Following the launch of WiPay operations in the Cayman Islands last week, WiPay founder and CEO Aldwyn Wayne has set his sights on securing a foothold in the island of Hispaniola before the end of the year.

The Caribbean payment solutions provider launched its operations in the Cayman Islands last Friday, June 24, with Canadian Jason Butcher appointed as WiPay Cayman’s country manager.

The company now aims to fill gaps in the British overseas territory’s payments system, both at the local and international levels, one of which is the processing of payments between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

“WiPay going into Cayman after Jamaica was a natural step. Jamaica and Cayman Islands have a working relationship; there are a lot of Jamaicans in Cayman Islands. So when we started working here [in Jamaica], one of the bigger questions was, ‘How can we work closely with people in Cayman?’ ” Wayne told Jamaica Observer.

“So opening in Cayman was not only to expand the footprint of WiPay into more Caribbean territories but to understand one of the largest markets — Jamaica — and its relationship with Cayman. We felt that to be the best market to go to help with transactions to and from Cayman,” he continued.

Beyond the synergistic relationship between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, the WiPay CEO also highlighted that the territory is unique in that it has a large influx of expatriates and tourists who are processing both local and international payments. Given the volume of payments from both locals and foreigners, including remittances, Wayne said that the fintech firm can benefit from providing payment processing solutions to that market.

“So we believe that providing a value to the local community in a standardised way is a gap that we can fill. So that opportunity exists in Cayman to provide solutions beyond basic banking services,” the WiPay founder explained.

Some of these services, he said, can be extended to non-Caymanian residents who are excluded from the financial system.

The WiPay platform offers its clients a range of services, including mobile wallets through which they can send and receive payments, point-of-sale payment processing, business-to-business payments, and invoice generation, among others. With a presence in countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guyana, and St Lucia, the company partners with licensed money value transfer service providers and remittance providers to facilitate cross-border movement of funds.

Having integrated the Cayman Island in its network of operations in the English-speaking Caribbean, WiPay is ready to expand its footprint into two of the largest markets in the region with populations in excess of 11 million — Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In 2020, remittances amounted to US$3.8 billion in Haiti and over US$8 billion in the Dominican Republic.

“After we rolled out throughout the English-speaking Caribbean, Hispaniola is where we want to culminate Caribbean growth and Haiti and Dominican Republic are the two largest countries in the Caribbean outside of Cuba,” Wayne said, estimating that payment processing within both countries, between them and with other Caribbean jurisdictions amounted to over US$20 billion.

“So our road map was to perfect what we do in the English-speaking Caribbean and then move into those markets that are very mature when it comes to remittance services and payment services of that nature,” he told Caribbean Business Report.

Thus far WiPay has made inroads into Haiti and is awaiting some regulatory approvals to launch its operation in August. In the month following, the fintech will roll out its services in the Dominican Republic and announce its partner in that country.

When asked if WiPay is planning to integrate all its platforms to facilitate cross-border payment settlement network, the WiPay CEO confirmed, noting that the company has been testing and working on its own regional payments network within the last two years.

“Moving money across the Caribbean is pretty much the holy grail for WiPay,” he responded.

He pointed out that money movement in the region created “friction” with the involvement of third-party intermediaries and correspondent banking relationships. To this end, WiPay is aiming to connect all its platforms in each respective jurisdiction to facilitate seamless movement of funds from one to another.

While pointing out that sending funds from one WiPay account in Trinidad to another in that country takes seconds, he explained that the same should obtain for transactions between Barbados and Jamaica, for example. To take this further step, however, would require increasing WiPay’s liquidity by raising new capital, Wayne explained, noting that the idea of an initial public offer has been on the table.

“If we are going to list, it would never be on one market. WiPay is a Caribbean company and we believe that every one of our customers should have an opportunity, who is interested, of course — every one of our customers we want to own WiPay,” he revealed, adding that both the Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica stock exchanges would be the indices of choice.

He said listing could happen before the end of the year.