“African freelancers are world-class. With Global Accounts, we’re giving them what they’ve always deserved: direct access to the global financial system.” – Ridwan Olalere, co-founder and CEO.
Financial technology startup LemFi has launched its highly anticipated “Global Account” feature through which users can open, hold, and transact in United States Dollars (USD) and Great British Pounds (GBP) accounts, bypassing the notorious friction of local currency constraints and exorbitant banking fees.
The new feature is set to significantly change the future of exchange transactions, making it easier particularly for African freelancers. Nigeria is the first country to benefit from this new roll out as the company gears up to spread it across other nations.
Ridwan Olalere, co-founder and CEO of LemFi, said, “African freelancers are world-class. With Global Accounts, we’re giving them what they’ve always deserved: direct access to the global financial system, no more asking friends abroad for help, no more feeling left out of global moments. Global Accounts gives you a financial identity that is as global as your ambitions.”
The Problem Solved: Tearing Down Financial Borders
LemFi was conceived to dismantle the structural barriers that have long plagued immigrant and diaspora communities.
According to Olalere, the financial technology world had declared remittance “solved,” yet for millions of African migrants and remote workers, moving money remained a painful ordeal—slow, non-transparent, and prohibitively expensive. There have been several cases of operators irreversibly closing down accounts holding hundreds of dollars, leading to unwarranted devastation.
“When we started building LemFi, we were told remittance had already been solved. But for too many people, it is still too slow, cumbersome and expensive with customers telling us that in some instances it was cheaper to send money from the US via Canada than directly to their families back home,” he noted.
This is the existential challenge that Olalere and his co-founder Rian Cochran (CFO), who met while working at OPay, set out to conquer when they established the company in 2020.
LemFi’s core mission is to solve this by building a holistic financial services hub for immigrants worldwide. The Global Account is the latest, most powerful solution for those receiving international wages directly into Africa, providing them with unique foreign bank details to receive payments instantly.
Beyond Remittance: A Financial Ecosystem Takes Shape
While the new feature, Global Account, is the current headline, it is merely the newest pillar in a rapidly expanding financial ecosystem. LemFi’s product suite extends far beyond simple remittances, which initially allowed users in the UK, US, and Canada to send money to over 20 emerging markets with zero or low fees.
Other innovative products from the platform include:
- Multi-Currency Wallets: Allowing users to hold funds in various currencies like EUR and CAD, facilitating seamless conversion at competitive rates.
- Instant Access Savings Accounts: Introduced to help immigrants build wealth and save money in the currencies they earn.
- LemFi Credit: Designed to address the credit gap faced by immigrants by recognizing international credit histories.
- “Send Now, Pay Later” (SNPL): An innovative product that allows users to access credit safely to send money when they need it most, providing a financial safety net powered by their alternative credit-scoring technology.
The War Chest and the Titan Scale
The company’s audacious vision has not gone unnoticed by global investors. LemFi has successfully attracted venture capital, with its total funding reaching approximately $86 million to date.
In January 2025, the company attracted $53 million in a Series B funding round secured in which was led by the prestigious European growth equity firm Highland Europe, with continued participation from existing backers, including Left Lane Capital, Palm Drive Capital, and Y Combinator. This capital injection is fueling aggressive global expansion and product diversification.
The company recently announced a major operational milestone, having crossed $1 billion in monthly transaction volume, showing great potential in tapping into the global fintech market.
“Our customers depend on us for security and transparency when moving their money,” said Janine Ross, Group Head of Compliance at LemFi. commenting on the company’s recent securing of 14 new Money Transmitter Licenses across the US.
By offering Nigerians the ability to operate as true global citizens, LemFi is not just transferring money; it is ushering in an era of genuine financial inclusion, one foreign currency account at a time.
The verdict from the market is clear: the age of complex, high-cost borderless payments is swiftly drawing to a close and companies such as LemFI are giving Africans an opportunity to play fairly at the global stage.
