Connect with us

Published

on

Zepz, which owns the WorldRemit and Sendwave brands, has a total headcount of around 1,600.

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

LONDON — Zepz, the owner of money transfer firms WorldRemit and Sendwave, is on the hunt for mergers and acquisitions after cutting 26% of its workforce last month, the company’s CEO told CNBC.

With a $5 billion valuation, Zepz is one of the largest fintech companies in Europe, backed by leading investors including Accel, TCV and Leapfrog.

The company enables users to send money from a smartphone or computer to people abroad, who can receive it in their bank account, mobile wallet, or as a mobile airtime top-up.

The service is a challenger to large banks and established money transfer services like Western Union, touting cheaper fees and the ability to move funds rapidly. A close rival is Wise, which also claims to offer cheaper international money transfers than banks.

Mark Lenhard, Zepz’s CEO, said the firm wanted to grow its portfolio of businesses in an effort to own a larger part of the global digital payments pie.

Lenhard didn’t identify which companies Zepz was looking to buy, but said the sharp slump in private fintech valuations made it an attractive time to kick off M&A exploration.

Digital wallets

The overall value of cross-border payments is forecast to increase from $150 trillion in 2017 to over $250 trillion by 2027, according to the Bank of England. It’s a highly competitive industry with various players operating and taking a slice of each transaction a consumer makes.

A particular focus for Zepz product-wise in the near term is digital wallets, Lenhard said, with the company planning to launch its first digital wallet “imminently.”

“We want to be a core financial hub for a very particular segment,” he told CNBC Wednesday, with a particular focus on migrant communities sending funds home.

The push into M&A is a surprise move in many ways as it follows a significant amount of cost reduction at the 13-year-old company. In May, Zepz laid off 420 employees, equating to about 26% of its global workforce.

Fintech firm Nium plans U.S. IPO in 2 years, CEO says

Zepz says it cut the jobs to consolidate its operations after its acqusition of U.S. remittances firm Sendwave led to a duplication of certain roles.

Still, at the time, Zepz said it wasn’t pausing hiring, and was actively trying to fill 200 roles.

It marked the second time in just under a year Zepz laid off staff. In June 2022, Zepz cut around 5% of its workforce, according to Sky News.

“Any time you’re laying off individuals it’s hard, it sucks, but it was certainly the right thing to do. We’ve expanded things out of that,” Lenhard said Wednesday.

He added that he hopes the company’s upcoming digital wallet product will convince customers to rely more on Zepz, rather than using competing digital banks and other financial apps which have grown their services to offer a much wider range of products.

PayPal, for example, offers users mobile wallets, the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies, and buy now, pay later installment loans, among other things.

Like other fintechs, Zepz has been in cost-cutting mode as the industry faces huge pressure from a slump in technology valuations, stoked by a host of macroeconomic headwinds including higher inflation and interest rates.

Despite this, Zepz says it has been less susceptible to those economic pressures than other firms in the space. World remittances is less impacted by broader macroeconomic pressures than, say, banking, according to Lenhard.

Zepz’s overall customer transactions are up 25% year-to-date as of April 2023, the company said, while its customer growth accelerated to 30% on average and by as much as 80% in certain areas.

The company, which hit monthly profitability in the first half of 2022, wants to achieve profitability on a full-year basis this year.

WATCH: ‘Sea of sameness’: Are smartphone makers out of ideas?

'Sea of sameness': Are smartphone makers out of ideas?

Continue Reading

Technology

U.S. House tells staffers not to use Meta’s WhatsApp

Published

on

By

U.S. House tells staffers not to use Meta’s WhatsApp

A woman walks past a logo of WhatsApp during a Meta event in Mumbai, India, on Sept. 20, 2023.

Niharika Kulkarni | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Meta is pushing back against a ban on WhatsApp from government devices.

The chief administrative officer, or CAO, of the U.S. House of Representatives told staffers on Monday that they are not allowed to use Meta’s popular messaging app. The CAO cited a lack of transparency about WhatsApp’s data privacy and security practices as the reason for the ban, according to a report by Axios that cited an internal email from the government office.

The CAO told House staff members in the email that they are not allowed to download WhatsApp on their government devices or access the app on their smartphones or desktop computers, the report said. Staff members must remove WhatsApp from their devices if they have the app installed on their devices, the report said.

“Protecting the People’s House is our topmost priority, and we are always monitoring and analyzing for potential cybersecurity risks that could endanger the data of House Members and staff,” U.S. House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor told CNBC in a written statement.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone on Monday responded to the report via a post on X, saying the company disagrees “with the House Chief Administrative Officer’s characterization in the strongest possible terms.”

