About us
Founded in 2004, WorldFirst was established to help small and medium-sized businesses overcome the complexities and high fees associated with cross-border FX transfers and international payments.
Today, we have evolved into a global fintech that connects businesses around the world with fast and affordable payments, access to international marketplaces, flexible currency risk management tools, working capital and more.
We became part of the Ant Group in 2019. Our 500+ employees are based in London, Amsterdam, Singapore, Tokyo, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Sydney and Hong Kong.
A previous two-time winner of the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade, our vision is to provide a one-stop digital payments and financial services platform for cross-border SMEs.
2004
Jonathan Quin and Nick Robinson start WorldFirst, aiming to make foreign exchange easier for all.
2005-2006
We clock up £100+ million in transactions and launch our corporate and ecommerce business divisions.
2007-2008
We launch the WorldFirst online platform.
2009 - 2010
We open our first international office, in Sydney, Australia, and win the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
2011-2012
We expand into the US.
2013-2014
We open offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.
2015 - 2016
We open in the Netherlands, Japan and Korea.
2017-2018
We launch the World Account
2019-Present
WorldFirst joins Ant Financial (now Ant Group), owner of leading payment and lifestyle platform Alipay.
Today, WorldFirst provides a range of tools and services that go far beyond global money transfer, with hedging through forward contracts; local overseas currency accounts; easy integration with Xero and online marketplaces.
We're on a mission to make it easy to do business anywhere.
Our global offices
Businesses like yours trust WorldFirst
- Almost 1,000,000 businesses have sent £125bn around the world with WorldFirst and its partners since 2004
- Your money is safeguarded with leading financial institutions
- We’re an authorised payment services provider
