Pipit co-founder and CEO Ollie Walsh has been appointed president of Qenta as part of the acquisition.
Global payments company Qenta has acquired B2B cross-border payments platform Pipit Global, the Irish-founded fintech that today operates in more than 45 countries.
Qenta specialises in serving remittance networks and migrant communities, facilitating cash, mobile money, alternative payment methods (APMs) and bank transactions.
Qenta says that Pipit’s globally compliant network of more than 1m pay-in points – and 300m mobile money accounts – and its deep integrations with mobile money systems across Africa, Latin America, and Europe, combined with with Qenta’s blockchain-based settlement rails, will see a new combined platform that accelerates secure access to cash, mobile money and compliant digital payments for businesses and individuals worldwide.
“This acquisition accelerates our vision of building an inclusive, blockchain-powered financial ecosystem that works for everyone, from those with minimal bank access to multinational enterprises,” said Brent de Jong, chair of Qenta. “The Pipit team brings the experience and values that align with Qenta’s global ambitions of building a resilient worldwide infrastructure.”
Qenta will add Pipit’s infrastructure to its own, and Pipit co-founder and CEO Ollie Walsh has been appointed president of Qenta, to lead the integrated platform’s expansion. Four other key team members will also move to Qenta, including Pipit co-founder and CTO Rory Ryan.
It was when Walsh relocated from Ireland to England that he became frustrated with navigating existing remittance systems, and the spark was born for the founding of Pipit.
“Cross-border payments have long been far too expensive, slow and inaccessible, particularly for migrants or those without banking services,” said Walsh. “We saw clear alignment between our thesis of financial inclusion and the mission of Brent de Jong and Qenta.”
The acquisition comes at a time when the global B2B cross-border payments space is seeing major growth. In 2024, the market was estimated at around $31.6trn, according to Qenta, and is projected to expand by 58pc to $50trn by 2032.
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