“We know members and their staffs regularly use WhatsApp and we look forward to ensuring members of the House can join their Senate counterparts in doing so officially,” Stone said.

In a separate X post, Stone said WhatsApp’s encrypted nature provides a “higher level of security than most of the apps on the CAO’s approved list that do not offer that protection.”

Some of the messaging apps the CAO said are acceptable alternatives to WhatsApp include Microsoft Teams, Signal and Apple’s iMessage, the Axios report said.

Meta is currently embroiled in an antitrust case with the Federal Trade Commission over the social media company’s acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram.

Last week, Meta debuted ads in WhatsApp in an effort to monetize the app that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has deemed “the next chapter” for his company’s history.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO

Watch CNBC's full interview with Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth

Continue Reading

Technology

Super Micro shares fall on planned $2 billion convertible debt offering

Published

on

By

Super Micro shares fall on planned  billion convertible debt offering

The Super Micro Computer headquarters in San Jose, California, on Dec. 3, 2024.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Super Micro Computer shares fell about 6% on Monday after the server maker said it plans to offer $2 billion in convertible notes, maturing in 2030.

A company’s stock often falls on the announcement of a convertible offering because the eventual conversion to equity could dilute existing shareholders’ stakes.

Super Micro, which has seen its business boom due to soaring demand for Nvidia’s artificial intelligence processors, said in a press release that it plans to use the proceeds from the offering for “general corporate purposes, including to fund working capital for growth and business expansion.” It also said it would spend about $200 million to repurchase its stock from the note issuers.

Even after Monday’s slide, Super Micro shares are up close to 40% so far in 2025 as the company remains one of a handful of server makers that can sell systems based around new chips from Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel soon after they start shipping. The stock has been viewed by Wall Street as an AI pure play that will appreciate with tech megacap companies expected to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers to support AI workloads.

Super Micro also secured a major contract with a data center in Saudi Arabia when President Donald Trump visited the Middle East in May.

Super Micro “has emerged as a market leader in AI-optimized infrastructure,” Raymond James analysts wrote in a report last month, saying that 70% of the company’s revenue was attributable to AI. The analysts recommend buying the stock.

Investors soured on Super Micro in March and April on concerns about tariffs, and in May the company slashed its fiscal 2025 guidance and chose not to reiterate its previous forecast for $40 billion in fiscal 2026 sales, due to tariff and AI chip uncertainty.

The stock has recouped some of those losses but is still trading well below its high for the year reached in February.

Super Micro had a tumultuous 2024 largely because of accusations of accounting irregularities, and was forced to refile financials with the SEC in order to avoid delisting from the Nasdaq. Super Micro also named a new auditor, removed its CFO and named additional members to its board of directors.

WATCH: The bull case for Super Micro

Raymond James' Simon Leopold talks the bull case for Super Micro

Continue Reading

Technology

Amazon launches second batch of Kuiper internet satellites, taking on Elon Musk’s Starlink

Published

on

By

Amazon launches second batch of Kuiper internet satellites, taking on Elon Musk's Starlink

An Atlas V rocket of United Launch Alliance (ULA) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 23, 2025.

Gregg Newton | Afp | Getty Images

Amazon‘s second batch of Kuiper internet satellites reached low Earth orbit on Monday, adding to its plans for a massive constellation and ramping up competition with SpaceX’s Starlink.

A United Launch Alliance rocket carrying 27 Kuiper satellites lifted off from a launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 6:54 a.m. ET, according to a livestream.

“We have ignition and lift off of United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet constellation, continuing a new chapter in low Earth orbit satellite connectivity,” Ben Chilton, an ordnance engineer at ULA, said on the livestream following the launch.

Monday’s mission was rescheduled twice, owing to inclement weather and a problem with the rocket booster.

Read more CNBC Amazon coverage

Six years ago, Amazon unveiled its plans to build a constellation of internet-beaming satellites in low Earth orbit, called Project Kuiper. The service will compete directly with Elon Musk’s Starlink, which currently dominates the market and has 8,000 satellites in orbit.

Amazon in April successfully sent up 27 Kuiper internet satellites into low Earth orbit, a region of space that’s within 1,200 miles of the Earth’s surface.

The 54 craft currently in orbit are the start of Amazon’s planned constellation of 3,236 satellites. The company has to meet a Federal Communications Commission deadline to launch half of its total constellation, or 1,618 satellites, by July 2026.

The company has booked more than 80 launches with several providers, including rival SpaceX, to deliver Kuiper its satellites into orbit.

WATCH: Amazon Web Services CEO: Lots of opportunity to expand infrastructure globally

AWS CEO: Lots of opportunity to expand infrastructure globally

Continue Reading

Trending