- December 27, 2019
- Posted by: Administrator
- Category: Business News
UK-headquartered WorldFirst expands to Dubai to provide currency exchange services and cross-border payment solutions for e-commerce businesses and individuals
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has announced the launch of global currency exchange and payments company WorldFirst in the emirate.
UK-headquartered WorldFirst has expanded to Dubai with a representative office in the DIFC which will enable it to provide currency exchange services and cross-border payment solutions for e-commerce businesses and individuals to the MEASA region.
The new office will also support international money transfers in multiple currencies from across the region, creating a best practice platform for international trade and currency exchange.
The MEASA base of WorldFirst will be led by Adam Banks, Principal Representative.
Arif Amiri, CEO, DIFC Authority, said: “The launch of WorldFirst in the centre will enable the organisation to tap into the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region’s burgeoning e-commerce market which is projected to be worth $97 billion by 2020 and continue their upward growth trajectory.
“The DIFC continues to attract leading transaction exchange organisations and financial technology pioneers from around the world, thanks to our connectivity to global markets, state-of-the-art infrastructure, collaborative eco-system and advanced regulatory and judicial system.”
He said that the DIFC has succeeded in attracting some of the world’s leading financial institutions, adding that the DIFC FinTech ecosystem has shown remarkable growth during the last 12 months.
It has achieved a three-fold growth in registered FinTech firms since the end of 2018.
Jonathan Quin, CEO at WorldFirst, said: “We are delighted to commence operations within the DIFC with the launch of our seventh global office. To date, more than 250,000 global customers have chosen WorldFirst for their international transfers. We have transferred $70bn for customers since our launch and undertaken more than one million transfers per year.
“Now is an exciting time for the e-commerce industry and we believe the Middle East offers vast potential for growth as we continue our journey to become the world’s best foreign exchange platform for individuals and international businesses.”
With more than 250,000 global customers, WorldFirst works with leading international companies including e-commerce giants such as Amazon. Currently responsible for more than 80 percent of Amazon transactions within the UK and a significant number of European e-commerce payments, the launch of Middle East operations will enable WorldFirst and parent company Ant Financial to provide seamless payment solutions from the DIFC.
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