Built for your global life.
You earn here, you support family there, and what you spend on one side shapes what you can send to the other. Odola puts them in one place: your account, debit card and international transfers. Helping you to plan for what’s next.
Our Story
Most apps solve the transfer.
We built everything around it.
Ismail Ahmed founded WorldRemit in 2010 and spent eight years making it cheaper and easier to send money across borders. That solved one part of the problem. It didn't solve the rest - the account the money leaves from, how you budget your spending, whether what you send arrives and what it cost you to send it.
Odola brings them together: an account, a card, international transfers, and real human support when you need one.
Our Team
Odola brings together people who have built and operated international payments, financial products and technology at scale. Our team combines experience from WorldRemit, Amazon, IBM, Crypto.com, Western Union, Travelex and other global businesses with deep expertise in compliance, finance, operations and customer care. We share one focus: building a simpler, more dependable financial experience for people whose lives span borders.
Founders
Dr Ismail Ahmed
Founder & CEO
Ismail founded WorldRemit in 2010 and led it as chief executive for eight years, building it into a global money transfer business last valued at $5 billion. As a United Nations adviser, he helped money transfer companies across East Africa strengthen their anti-money laundering controls. He holds a PhD from the University of London and an MBA from London Business School.
Dr Abdigani Diriye
Co-founder & Chief Product Officer
Abdigani shapes Odola’s product vision. He founded Bloom, a Y Combinator-backed neobank, and led artificial intelligence teams at Amazon and IBM working on products used by millions of people. An author or named inventor on more than 50 papers and patents, he holds a PhD in computer science from University College London and an MBA from INSEAD.
Building the product
Protecting customers & earning trust
Marie-Genevieve Vellin
Head of Compliance ANZ & AML Officer
Marie leads Odola’s Asia-Pacific business and regional compliance. She previously held senior compliance roles at Ezypay and Cuscal, following earlier experience at Nium and WorldRemit.
