Legacy remittance firm Zepz has partnered with Circle, the issuer of USDC and a leading crypto infrastructure provider, to integrate stablecoins into its back-office operations. The move signals a broader shift among traditional remittance providers seeking to reduce their reliance on pre-funding payout positions in destination countries.

Founded in 2010 by African entrepreneur Ismail Ahmed, Zepz (formerly WorldRemit) grew by building an expansive agent network to rival incumbents like Western Union and MoneyGram. While this strategy helped it scale globally, cash-based remittance has long struggled with inefficiencies, including delayed payouts, higher fraud risk, and costly working capital requirements.

Over the past decade, rising mobile penetration, increased financial access, and a growing preference for instant digital services have reshaped the remittance landscape. Zepz responded to this shift by acquiring Sendwave, a mobile-native remittance company with deep reach in Africa and Asia.

Stablecoins as a bridge for remittance infrastructure

“While our customers have always experienced near-instant money transfers, the same efficiency hasn’t applied to our backend settlement processes. We believe stablecoins can help to bridge this gap,” said Mark Lenhard, CEO of Zepz.

The integration of USDC and EURC—stablecoins issued by Circle’s regulated affiliates—is aimed at improving liquidity management and reducing operating costs tied to legacy banking systems. By using stablecoins for settlement, Zepz can minimise the need to pre-fund accounts in payout markets, freeing up capital and enabling more responsive liquidity management.

Zepz now serves over 50 million customers and processes more than $1.3 billion in monthly transfers across 5,000 corridors.

× Sponsored

Zepz’s competitors are deeply examining the stablecoin opportunity

Other legacy players are also exploring stablecoins, but they approach the opportunity differently.

Western Union, for instance, has identified four strategic opportunities in its internal framing of stablecoins:

1. Enabling affordable, instant cross-border transfers
2. Improving crypto-fiat on/off ramps
3. Reducing reliance on legacy correspondent banking systems
4. Providing buy/sell/hold access to digital assets via its wallet infrastructure

Of particular note is Western Union’s interest in opening up its extensive global network—spanning over 200 countries and more than 380,000 retail locations—to serve as a fiat on/off ramp for stablecoins. In doing so, it could connect the global cash economy to the world of digital assets, offering real-world access points to stablecoin liquidity at scale.

This mirrors the direction MoneyGram is already moving in. Through its developer-focused “Ramps” product, MoneyGram enables fintechs and crypto apps to integrate cash-in/cash-out functionality for stablecoins via API. While MoneyGram is productising stablecoin infrastructure for partners, Western Union appears to be positioning its network as a protocol-layer bridge—a global interoperability play.

These moves show that for remittance incumbents, stablecoins are not just about backend optimisation—they’re a strategic lever for future-proofing relevance in a digitally native financial system.

“Zepz plays a critical role in the global remittance ecosystem. By integrating USDC, it is modernising the infrastructure underpinning cross-border payments,” said Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle.

Stablecoins offer several potential advantages: lower costs, faster settlements, and greater access for the unbanked. However, regulatory uncertainty and volatility remain challenges to mainstream adoption.

As Zepz experiments with stablecoin rails, it may set a new standard for how legacy remittance companies upgrade their infrastructure—not by replacing what works, but by reinforcing it with faster, cheaper, and more programmable money movement.