Frontier Fintech GPS# 36 - June 18th 2025
Lemfi Acquires Pillar, Moove moves towards unicorn status, JP Morgan fuels Stablecoin rush and other stories that matter.
Illustration by Mary Mogoi
Hi All, Welcome to the 36th edition of Frontier Fintech GPS where I provide key insights on the top global Fintech news items that matter to you. This newsletter will be arriving in your inboxes every Wednesday morning. The idea behind Frontier Fintech GPS is to help you navigate the endless stream of Fintech news and get smart about global Fintech as it applies to Africa. To those who are yet to subscribe, hit the subscribe button below and share with your colleagues and friends. 🚀
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🇬🇧 | LemFi acquires Pillar to offer migrant credit cards
LemFi, a London-based remittance fintech, acquired Pillar, a UK credit card issuer, to offer specialized credit cards for immigrants, approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in May 2025. Pillar’s technology enables recognition of international credit histories, alternative credit assessments, and graduated credit-building, addressing barriers for immigrants lacking UK credit profiles. LemFi, serving over 2 million users with $1 billion in monthly transactions, integrates these credit services into its app, enhancing its multi-currency and remittance offerings. The deal includes Pillar’s co-founders, ex-Revolut alumni, joining LemFi. This strengthens LemFi’s position in the UK’s $875 million credit market, promotes financial inclusion, and intensifies competition with fintechs like Wise and Remitly.
This transaction follows on from their Q1 acquisition of Irish exchange platform Buttercrane. LemFi is aiming at providing a comprehensive financial service platform to immigrants and thus gain stickyness at the source of remittances. This is a smart move given that remittances are increasingly a cost game and therefore a product wedge matters. The acquisitions to me reflect an internal view that acquisitions are the fastest path to both scaling their product and having the requisite licensing in Europe. The space is increasingly competitive and with the Big Beautiful Bill in the horizon, it would be important to offer more than just the ability to send money home.
🌍 | Moove targets $300 M Series E to boost global robotaxi ambitions
Moove, a Nigerian mobility fintech, is in talks to raise $300 million in equity, aiming for a valuation exceeding $1 billion, as reported on June 13, 2025. The funding will support expansion in autonomous vehicle services and global markets, building on its vehicle financing model for ride-hailing drivers. Moove’s annual revenue has tripled to $360 million, driven by its Uber partnership and fleet management for Waymo’s robotaxis in the U.S. The company’s acquisition of Brazil’s Kovi in 2023 bolstered its Latin American presence. This round, backed by investors like Mubadala and Uber, underscores Africa’s growing tech investment appeal. It positions Moove to lead in sustainable mobility and compete in the global autonomous vehicle ecosystem.
Moove is riding on many secular trends;
The growth of the gig-economy;
The role of lending in unlocking productivity in Africa - similarly to M-Kopa and Watu Credit;
Autonomous vehicles and robo-taxis;
It’s incredible that an African-led company has been able to catch and ride this wave so well. It’s one thing to be at the right place at the right time with the right product, it’s another thing to execute so well and with such ambition.
🇺🇸 | JPMorgan files “JPMD” service mark for digital asset expansion
JPMorgan Chase filed a trademark application for “JPMD” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on June 15, 2025, covering digital asset trading, exchange, transfers, payments, and issuance. The filing signals an expansion of the bank’s blockchain services, potentially including a stablecoin, despite CEO Jamie Dimon’s past criticism of cryptocurrencies. JPMorgan already operates JPM Coin and the Kinexys blockchain network, processing $2 billion daily. The move aligns with U.S. regulatory progress, including the GENIUS Act, fostering bank-led crypto adoption. It positions JPMorgan to compete with crypto-native firms and enhance institutional digital payment infrastructure
The stablecoin space is heating up and many banks don’t want to be left behind. There’s a FOMO in the air that is almost reminiscent of 2021. Whilst I think banks will play a key role in wholesale stablecoin adoption and tokenised deposits - an area in which JP Morgan is a trailblazer, I’m yet to be convinced by the retail stablecoin opportunity for banks. My view is that in markets such as the US and Europe, there’s little to be gained from retail stablecoin projects. What are they enabling that existing systems are not enabling? - there’s no market failure. Having said that, there’s a role to be played by banks such as JP Morgan in the payment space be it wholesale stablecoins or digital assets that make trading and investing easier.
