LemFi acquires Pillar to expand immigrant credit access

June 16, 2025

LemFi has announced the acquisition of London-based FinTech Pillar, in a move that strengthens its ambition to provide credit services to millions of immigrants in the UK and globally.

This acquisition not only grants LemFi access to Pillar’s proprietary credit scoring technology but also secures its Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) credit licence, enabling it to integrate credit as a core offering alongside its existing remittance services.

The deal marks a significant step in LemFi’s evolution as a full-stack financial platform tailored for immigrant communities. Pillar’s co-founders, Ashutosh Bhatt and Adam Lewis, who both previously worked at Revolut, will join the LemFi team as part of the agreement.

Since its founding in 2021, LemFi has focused on simplifying international payments for immigrants. Its platform allows users to open multi-currency accounts and conduct cross-border transactions at low cost.

Today, LemFi serves over two million customers across the US, UK, Canada, and Europe, processing $1bn in monthly transactions. The company has also begun expanding into Asia and Latin America, achieving 30% month-on-month growth.

Following its recent $53m Series B funding round led by Highland Europe, LemFi has now set its sights firmly on credit as its next growth area.

Pillar’s alternative credit scoring model uses global credit data and non-traditional information to assess eligibility. This approach enables newcomers to build a financial footprint from the outset, increasing their access to essential financial products.

The demand for such services is already evident in the early success of LemFi Credit. Since launching its private beta, LemFi Credit has attracted over 8,000 users within just six weeks, with user growth climbing 18% week-on-week. Customers can instantly use their virtual cards via Apple Pay and Google Pay, while physical Visa cards are set to launch later this year when the platform opens to the wider public.

LemFi co-founder and CEO Ridwan Olalere said, “Through LemFi Credit, we already provide our existing customers with the ability to grow their credit right within the LemFi app. With this acquisition, we plan to offer Credit Cards to customers, starting with the UK and roll out the full suite of LemFi Credit features publicly. Credit forms a critical part of our vision of building a full-stack financial service for immigrants everywhere, and Rian and I are particularly pleased that Adam and Ash have agreed to join us in building it.”

Pillar co-founder Ashutosh Bhatt added, “Despite earning a good salary at Barclays, I couldn’t access even the everyday products I’d had in India. I couldn’t get an iPhone, let alone a credit card. There have been slight improvements, but we still can’t offer equitable access to bank accounts or credit cards to someone from another country. I’m excited for the impact we will have together with LemFi to increase reach by 10X and build truly global access to credit.”