Azimo, a digital money transfer service based in London and Krakow operates with the mission to improve the lives of millions of people and let them share money across the world. Its app and website are touted to be the easiest, fastest, and best-value to transfer money to over 200 countries.
Today, the global money transfer service has entered into the Netherlands with the launch of its Dutch subsidiary, Azimo BV. Eventually, Azimo carries the credits of being the first UK-based fintech company to separate the UK and European operations right before the implementation of Brexit. The new subsidiary will handle all transfers sent from outside the UK.
Why Azimo chose Amsterdam?
Founded in 2012 by Michael Kent, Azimo has been looking for a new base in Europe after the Brexit vote in June 2016. Earlier this year, the fintech startup was granted a licence by the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank). Following the same, the fintech company opened an office in Amsterdam for its European operations team as it continues to grow its share in the global remittance market valued at $700 billion.
Regarding the decision to choose Amsterdam, Richard Ambrose, CEO of Azimo said, “Aside from London, Amsterdam is the best place in Europe to grow a fintech company. It has a culture open to innovation, outstanding talent, a thriving banking sector and a sophisticated regulator. It also guarantees that we can continue to benefit from EU passporting rights to offer our service across Europe.”
What does Azimo do?
With its remittance service, Azimo has been providing its service to Dutch customers since 2015. It is used by migrant workers letting them send money to family and friends abroad. As per recent figures by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), migrants account for almost 21% of the overall Dutch population. It is estimated by the World Bank that over €4.6 billion was sent from the windmill country to others across the world in 2018.
Fast-growing fintech!
Ever since its advent, Azimo has helped over a million customers sending money. It has handled over €2.3 billion of transfer volume, which is a 60% year-on-year increase as of June 2019. Notably, it is one of the few European fintechs to reach this profitability to date.
Main image picture credits: Azimo
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