🌍 | Pesapal and RACK partner to digitise East African SMEs
Pesapal, a payments provider, and RACK, a cloud-based POS developer, partnered to offer an integrated point-of-sale solution for SMEs in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, announced on June 10, 2025. The RACK POS system manages sales, inventory, payments, and taxes, replacing manual processes like handwritten receipts. Within six months, SMEs can generate digital records to access credit from Pesapal, addressing the 80% informality rate among East Africa’s 30 million SMEs, per the International Finance Corporation. The cloud-enabled solution supports remote management, enhancing scalability. This initiative drives financial inclusion, streamlines operations, and boosts SME access to capital in East Africa’s growing digital economy.
I wrote an article on SME payments arguing for unifying the entire SME payments landscape, ideally matching this with sales data. Pesapal is executing on this. Already with Pesapal, you can accept through multiple off-line and on-line payment methods. Integrating with sales, inventory and taxes handles a lot of heavy lifting for SMEs. Moniepoint is doing the same in Nigeria and I expect these products to do really well. The challenge that banks would have in this regard is centred on their approach to product - specifically limiting their scope when it comes to solving customer problems. The greats in payments such as Stripe and Ant Group are going well beyond payments into adjacent areas that add value to their SME customers. This requires incumbent banks to look at their org structures and build around product teams particularly when it comes to Fintech.
🇺🇬 | MTN Uganda to spin off fintech arm into standalone entity
MTN Uganda plans to separate its mobile money unit, MTN MoMo, into an independent fintech company, pending shareholder approval at an Extraordinary General Meeting on July 2, 2025, and regulatory clearance. The restructuring, driven by MTN Group’s Ambition 2025 strategy and Uganda’s National Payment Systems Act 2020, will transfer MoMo’s operations to a new entity, MTN New FinCo, owned 76% by MTN Group Fintech Holdings and 24% by a trust for minority shareholders. MoMo generated $70.8 million in Q1 2025, with 14 million active users. The spin-off aims to unlock value, attract investors, and enhance regulatory compliance. It may lead to a future fintech IPO, strengthening MTN’s position in Uganda’s $133 billion mobile money market.
Airtel and MTN have either done or are planning to do this at group level and its a continuation of a trend that started in 2020/21. Ultimately, such spin-offs serve regulatory goals of having independent fintech arms whilst also enabling the unlocking of value for investors. For the ecosystem, where these valuations settle will play a key role in setting benchmarks for the valuation of consumer Fintechs.
🌏 | Ant International to pursue stablecoin licenses in Asia
Ant International, the Singapore-based arm of Ant Group, plans to apply for stablecoin issuer licenses in Singapore and Hong Kong to expand its blockchain-based payment operations, with Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance effective August 2025. The company, which processed over $1 trillion in global transactions in 2024, with one-third via its Whale blockchain platform, also eyes a similar permit in Luxembourg. This move diversifies Ant Group’s revenue after Chinese regulatory restrictions on its lending business. Stablecoins will enhance cross-border payments and treasury management, leveraging regulatory clarity in these financial hubs. It positions Ant International to compete in the $250 billion stablecoin market, driving global fintech innovation.
I wrote about Ant International and specifically, Alipay+ sometime back. The core argument was that Ant Group has been quietly building out global money movement capabilities since their botched IPO in 2021. For Africa, this is especially important as China is our biggest trading partner and trade payments usually dwarf remittances. Already, a number of merchants have Alipay wallets in most cities in Africa with a market emerging for on-ramping services. Whilst a lot of attention is paid to Stripe and their recent Bridge acquisition, I believe African Fintech should pay more attention to Ant International as the rails for the global south.
🌍 | BCG and QED’s latest report charts fintech’s next growth frontier
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and QED Investors released their latest report, Fintech’s Next Chapter: Scaled Winners and Emerging Disruptors, on June 2, 2025, highlighting the fintech sector’s shift to maturity. In 2024, fintech revenues grew 21%, outpacing the 6% growth of traditional financial services, with 69% of public fintechs profitable and EBITDA margins at 16%. Scaled fintechs, generating over $500 million annually, account for 60% of sector revenues. Emerging technologies like agentic AI drive innovation, particularly in B2B, financial infrastructure, and lending. The report notes untapped potential, with fintechs penetrating only 3% of global banking and insurance revenues. Regulators are urged to harmonize AI and digital asset rules, while investors and banks must back underpenetrated markets and adopt AI strategically. This positions fintechs to lead in financial inclusion and global market expansion.
