Latest Updates UK fintech company WorldRemit establishes branch in Tokyo

Feb 15, 2018

The company currently sends from 52 countries to 147 destinations, leading the shift to online and mobile money transfers and improving speed and convenience for users, while lowering costs.

It is said that in 2016 the number of foreign workers who live in Japan has exceeded one million people for the first time. According to the World Bank, these immigrant workers have transferred $4 billion overseas in 2015 alone. WorldLimit decided to enter the Japanese market for these reasons as well as the fact that Japan has the world's third largest economy based on GDP and a well-established environment and legal system to support financial services. The company established a branch in Tokyo in June 2015 in order to provide remittance services in Japan which are as easy and low-cost as instant messaging. They registered as a transfer service provider in November 2016 and have started to provide online money transfer services from March 2017. By entering WorldLimit’s sphere of immediate service, Japan is expected to have more options regarding overseas remittance and see further diversification of its financial services.

For the establishment of the Japanese branch, JETRO's Invest Japan Business Support Center (IBSC) provided consultation on visa-related matters, introduced an administrative scrivener and provided licensing information as well as market information related to fintech.