LemFi, an AI-powered international payments platform serving immigrant communities, has launched Send Now, Pay Later (SNPL), allowing UK customers to send money home using credit lines before their paychecks arrive.
The service targets a critical pain point for millions of UK immigrants who send nearly £10 billion annually to families abroad. When emergencies strike between pay cycles, immigrants often delay crucial transfers or resort to expensive, unregulated lenders—problems traditional remittance providers haven’t solved since they require immediate payment.
How It Works
SNPL gives LemFi customers access to credit lines between £300 and £1,000 based on their financial profile. The platform uses open banking technology to assess eligibility, making it accessible even to recent arrivals with limited UK credit history.
Once approved, users can instantly send money to any of LemFi’s 30+ supported countries. LemFi processes the transfer immediately to recipients while creating a deferred payment plan for senders.
“The rise of Buy Now, Pay Later means people worldwide can buy products and stagger payments based on cash flow. But this has never been possible with remittance, despite being such a core part of the immigrant financial experience,” said Ridwan Olalere, LemFi’s co-founder and CEO.
AI-Powered Credit Assessment
The product runs on LemFi’s Ensemble AI model, which combines multiple data sources including national credit bureaus, open banking data, and proprietary remittance patterns to determine credit limits and repayment structures.
The system automatically adjusts based on individual customer circumstances and available data points, offering risk-adjusted credit that evolves with the user’s journey. This approach helps LemFi recognize international credit histories and look beyond traditional UK financial records—crucial for immigrants building their UK credit profile.
Tackling Credit Invisibility
The UK has approximately five million “credit invisible” individuals, with immigrants from emerging markets disproportionately affected. Research shows nine in 10 immigrants report accessing credit has become harder recently, while 13% of migrants are excluded from banking services compared to just 3% of the general population.
LemFi’s multi-dimensional credit assessment specifically addresses these barriers by analyzing open banking insights, bureau files, remittance history, and international credit footprints. Training models across these diverse datasets allows LemFi to predict affordability and repayment likelihood more accurately than traditional scoring methods while reducing bias.
Market Position and Expansion
LemFi currently serves over 2 million customers across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Europe, enabling transfers to more than 30 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.
Following the UK launch, the company plans to expand SNPL to its other markets in the US, Canada, and Europe.
In January 2025, LemFi raised $53 million in Series B funding, bringing total funding to over $86 million. Investors include Highland Europe, LeftLane Capital, Endeavor Capital, and Y Combinator.
