Modulr hires Marca Wosoba to head up new Netherlands office

UK-based Modulr has opened offices in the Netherlands as part of its European expansion plans and has appointed the former head of international development at WorldFirst, Marca Wosoba, to spearhead its Dutch entity.

The payments-as-a-service API platform said it chose Amsterdam as its commercial, operational and regulatory hub for accessing continental Europe, as it eyes a move into other key European markets in 2022 and 2023, including France, Spain and Germany.

Modulr is in the process of applying for an EMI licence from the Dutch Central Bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), and in the meantime is operating at a pan-European level by passporting its Irish EMI licence across the EU.

It has begun building out a local Dutch team with the appointment of Wosoba and is also starting to hire team members in some of those key continental European markets across a number of functions, including product, compliance and business development.

Wosoba, general manager at Modulr Netherlands, said: “The Netherlands was our first choice to establish a presence in continental Europe and gives us a solid foothold to begin eliminating payment inefficiencies for the EU’s many businesses – making payments technology work better for them.

“Amsterdam provides us with the specialist talent, excellent local business services and an energetic fintech scene to help us on our mission.”

She added: “When it comes to taking advantage of SEPA Instant and a digital instant economy, the real differentiation for European businesses will be how smoothly funds flow at either end of the rail – a proven real-time payments engine can seriously scale potential.”

Modulr, which has received backing from the venture arms of PayPal and FIS, enables businesses to automate payment flows and embed payments into their platforms.

Myles Stephenson, founder and CEO of Modulr, said: “Our expansion into the Netherlands and further into the continent next year will bring fast-tracked fintech to Europe – enabling EU businesses to leverage our licence and embed our payments capabilities directly into their propositions so they can grow and service customers with confidence.”