2021: Nium’s Year in Review

What a year.  

As we wrap up 2021, we thought it was only timely to take a look back at the key milestones for the year.  

2021 was a year of many ‘firsts’ for Nium: 

• We became the first global B2B payments unicorn from Southeast Asia, following our latest Series D funding round; 

• We made our first strategic acquisitions – including travel B2B payments leader, Ixaris,  and Wirecard Forex India Private Limited; 
• We became the first official fintech infrastructure partner of the International Cricket Council and proud sponsor of the 2021 Men’s T20 World Cup;  
• We launched the world’s first global platform for crypto-as-a-service and expanded our card issuance service into the US;  
• We opened up Nium’s first San Francisco headquarters – welcoming our CEO and Co-Founder, Prajit Nanu, to his new home in the US; and 
• We launched our first ever e-book and other insightful online resources for building modern payments infrastructure. 

On top of all this, we’ve continued to hit over 2x YoY growth – processing over US$8 billion in payments annually. We’ve also been delighted to have entered new strategic partnerships around the world, to co-design fintech solutions that truly make a global impact.  

This includes Nium’s partnerships with: 

• Leading maritime company Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (BSM), which has made digital payments more accessible to seafarers across the globe; 
• Australian-based travel fintech Pelikin, which enables seamless digital financial services to millions of travelers;  
• Leading foreign exchange brand Travelex, which is boosting digital remittances across the Asia Pacific;  

• UAE’s pioneering international money transfer and foreign exchange company, Al Fardan Exchange, which is enhancing pay-out services for Al Fardan Exchange customers; and 
• Jordan’s leading currency exchange and money transfer provider, Alawneh Exchange, which has enabled seamless international payments to key major markets. 

Behind all our great partnerships is an even greater team. And Nium’s global team has continued to grow this year. In fact, today Nium is a proud employer to over 900 people worldwide. (It’s incredible to think we had just three employees when the company first started back in 2015!)  

Through thick and thin, our team has persevered to reach many milestones in 2021. 

And Nium’s 2021 success did not go unnoticed.   

Throughout the year, we’ve had the honour of receiving several esteemed Awards around the world. This includes being named on CB Insight’s Fintech 250 List (for the second year in a row) and the Financial Times’ List of Asia-Pacific High-Growth Companies 2021. Nium was also named ‘Fintech Employer of the Year’ at the 2021 Singapore Fintech Festival, ‘Best B2B Payment Platform’ at the 2021 Future Digital Awards, and ‘Fintech of Year’ at the 2021 DigFin Innovation Awards at Hong Kong Fintech Week. (You can check out our full list of 2021 awards below). 

We know we couldn’t have achieved any of this alone. We’d like to take a moment to thank Nium’s supporters around the world: our partners, customers, investors and employees. Your ongoing support and belief in Nium are what keep us moving forward. We’re truly honoured to work with you all as we build the future of payments together. 

So, what’s next? 

If there’s anything the past two years has taught us, it’s that nobody can predict exactly what the future holds. However, there’s no harm in trying. 

Throughout the pandemic, we saw the world enter a new era of payments innovation as we all adjusted to the ‘new normal’. And at Nium, we believe that 2022 will be no different. We expect the continued rise of digital payments adoption, particularly across crypto and BNPL, and we envision a surge in travel. You can read Nium’s full list of 2022 predictions here.  

And as we enter this new era of payments innovation, Nium will be rapidly expanding to continue to meet market demands. 2022 will see our company reach new heights, as we strive towards Nium’s eventual IPO.  

Next year, you can expect to see us continue to build out each of Nium’s key solutions: pay-ins, pay-outs, card issuance, banking-as-a-service and crypto-as-a-service. We will be expanding our global reach through continued investment in our global payments infrastructure, our talent, and the right strategic partners. 

The sky really is the limit, and we’re just getting started. 

Bring on 2022!

Nium Events 2021

Nium Awards 2021

Watch this space 

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