LemFi taps BVNK stablecoin rails to cut cross-border costs
LemFi is moving its cross-border settlement onto BVNK's stablecoin infrastructure to slash remittance costs, signalling a broader shift of digital assets into mainstream global payments.
LemFi is replacing traditional correspondent banking chains with stablecoin settlement infrastructure provided by BVNK. The partnership shifts the two-million-user platform away from SWIFT transfers, aiming to deliver near-instant cross-border payments from the UK, Europe, North America and Australia into Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The financial incentive driving the switch is clear. The global average cost of sending remittances stood at 6.36% in the third quarter of 2025, according to the World Bank, more than double the United Nations’ 3% target for 2030. Hitting that goal would return roughly $20 billion annually to recipient families. By stripping out the intermediaries that add fees at every hop, stablecoin rails offer a direct mechanism to close that pricing gap.
LemFi’s pivot reflects a much broader infrastructure shift in global finance. “Stablecoins are becoming the base layer for how the world moves money,” said Chris Harmse, co-founder and chief business officer of BVNK. Real-world stablecoin payment volumes hit $7.4 trillion over the past 12 months, and analysts project the technology could capture up to 20% of the cross-border payments market within a decade, up from roughly 3% today.
The companies are carefully managing the regulatory and user-experience risks typically associated with crypto assets. End users never touch stablecoins or hold crypto balances; they simply send and receive local fiat currency while the technology operates in the background. “Stablecoins let us settle near instantly and take out cost; BVNK gives us the infrastructure to do it safely and at scale,” said Ridwan Olalere, LemFi’s co-founder and CEO.
The settlement rollout will proceed market-by-market, strictly contingent on local central bank frameworks. BVNK operates with more than 25 regulatory licenses across the UK, Europe and the US. For LemFi, the integration executes a strategy outlined in May 2026 following a strategic investment from Tether, cementing its shift from a standalone remittance app into a full-stack financial platform backed by a £100 million London investment commitment.
