LemFi taps ClearBank for international payment services

The start-up acquired EMI Rightcard Payment Services in 2021 to grow its migrant-focussed financial services suite with e-wallets

LemFi, a financial services start-up for immigrants, has tapped UK’s clearing and embedded banking platform ClearBank to bolster its international payment services across North America and Europe.

The start-up, earlier known as Lemonade Finance, acquired UK-based electronic money institution (EMI) Rightcard Payment Services in 2021 to grow its migrant-focussed financial services suite with e-wallets.

Now, ClearBank will serve LemFi as its agency banking partner, with its banking technology being used to power the LemFi’s e-wallet service to connect African immigrants in the UK with an alternative to conventional banking.

The start-up says it chose ClearBank because of its reputation for facilitating robust payments and advanced banking infrastructure which supports local virtual accounts and access to secure payment rails.

LemFi says that its partnership with the platform has “gone from strength to strength”, with ClearBank holding 37,000 of its virtual accounts and facilitating payment volumes of up to 550,000 transactions as of September this year.

Its plans for growth received additional support last August, when it raised a $33mln Series A led by Left Lane Capital. The funding will be used to grow its presence in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia, as well as to further develop its product offering.

Chief Executive Officer Ridwan Olalere, who founded the start-up in 2020 with Rian Cochran, says that by partnering with ClearBank, “we are building a proposition that improves the quality and accessibility of financial services for emerging market immigrants”.

LemFi joins the likes of Alba Bank, Allica Bank and fintech Raisin in partnering with ClearBank for its banking and financial technology.