Ride hailing, payments and food delivery platform Careem picked up money transfer firm Denarii for undisclosed terms, its second acquisition this week, according to a press release on Friday (July 1). As part of the deal, some members of the Denarii team will join Careem.
Founded in 2019 by Jon Santillan and Walfrido Perez and headquartered in Dubai, Denarii’s proprietary money transfer technology integrates FinTech firms and financial institutions (FIs) with remittance aggregators, banks, exchanges and wallets.
See also: The UAE’s Increasing Role as a Regional FinTech Hub
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the third-largest economy in the Arab League after Saudi Arabia and Egypt, is home to two booming international financial centers — emirates Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The region is becoming a key regional facilitator of FinTech innovation as the economy there shifts from oil to tech, PYMNTS reported last week.
Careem, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber, will use Denarii’s technology for its Careem Pay feature and to connect customers with remittance services provided by licensed providers, according to the release.
“Careem’s large network of customers, captains and merchants, and decade of payments processing experience, will enable us to increase the impact of the money transfer technology we built through Denarii,” Santillan said.
“Careem has done more than any startup in the region to simplify and improve lives, and we’re excited to join the team to increase economic freedom for millions of people in the region,” Santillan added.
Read more: Careem Boosts Food Delivery Space Footing With MUNCH:ON Acquisition
Careem’s acquisition of Denarii follows its takeover of food delivery platform MUNCH:ON, which it picked up last week for undisclosed terms. As a subscription-based food delivery platform, MUNCH:ON connects customers to discount meals by tapping into excess kitchen capacity, PYMNTS reported on June 24. MUNCH:ON raised over $16 million in four funding rounds prior to its acquisition by Careem.
Headquartered in Dubai and co-founded in 2012 by CEO Mudassir Sheikha and managing director Karl Magnus Olsson, Careem offers more than a dozen services including ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery, micro-mobility, digital financial services and partner services, including car rental, home cleaning and PCR testing.
Related: Uber’s Careem Looks to Hire Over 200 Staff to Debut Super App
“Denarii’s innovative API will accelerate our journey to offering simple and affordable international remittance services, adding to the wide variety of services already available offered by Careem Pay,” Sheikha said.
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