Zepz acquires Pomelo to expand credit services for cross-border communities

London, 20 January 2026 – Zepz, the global payments group behind WorldRemit and Sendwave, today announced it has acquired a key credit based product called Pomelo International, Inc, a platform that integrates consumer credit and global remittances with a credit card designed for money transfer. 

Pomelo is a San Francisco-based fintech company focused on cards, lending and credit building, with a strong presence in the Philippines. The acquisition represents a key step in Zepz’s evolution beyond remittances, enabling the company to support more of the financial lives of cross-border communities and underserved customers across the Global South.

This move builds on the Sendwave Wallet, further extending Zepz’s capabilities beyond money movement into cards, lending, credit and longer-term financial tools. Together, this broader product offering helps customers better plan, protect and improve their financial futures.

Expanding access to everyday financial tools

For many cross-border communities, financial needs extend well beyond sending money home. Access to everyday payment tools, fair and transparent credit, and the ability to build a financial profile are often limited or out of reach.

By utilizing the Pomelo product, Zepz is expanding its ability to support these broader financial needs. Pomelo’s capabilities in cards, lending and credit building complement Zepz’s strengths in global payments, enabling customers to access a more complete set of financial tools over time. Together, this creates a stronger foundation for customers to plan, manage and improve their financial lives.

A strong strategic fit in a core market

Pomelo is the first credit card built for money transfer that removes cash advance fees, cash advance APR and is designed to offer customers a card that supports remittances at the lowest possible cost. Customers can also build credit with their remittance obligations, as well as earn points on all purchases and transfers made with their Pomelo Mastercard®.

Pomelo’s highly experienced team with deep sector expertise will join Zepz and continue building on the product they have developed, supported by Zepz’s scale, infrastructure and regulatory experience.

The acquisition further strengthens Zepz’s position in the Philippines, one of its core markets, where it has deep local knowledge and a long-standing customer base. Combining Pomelo’s product and expertise with Zepz’s global platform creates meaningful synergies for customers and supports Zepz’s long-term growth strategy by deepening engagement, improving retention and broadening its revenue mix beyond money movement.

“Acquiring Pomelo is a natural next step in our evolution beyond remittances,” said Mark Lenhard, CEO of Zepz.“ It will allow us to offer customers access to cards and credit services, and supports our broader ambition of financial empowerment for cross-border communities. Pomelo is a strong product built  by a fantastic team, and we’re looking forward to extending these capabilities together over the long term.”

“This is an exciting next chapter for  Pomelo, and our mission to help people build their financial future doing what matters most – helping families.” said Eric Velasquez Frenkiel – CEO at Pomelo. “Zepz shares our focus on serving cross-border communities and has tremendous potential to accelerate access to credit and everyday financial tools for people who have historically been underserved.”

With this acquisition, Zepz continues to advance its ambition of becoming the most trusted financial partner for cross-border communities, expanding beyond money movement to offer practical financial tools that support stability and long-term opportunity. Whilst the acquisition has taken place, the Pomelo product has been temporarily paused for customers while Zepz integrates it into its product roadmap.