Wael Almaree is founder and chief executive of Tribe Payments, the London issuer and acquirer processing company. He started Tribe in 2018 after struggling to get the right payment services himself, and built a modular, cloud-native platform that the company says now supports more than seventy customers globally.
Founding Tribe
His founding brief was to give banks, fintechs, and acquirers more flexible technology instead of forcing them through rigid processor stacks. Tribe's people page says that frustration with access to payment services shaped the company's purpose. The firm markets connectivity across Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, American Express, Discover, and JCB acquiring through one integration, with products spanning issuer and acquirer processing, digital banking, and open banking.
Leading the company
As CEO he leads a team of more than 200 people across London, Lithuania, Singapore, Dubai, and Moldova. Earlier public announcements briefly named Andrew Hocking as CEO in 2024 while Almaree remained founder; Tribe's live leadership roster in 2026 again lists Almaree as chief executive, with Guy Houghton as chief revenue officer and long-time colleagues in technology and finance. The platform's published focus remains speed to market and modular services for complex payment programmes.