Whilst most global Fintech reports are interesting to read, the annual BCG x QED report is often a must read for me. QED stand out in the Fintech space particularly in Africa with stakes in Moniepoint, Stitch, Precium and others. They get Fintech better than most. Some key insights emerged from this report;
Fintech's Penetration Is Still Just 3%, Plenty of Room to Grow - Despite over a decade of activity, fintechs account for only about 3% of global banking and insurance revenues. Penetration is especially low in Africa and the Middle East (just 1%), presenting vast untapped opportunity for innovators who can adapt proven models to local contexts;
Stablecoins Have Traction - But Not Enough on Their Own - Stablecoins are gaining traction in high-inflation markets e.g Turkey, primarily as a store of value. However, usage in cross-border payments is where the strongest use case lies, particularly in Africa where remittance costs are high and settlements are slow;
Tokenization Might Be the Real “Onchain” Game-Changer - Asset tokenization, especially of private credit, real estate, and bonds offers an opportunity to disintermediate capital markets, reduce settlement time, and unlock liquidity. If infrastructure and regulatory alignment improve, this could spark a massive structural shift in how capital is raised and allocated, with direct implications for African credit markets;
Agentic AI Will Fundamentally Reshape Financial Services - A new phase of AI, agentic AI will transform how financial services are delivered, shifting from automation to autonomous decision-making. For example, agents could:
Move funds across accounts for yield optimization.
Manage real-time risk and margin for lenders.
Offer personalized investment strategies at scale.
I’ve covered all these themes before - writing about tokenisation, the drivers for stablecoin adoption, agentic AI and the runway that’s ahead for Neobanks and Fintechs in Africa.
🇺🇸 | Stripe acquires Privy to strengthen crypto wallet infrastructure
Stripe, a global payments giant, acquired Privy, a crypto wallet infrastructure provider, to strengthen its digital asset capabilities, announced on June 11, 2025. Privy’s API supports over 75 million accounts across 1,000+ developer teams, enabling seamless wallet integration for platforms like OpenSea and Blackbird. The deal, following Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin firm Bridge, aims to merge crypto and fiat systems for smoother transactions. Privy will operate independently, leveraging Stripe’s resources to scale. This move taps into the $251 billion stablecoin market, positioning Stripe to lead in Web3 payments and compete with crypto-native firms.
Stripe is expanding its presence in crypto and web3 in general. Whereas Bridge enabled Stripe to handle stablecoin orchestration particularly issuance and the movement of Stablecoins, Privy enables them to offer wallet capabilities. This means that Stripe can enable its users to create crypto wallets and store value in them. Stripe is growing its market share in payments particularly in North America at an impressive clip. However, for Stripe, their goal is to increase the internet’s GDP and Stablecoins enable them to expand in a significant way beyond North America and Europe.
🇬🇧 | Starling launches pioneering AI tool to help UK customers manage spending
Starling Bank launched Spending Intelligence, a UK-first AI tool enabling customers to query spending habits using natural language, announced on June 12, 2025. Powered by Google’s Gemini models on Google Cloud, the opt-in feature analyzes transactions, offering instant insights like grocery or charity spending. It enhances the bank’s Spending tab, categorizing transactions into 50+ groups. Data remains secure within Starling’s environment, not used for AI training. This aligns with Starling’s mission to empower financial control, boosting user engagement and setting a new standard for digital banking innovation.
I’ve argued before that experimentation in AI is critical and particularly customer focused experimentation. I find that AI can create a step-change in user experience and there’s a risk that financial service players and banks in particular could lose market share if their AI is bad. Already, banks are gaining or losing customers based on the quality of their apps - it’s only a matter of time before people start talking about how their banks AI is so bad.
🇺🇸 | Shopify, Coinbase & Stripe enable USDC payments for merchants
Shopify, in partnership with Coinbase and Stripe, launched a feature allowing merchants to accept USDC stablecoin payments via the Base network, starting with early access on June 13, 2025. Customers can pay with USDC from supported crypto wallets through Shop Pay or guest checkout, with merchants receiving local currency by default or USDC directly, without exchange fees. The integration, using a custom smart contract, supports e-commerce needs like refunds and tax calculations. Available in 34 countries, it offers 0.5% cashback for merchants and planned 1% for customers. This move taps into the $1 trillion stablecoin market, driving global commerce efficiency and positioning Shopify as a leader in crypto adoption.
The jury is still out on Stablecoin adoption for retail payments. Some may argue that Stablecoins will really shine for retail payments when they’re used by Agentic AIs, but at the moment Agents are using virtual visa cards an this is working well. I could be missing something but the cynic in me is yelling that a number of companies just want to ride the wave regardless of where it’s taking them.