Digital money transfer company, WorldRemit, has appointed the former CEO of the FTSE 100 company Paddy Power Betfair plc, Breon Corcoran, as its new chief executive.
WorldRemit’s pioneering digital technology has disrupted the remittance industry, driving the industry’s evolution from a traditionally offline and 95% cash-based sector to a safer, more transparent and increasingly cashless industry. The sector is predicted to be 60% digital by 2021.
Founded in 2010 by Ismail Ahmed, an entrepreneur from Somaliland, WorldRemit has become a global leader for international remittances. Ismail spotted the opportunity that the rapid growth of mobile money accounts and the global communications revolution presented early on and the company currently processes over 50% of all international money transfers into mobile money accounts in emerging economies.
WorldRemit has seen an acceleration of its growth in 2018 with revenues expected to be £95m, up from £60.5m in 2017.
With a global network sending money from 50 countries to around 150, WorldRemit has focused on supporting migrants sending from developed countries to family and friends in emerging economies.
Corcoran joins as the company dramatically expands its customer base and further diversifies its product offering.
In Q3 this year, WorldRemit launched inter-Africa money transfers opening up new opportunities for product innovations to help consumers to do more with their money.
WorldRemit’s founder and CEO will step up into the role of Executive Chairman.
The company is in a strong position to leverage the increasing demand for cashless payments. Emerging market non-cash transactions are estimated to total $340 billion by 2020, from $139bn in 2015, according to the World Payments Report 2017.
Mr Corcoran, who led the 2016 merger of Betfair and Paddy Power to form the world’s largest online gaming company with operations in over 100 countries, now takes on WorldRemit’s ambitious goal of reaching 10 million customers by 2020.
Ismail Ahmed, Executive Chairman at WorldRemit said: “I set up WorldRemit with the goal of delivering a better and safer experience for people sending money home and our commitment to our customers will always remain the cornerstone of our business. Breon’s reputation for developing a consumer-first culture makes him an ideal candidate to build on our vision. Breon’s global outlook and experience of enhancing the standard of service in the market will enable us to realise our ambitions to find new ways to help customers do more with their money as the company scales.”
Breon Corcoran, Chief Executive, said: “Across the world, consumers are turning away from cash, towards digital payments solutions. With tailwinds like the global adoption of new technologies combined with growing remittance flows, there is enormous potential for WorldRemit’s global expansion and I look forward to leading the company through its next evolution.”
