Today, we’re introducing ZapRemit to the world — the API-first remittance infrastructure built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network. After months of quietly running production volume, it’s time to share the story of how we got here and where we’re going.
Where We Started
ZapRemit’s story begins in the Philippines. Our earliest production work was powering the Philippine peso offramp for Strike’s Send Globally feature — one of the most widely used Bitcoin payment applications in the world. Strike needed a reliable, compliant partner to take Lightning Network payments and deliver them as pesos, directly to Filipino recipients via GCash and Maya, the country’s dominant mobile wallets. We built that infrastructure. We ran it at scale. And through that work, we learned precisely what it takes to connect the Lightning Network to real-world local payment rails.
That foundation — deep expertise in remittance offramping, a compliance-first mindset, and battle-tested infrastructure — is what ZapRemit is built on.
The Mission
The global remittance market moves over $800 billion a year. Most of that value passes through legacy correspondent banking chains that are slow, expensive, and opaque. Migrant workers sending money home routinely lose 5–10% to fees and FX markups. Their families receive less. The banks and transfer operators pocket the difference.
The Lightning Network is capable of settling value anywhere in the world in seconds, for fractions of a cent. The problem has never been the network — it’s been the last mile: converting that bitcoin into local currency and delivering it to a bank account, a mobile wallet, a cash counter, or a biller.
ZapRemit is that last mile. Our mission is to build the infrastructure layer that lets any Lightning-enabled wallet, neobank, or fintech platform offer world-class remittance payouts — without pre-funding float accounts, without months of fragmented local integrations, and without sacrificing on exchange rates or reliability.
Expanding the Payout Network
Starting from the Philippines, we have rapidly expanded our payout coverage. ZapRemit now supports — or is actively onboarding — five distinct payout method categories across growing markets:
- Bank transfers — real-time delivery to local bank accounts via domestic instant payment rails (InstaPay & PESONet in the Philippines, SPEI in Mexico, and more as we expand)
- Cash pickup — recipients collect funds at agent networks and payout counters across supported markets, including Cebuana, M Lhuillier, and Palawan in the Philippines
- Mobile money — direct credits to mobile wallets such as GCash, Maya, OXXO Pay, Mercado Pago, and a growing roster of regional providers
- Bill payments — pay utility bills, government fees, loan installments, and other billers directly from a Lightning payment
- QR payments — scan-to-pay at any compatible QR-enabled merchant terminal, starting with QR Ph and expanding to regional standards
We are live in the Philippines and Mexico today, with India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, and 20+ additional markets actively in development. Our roadmap spans every major remittance corridor, and we’re signing new partners and corridors every month.
How It Works
ZapRemit is an API-first service. Partner platforms — wallets, neobanks, payroll tools, fintech apps — send a single POST /v1/payouts request with the recipient details, amount, currency, and payout method. ZapRemit handles FX conversion, compliance screening, and local payout rail execution. The recipient gets their money. The partner earns revenue. No float required.
We earn a small FX margin on each transaction — aligned with partner success, not a fixed toll. No pre-funded accounts. No seat fees. No locked capital sitting idle in local jurisdictions.
Who We’re Building For
ZapRemit is built for developers and the companies behind them: Lightning-enabled wallets, neobanks adding international payout features, fintech platforms with cross-border disbursement needs, payroll platforms, and payment orchestrators. If you’re moving value over Lightning and need to settle it in local currency, we’re the missing piece.
What’s Next
We’re actively onboarding Lightning-enabled wallets and neobanks. If you’re building something that needs to move money globally over Lightning — or if you’re a wallet or exchange with users in any of our supported corridors — we’d love to talk.
Reach us at [email protected] or explore the API at docs.zapremit.com.