The financial technology company that allows over 2 million immigrants to easily send money across the globe—LemFI—has launched “Send Now, Pay Later” (SNPL)—a remittance service that embeds credit into money transfers for Africans living in the United Kingdom (UK).
The LemFI's SNPL is an artificial intelligence-powered remittance service that lets immigrants in the UK send money home instantly and pay later. This is a first-of-its-kind remittance product that allows cross-border payments on credit.
Many UK immigrants send about £10 billion abroad each year, but mismatched pay cycles and urgent family needs often create cash-flow challenges. In fact, traditional remittance services are demanding for upfront payment. But now, everything has changed; LemFi’s “SNPL” offers a lifeline—letting newcomers with limited credit history send funds instantly and settle the balance later.
Under SNPL, eligible users can get credit lines between £300 and £1,000 to send funds home immediately, even if they don’t currently hold that cash. Approval and limits are determined by an AI engine—LemFi’s “Ensemble AI”—using open banking data, remittance history, and credit bureau reports.
This move addresses a key challenge for immigrants. It's worth noting that limited access to credit is in the UK, often due to minimal or no local credit history. With SNPL, LemFi aims to help users avoid costly informal borrowing and transfer delays that may be caused by absent of funds.
LemFi plans to expand SNPL beyond the UK to markets including the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
How to Use LemFi Credit Line to Send Money in the U.K.
To use LemFi’s credit line in the UK, you'll first need to join LemFi Credit. Like we've emphasized earlier, the LemFI Credit's program offers credit limits between £300 and £1,000 based on an AI-driven credit assessment that's performed on your credit history.
Notably, LemFi uses open banking data, remittance history, and even international credit records to evaluate eligibility. So, you don't need to worry if you're a newcomers who may not yet have a UK credit history. The credit service is available to everyone no matter their credit history; it's just that the eligible amounts will differ.
Once your credit limit is approved, you can choose the “Send Now, Pay Later” option whenever you're sending money through the LemFi app. The platform will transfer the funds instantly to any of LemFi’s 30+ supported countries.
Meanwhile, based on the credit agreement you agreed upon when applying for your credit limit, you'll need to repays the amount later according to the preferred repayment schedule and method you chose. In short, to send money home using the LemFI's SNPL, you'll need to
- Join LemFi Credit through the LemFi app.
- Get a credit line of £300–£1,000 after AI-based approval.
- Select SNPL when sending money abroad.
- Funds are sent instantly, and repayment happens later.
LemFi’s co-founder and CEO—Ridwan Olalere—said that despite the good transformative change ‘Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)’ has brought to the way people shop, it hasn’t been applied to money transfers. He emphasized that “by embedding credit into remittances, we ensure that sending financial help home isn’t held back by timing or cash flow issues.”
