How LemFi and BVNK Use Stablecoins to Cut Remittance Costs

Stablecoins transitioned into the financial mainstream as cross-border payments bypassed traditional operating hours, weekends and bank holidays to deliver near-instant settlement times.

While moving money across borders has become an everyday necessity for millions, the high cost of traditional transfers still remains a heavy tax. 

To tackle this problem directly, financial platform LemFi has partnered with stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK to build a faster, cheaper payment network for people sending money across borders.

By shifting cross-border settlement onto regulated stablecoin infrastructure, the partnership targets the exact friction points driving up costs for international transfers.

The partnership operationalises the stablecoin settlement strategy that LemFi initiated in May 2026 following a strategic investment from Tether as stablecoins move from crypto trading into conventional financial infrastructure. 

Over the last 12 months, real-world stablecoin payment volumes reached US$7.4tn, with analysts predicting stablecoins could grow from 3% of the cross-border payments market to 20% within a decade.

Overcoming the bottlenecks

Legacy payment architecture has long been the primary bottleneck when it comes to sending funds from the UK, Europe, Australia and North America to beneficiaries across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Traditional international payments still rely on correspondent banking networks and SWIFT chains that add fees at every hop and take days to settle.

According to World Bank data, the global average cost of sending remittances stood at 6.36% in Q3 2025, more than double the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target of 3% by 2030. 

Reaching that 3% target would return an estimated US$20bn annually to families globally. By leveraging BVNK’s stablecoin infrastructure, LemFi is directly tackling this gap.

Ridwan Olalere, Co-Founder and CEO of LemFi, says: “The money that crosses borders still moves on rails built decades ago – slow, expensive and quietly taxing the people who can least afford it. We’re rebuilding those rails. 

“Stablecoins let us settle near instantly and take out cost; BVNK gives us the infrastructure to do it safely and at scale. It’s the start of something bigger that the financial system and the diaspora economy should have had all along.”

Invisible technology built on regulated infrastructure

The technical upgrade operates entirely in the background where the customers do not need to interact with a digital asset, manage a crypto balance or exit their native currency.

Senders can deposit funds in their local currency via the LemFi app, following which settlement routes instantly across stablecoin rails using BVNK’s enterprise platform. On the other side of things, beneficiaries receive the transfer in their local fiat currency. 

This invisible setup preserves the familiar user experience while delivering modern speed and cost efficiency. 

Chris Harmse, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at BVNK, says: “Stablecoins are becoming the base layer for how the world moves money and remittances are one of the clearest places that this shift changes lives. LemFi has built deep trust with the communities it serves across Africa, Asia and beyond. 

“Powering their settlement with our infrastructure means that faster, cheaper transfers reach real families - exactly the kind of impact we built BVNK to deliver.”

While scepticism tends to accompany novel tech, this partnership facilitates stablecoin adoption in a unique way which captures the speed and cost benefits of blockchain settlement without adding any friction or complexity for everyday users.