Paysend taps Okoora for local expansion

UK fintech company Paysend has joined forces with Israeli-Swiss fintech startup Okoora to enhance its presence in the local market and facilitate cross-border payments.

Okoora, founded in August 2021 by CEO Benjamin Avraham, a former executive of Israeli financial risk management firm Ofakim Group, has developed an AI-powered platform to manage currency risk. The platform assists businesses with global operations in planning and controlling foreign currency transactions, including hedging strategies to minimize exposure to fluctuating exchange rates, fees, and margins.

Through continuous analysis of customer activities, Okoora’s platform executes cross-border payments and transactions across over 100 currencies at competitive rates, utilising alerts and recommendations.

As part of this partnership, Paysend will leverage Okoora’s platform to offer its payment network to Israeli consumers, streamlining payments to Israeli clearinghouses. Paysend’s payment network allows consumers to send, request, and receive money in 170 countries, and now it will gain access to Okoora’s virtual system for shekel transactions, bypassing traditional banking complexities.

Avraham noted, “We have what Paysend needs to operate and expand in the Israeli market: the regulation; the infrastructure for transferring funds, as we are well-connected to local banks; the liquidity and conversion sources and can provide them with great quotes for their needs in Israeli shekels.”

The partnership comes amid a period of uncertainty in Israel, with locals and startups exploring options to move funds and parts of their businesses abroad due to proposed judicial reforms.

Okoora’s platform is used by over 7,000 enterprises and small to medium-sized businesses, processing tens of thousands of payment transactions each month. The fintech startup, headquartered in Bnei Brak with a presence in Switzerland, Germany, and India, plans to double its workforce as it expands its services to other European countries.