Financial technology startup LemFi has launched its highly anticipated “Global Account” feature through which users can open, hold, and transact in genuine United States Dollars (USD) and Great British Pounds (GBP) accounts, bypassing the notorious friction of local currency constraints and exorbitant banking fees.
The new feature is set to significantly change the future of exchange transactions as it simplifies foreign exchange transactions, make it easier particularly for African freelancers. Nigeria is the first country to benefit from this new roll out as the company gears up to spread it across other nations.
Ridwan Olalere, co-founder and CEO of LemFi, said, “African freelancers are world-class. With Global Accounts, we’re giving them what they’ve always deserved: direct access to the global financial system, no more asking friends abroad for help, no more feeling left out of global moments. Global Accounts gives you a financial identity that is as global as your ambitions.”
The Problem Solved: Tearing Down Financial Borders
LemFi was conceived to dismantle the structural barriers that have long plagued immigrant and diaspora communities.
The financial technology world had declared remittance “solved,” yet for millions of African migrants and remote workers, moving money remained a painful ordeal—slow, non-transparent, and prohibitively expensive. There have been several cases of operators irreversibly closing down accounts holding hundreds of dollars, leading to unwarranted devastation.
This is the existential challenge that co-founders Ridwan Olalere (CEO) and Rian Cochran (CFO), who met while working at OPay, set out to conquer when they established the company in 2020.
As CEO Olalere once noted, reflecting on the company’s origin, “When we started building LemFi, we were told remittance had already been solved. But for too many people, it is still too slow, cumbersome and expensive with customers telling us that in some instances it was cheaper to send money from the US via Canada than directly to their families back home.”
LemFi’s core mission is to solve this by building a holistic financial services hub for immigrants worldwide. The Global Account is the latest, most powerful solution for those receiving international wages directly into Africa, providing them with unique foreign bank details to receive payments instantly.
Beyond Remittance: A Financial Ecosystem Takes Shape
While the new feature, Global Account, is the current headline, it is merely the newest pillar in a rapidly expanding financial ecosystem. LemFi’s product suite extends far beyond simple remittances, which initially allowed users in the UK, US, and Canada to send money to over 20 emerging markets with zero or low fees.
Other innovative products from the platform include:
- Multi-Currency Wallets: Allowing users to hold funds in various currencies like EUR and CAD, facilitating seamless conversion at competitive rates.
- Instant Access Savings Accounts: Introduced to help immigrants build wealth and save money in the currencies they earn.
- LemFi Credit: Designed to address the credit gap faced by immigrants by recognizing international credit histories.
- “Send Now, Pay Later” (SNPL): An innovative product that allows users to access credit safely to send money when they need it most, providing a financial safety net powered by their alternative credit-scoring technology.
The War Chest and the Titan Scale
The company’s audacious vision has not gone unnoticed by global investors. LemFi has successfully attracted venture capital, with its total funding reaching approximately $86 million to date.
In January 2025, the company attracted $53 million in a Series B funding round secured in which was led by the prestigious European growth equity firm Highland Europe, with continued participation from existing backers, including Left Lane Capital, Palm Drive Capital, and Y Combinator. This capital injection is fueling aggressive global expansion and product diversification.
The company recently announced a major operational milestone, having crossed $1 billion in monthly transaction volume, showing great potential in tapping into the global fintech market.
“Our customers depend on us for security and transparency when moving their money,” said Janine Ross, Group Head of Compliance at LemFi. commenting on the company’s recent securing of 14 new Money Transmitter Licenses across the US.
By offering Nigerians the ability to operate as true global citizens, LemFi is not just transferring money; it is ushering in an era of genuine financial inclusion, one foreign currency account at a time.
The verdict from the market is clear: the age of complex, high-cost borderless payments is swiftly drawing to a close and companies such as LemFI are giving Africans an opportunity to play fairly at the global stage.