Fintech for migrants Rewire acquires prepaid card provider Imagen

Rewire, an Israeli digital wallet for economic migrants, has acquired Imagen, a provider of prepaid card solutions for migrants in Israel.

Rewire acquires Imagen

The acquisition is Rewire’s first and will enable it to provide prepaid debit cards in Israel, a service it has already rolled out in parts of UK and Europe.

Rewire was founded in 2015 by entrepreneurs Guy Kashtan (CEO), Adi Ben Dayan (VP R&D), Saar Yahalom (CTO) and Or Benoz.

It provides financial services including money transfer, debit cards, local payment accounts (IBAN), insurance products and the ability to make cross-border bill payments through its app.

Imagen says it operates more than 30,000 active prepaid Mastercards connected to the Bank of Jerusalem. The firm adds that it works directly with organisations that employ migrant workers so that they can pay their salaries “directly on to the card”.

“Our solutions are tailored to those who cannot open a conventional bank account, and working migrants make up a large part of our customer base,” says Snapir Chayat, CEO at Imagen.

“By integrating our pre-paid card into the Rewire portfolio, our existing customers will have easy access to additional financial services that they may have been excluded from in the past.”

The acquisition follows a $25 million investment in Rewire from several investors in February this year.