Financial technology company LemFi has partnered with stablecoin payments infrastructure provider BVNK to move cross-border settlement onto regulated stablecoin rails, a move the companies say will enable faster and lower-cost international money transfers for diaspora communities.
Under the partnership, stablecoins will be used behind the scenes to settle transactions between markets before funds are paid out in local currency at the destination. LemFi said customers will continue to use its platform in the same way, without needing to hold stablecoins, maintain cryptocurrency balances or change their local currency preferences.
The company said the partnership is intended to address inefficiencies in traditional cross-border payment systems, where international transfers can pass through correspondent banks and SWIFT networks before reaching their destination.
For LemFi, which says more than two million people use its services to move money between countries including the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and North America and beneficiaries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, the shift is designed to improve the infrastructure supporting its international payment corridors.
“Stablecoins let us settle near-instantly and reduce costs; BVNK provides the infrastructure to do so safely and at scale,” Ridwan Olalere, co-founder and chief executive of LemFi, said in the company’s announcement.
Olalere said the partnership is part of the company’s effort to address the cost and speed limitations of traditional cross-border payment infrastructure.
The companies’ announcement comes as stablecoins are increasingly being explored as a mechanism for moving value across borders. LemFi cited stablecoin payment volumes of $7.4 trillion over the previous 12 months and forecasts that stablecoins could increase their share of the cross-border payments market from about 3% today to as much as 20% within a decade.
The figures cited by LemFi refer to broader stablecoin payment activity and forecasts rather than transactions conducted through the LemFi-BVNK partnership specifically.
The partnership also builds on LemFi’s stablecoin strategy following a strategic investment by Tether in May 2026, which LemFi said would support the integration of USD₮ as a settlement layer across its payment corridors.
BVNK will provide the infrastructure for the settlement system. According to LemFi, the company operates a compliance-focused platform with more than 25 licences and regulatory approvals across the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, with coverage in more than 130 countries.
“Stablecoins are becoming the base layer for how the world moves money, and remittances are one of the clearest places that shift changes lives,” Chris Harmse, co-founder and chief business officer at BVNK, said.
Harmse said BVNK’s infrastructure would support LemFi’s efforts to provide faster and lower-cost transfers to customers and their families.
The economics of remittances remain a significant issue for migrant communities. According to the World Bank data cited by LemFi, the global average cost of sending remittances was 6.36% in the third quarter of 2025, more than twice the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal target of 3% by 2030.
LemFi said reaching the 3% target would return an estimated $20 billion a year to families receiving money from abroad.
The company said the new settlement infrastructure will initially operate without requiring customers to interact directly with stablecoins. Instead, stablecoin settlement will take place in the background while recipients continue to receive funds in local currency.
LemFi said the system will be introduced progressively across its payment corridors and broader product portfolio on a market-by-market basis. The rollout will depend on local regulatory and central bank frameworks that permit the use of the technology.
The partnership marks another step in LemFi’s expansion beyond traditional remittance services. The company said it is developing a broader financial platform for globally mobile communities, with services spanning payments, credit, savings and connectivity.
LemFi also pointed to its selection of London as its global headquarters, a £100 million UK investment commitment and an expanding regulatory footprint across the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, Australia and selected markets in Africa and Asia as part of its broader expansion.
The immediate impact of the partnership will depend on how quickly the stablecoin settlement infrastructure is deployed across LemFi’s corridors and whether the resulting efficiencies translate into lower costs or faster transfers for customers.
For now, the companies’ stated strategy is to keep the technology largely invisible to users: stablecoins handle settlement in the background, while customers continue to send and receive money through the familiar LemFi experience and in their preferred local currencies.
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