By Riley Kaminer
As an international finance and consulting executive, Jairo Riveros is used to moving around a lot.
“I’ve been an immigrant from Colombia to the US, the US to the UK, the UK to Canada, then from Canada back to the US,” he told Refresh Miami. “And every time you move, you have to reinvent yourself.”
Some adaptations are easier than others – whether it’s learning a new language or getting used to a new climate.
But one task Riveros always found particularly vexing: managing money across borders.
“No matter how sophisticated you are, financial instruments are always complex,” he lamented.
That is why Riveros got excited when he first came across British startup Paysend, which is building a more efficient system for cross-border and local payments. The company has since raised upwards of $150 million in funding.
In 2020, Riveros doubled down on Paysend, taking on the role of CSO and managing director of North America and LATAM. He explained that Paysend aims to empower users to transact globally more quickly, inexpensively, and conveniently than ever before.
With over six million customers, most of whom are in Europe, Paysend is already making major strides in this direction. Now, the startup has its sights set on the Americas, with Miami as its regional hub.
“There are $130 billion in remittances sent in many different forms across the North-South corridor,” asserted Riveros. “We have an opportunity to create a different, more innovative way of sending money internationally.”
According to Riveros, transactions that can take a few days to go through can take as little as 30 minutes through Paysend’s platform. That’s helpful for your average consumer. But it’s really a game changer for Paysend’s enterprise customers, who – starting in Europe and soon across North America – will account for twice as much of the startup’s annual transaction volume. Enterprise customers include companies that provide global payroll solutions, such as Deel, and logistics firms.
In mid-November, Paysend announced its Paysend Libre product, focused on enabling unbanked users in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to instantly receive remittances from the U.S. to a Paysend virtual Mastercard digital card. The card is ready to use in minutes for cash withdrawals and online purchases. This service is targeted at the Northern Central America region, where 60% of the adult population is unbanked.
What about crypto? While Paysend does not currently leverage crypto technologies, Riveros said he is keeping an eye on this rapidly-growing corner of the fintech space.
“Everyone talks about crypto, but its utility still has to be proven,” he said, noting that the exact advantages are still unclear. “We’ve decided to park it for now and see how it goes.”
For the Paysend team, the Miami move was a clear choice. Riveros said the company was attracted by the large and diverse Latino population, the ample tech talent, and South Florida’s close proximity to many of their partners.
“In the future, we plan to have some global functions based here,” shared Riveros, signaling plans to potentially recruit a chief marketing officer to Miami. Since opening the doors to their local office in January, Paysend has built a team of 10 employees living across South Florida – from Miami to Boca Raton to Parkland, and everywhere in between.
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