in wamo current accounts in a safeguarding account, giving customers protection against insolvency.
"We are aware of how important it is to demonstrate to our customers that their hard-earned funds are protected," Onen says.
wamo makes it possible for prospective customers to increase their target market audience by adding vast amounts of digital payments options with the smallest amount of effort.
The technology supporting wamo’s market proposition, including its various mobile applications, has been developed by a team of 16 working remotely from the UK and Turkey since 2018.
In its first stage, the company will develop and consolidate its position in Malta, as Malta is ‘little Europe’, it is beneficial to start there in order to assess behaviors and demand and to learn accordingly. From Malta the company will expand into Europe.
SMEs’ influence on the economy is rapidly growing in Malta and Europe where an increasing number of SMEs and the emergence of their unique needs are creating a new market and challenge for financial technology companies. This is because micro and small enterprises are currently underserved with banks generally assuming an ambivalent stance towards them. In the meantime - hugely accelerated by the behavioural changes of the pandemic - online transactions have sharply increased while PoS (point-of-sale) transactions have shifted markedly towards contactless.
The company believes that these new consumer habits are here to stay and SMEs are in urgent need of solutions that can meet them quickly and with minimal onboarding friction for businesses and consumers alike. wamo is a fintech company that has been actively preparing for this gear-change for the past four years with a solution that has been finely crafted to step in and carry SMEs and their customers forward, effortlessly.
