UK firm WorldRemit raised $45 million as it looked to consolidate its position in the competitive market for mobile phone-based remittance payments.

A year ago, the firm raised $100 million and said the funds were earmarked for expansion. The same message came following the current round which was backed by Triplepoint Venture Growth BDC and Silicon Valley Bank.

“WorldRemit will continue to build partnerships with mobile money services, banks and payout networks around the world so that our service becomes universal,” said Ismail Ahmed, its CEO.

Forging further partnerships with mobile operators, banks and others will partly account for the $45 million. WorldRemit also wants to build more partnerships on the originating side, typically the US or Europe, where money is paid into the remittance system.

Mind you, WorldRemit is hardly the only player interested in remittances and P2P payments. As well as specialists such as Azimo, TransferTo, Xendpay and PayPal-owned Xoom, the market has attracted Facebook, Google and leading messaging apps. Hence the need for WorldRemit to bulk up. It has collected a total of $193 million in funding to date.