LemFi recently became the first major remittance platform to integrate credit into its core product, following the launch of LemFi Credit, and the Pillar acquisition paves the way for deeper, specialised credit services and cards designed specifically for immigrants. In addition to accessing Pillar's market-leading technology, FCA credit license and track record of growth, the deal sees Pillar’s co-founders and Revolut alumni Ashutosh Bhatt and Adam Lewis join the LemFi team.

Reshaping the future of how immigrants move money globally

Founded in 2021, LemFi was built to be the trusted financial services platform for immigrants worldwide. Having started with payments and remittances, LemFi enables users to open multi-currency accounts and send and receive money globally, reliably and at a low cost. With over two million customers across the US, UK, Canada, and Europe, $1 billion in monthly transaction volume, and with expansions in Asia and Latin America, this approach has seen the platform grow 30% month-on-month. Following the recent $53 million Series B funding led by Highland Europe, credit is the next frontier.

Solving credit invisibility

In the UK alone, around 64% of adults have at least one credit card and every month 83% of the population uses some form of credit or loan product, making up an $875 million market. Yet around five million people are “credit invisible, rising to nearly 30 million in the US. Regardless of financial standing or employment, their lack of credit history makes them four times more likely to be excluded from essential services like loans, credit cards, and mobile contracts than the general population. Plus, with one in seven UK residents born overseas, and the majority of newcomers planning to stay long-term, it’s a challenge that is only set to grow. 

Pillar’s alternative credit-scoring model uses global credit insights and non-traditional data to solve this, assessing eligibility and helping users build a financial footprint from day one.

LemFi Credit and beyond

Such is the demand for credit services that LemFi Credit – LemFi’s first credit offering – has gained 8,000+ users just six weeks into its private beta, growing 18% week-on-week. Customers receive a virtual card, instantly usable via Apple Pay or Google Pay. Physical Visa cards will launch later this year when the service is rolled out to the public.

These cards will leverage Pillar's technology to:

• Recognise international credit histories, allowing immigrants to "import" their credit standing from their home countries
• Provide alternative credit assessment using non-traditional data points to evaluate creditworthiness
• Offer graduated credit building, starting with secured or limited-line products that grow with the customer
• Integrate with remittance services, combining Lemfi's core cross-border payment capabilities with credit building

Ridwan Olalere, LemFi Co-Founder and CEO, said: “Through LemFi Credit, we already provide our existing customers with the ability to grow their credit right within the LemFi app. With this acquisition, we plan to offer Credit Cards to customers, starting with the UK and roll out the full suite of LemFi Credit features publicly. Credit forms a critical part of our vision of building a full-stack financial service for immigrants everywhere, and Rian and I are particularly pleased that Adam and Ash have agreed to join us in building it.”

Ashutosh Bhatt, Pillar co-founder, said: “Despite earning a good salary at Barclays, I couldn’t access even the everyday products I’d had in India. I couldn’t get an iPhone, let alone a credit card. There have been slight improvements, but we still can’t offer equitable access to bank accounts or credit cards to someone from another country. I’m excited for the impact we will have together with LemFi to increase reach by 10X and build truly global access to credit."

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