For a business in Colombo invoicing clients in California, the mechanics of moving money have long been a structural obstacle. International wire transfers carry steep fees, SWIFT codes introduce delays, and establishing the banking infrastructure to receive foreign payments can take weeks of paperwork and compliance hurdles.
Maash, a US fintech founded in June 2025, was built on the proposition that this does not have to be the case.
A business or freelancer receiving payment from an American client need only share their US virtual account details, allowing the client to pay domestically, with funds settling directly into the company’s Maash account. No SWIFT code is required, nor international transfer fees. Maash aggregates virtual bank accounts across the US, EU, UAE, and UK, giving businesses a single platform to collect payments across major markets. This functionality is available through Maash’s web platform and app.
Fund Control Stays With The Account Holder
What distinguishes Maash from conventional fintech aggregators is the underlying architecture: the company does not take custody of user funds. Only the account holder can initiate transfers, withdrawals, or payments. “Maash cannot freeze, reverse, or touch client funds in any way, not as a policy choice, but as a built-in architecture design of the platform,” says Nissanka Seneviratne, Co-founder at Maash.
This is made possible through the use of stablecoins. When funds arrive in a user’s virtual bank account, they are converted into USD Coin (USDC) at a one-to-one peg with the US dollar. USDC is backed primarily by US government bonds, carrying regulatory approval in both the US and the EU.
Maash attributes the decision to build on stablecoins rather than conventional banking as a reaction to high-profile failures of trust in the industry. Users who have had funds frozen by platforms such as PayPal or who have watched customer support requests go unanswered are the implicit target market. “We want to give you ownership and control over your money,” says Joyce Chin, Co-founder at Maash.
Built For Businesses Running Out of Options
While Maash operates a consumer app in Sri Lanka, the UAE, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, the company’s focus is on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The founders describe a recurring pattern: Sri Lankan businesses are forced to route payments through expensive international wire transfers or consider relocating their incorporation abroad altogether.
Maash’s business platform, a web application, is open to companies registered in any jurisdiction outside of sanctioned territories. Once verified through a Know Your Business (KYB) process, a company may receive multi-currency virtual accounts, access to outbound payments in up to 75 countries, and the ability to pay employees or contractors directly via a specific Maash tag — the platform’s internal identifier. Chin notes this is also a practical workaround for companies whose staff are increasingly demanding US dollar salaries.
Users are charged a 0.5–1% fee on incoming transfers via virtual bank accounts. If the payment is not in US dollars, it is then converted at mid-market rates from Reuters and Bloomberg. Card transactions and peer-to-peer transfers within the Maash ecosystem are free. The founders say the pricing is not an introductory offer but a considered decision that covers variable costs while remaining competitive against the 5–6% fees typical of conventional international remittance services.
Building Ahead of Regulation
Sri Lanka currently has no formal legislative framework governing cryptocurrency or stablecoin activity, which means Maash operates in a regulatory grey zone domestically even as it pursues compliance elsewhere.
As a US-incorporated entity, the company is registered as a Money Service Business with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). This carries mandatory suspicious activity reporting requirements to American authorities. On identity verification, Maash uses SumSub, a third-party provider that supports Sri Lankan identity documents, as a first gate; its banking partners then conduct independent verification in parallel. This results in users passing through several independent verification systems.
The company’s preference for USDC over rival stablecoins, including Tether (USDT), reflects this compliance posture. Concerns about whether Tether’s reserves were fully backed by cash-equivalent instruments, as opposed to corporate bonds, make it less attractive for a platform that prioritises compliance with emerging regulation.
Small Team, Agile Ambition
Maash currently employs nine people, including three co-founders, covering engineering, operations, strategy, and business development. The founding team, which launched the app in September last year, has already processed over $1.3 million in real transactions while fielding customer support queries directly.
Near-term priorities include Apple Pay integration and the expansion of inbound bank accounts to cover Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong, targetted for the second quarter of 2026. The company is similarly working to introduce the ability for Sri Lankan users to deposit into Maash from local bank accounts.
Longer term, the founders describe a vision in which the cost and complexity of moving money across borders falls to near zero. “Maash has grown to more than 1,400 users and $1.3 million processed through word-of-mouth, so we know there is a lot of unmet needs from business and freelancers that just need better ways to manage cross-border payments,” said Leeroy Hendriks, Co-founder at Maash.
They are looking to expand into the rest of Asia following the early validation of demand in Sri Lanka, but Hendriks added that “we want to be cautious about scaling ahead of trust with our users and banking partners, especially since we’re also a Money Service Business ourselves.”