LemFi Acquires Pillar to Expand Migrant Credit Access
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LemFi has acquired UK-based credit card issuer Pillar in a move to expand its credit offering for immigrant communities. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2021 by Opay alumni Ridwan Olalere and Rian Cochran, LemFi began as a remittance platform and now serves +2 million users across Europe and North America. The company processes over $1 billion in monthly transfers and recently raised $53 million in fresh funding. It has since broadened its focus to include credit services, and an early beta saw over 8,000 users sign up within 6 weeks.
Pillar was launched by former Revolut executives Ashutosh Bhatt and Adam Lewis to help newcomers to the UK access credit.
Over the past 4 years, the company has built an alternative credit scoring system that uses global data and non-traditional signals to assess financial eligibility, enabling migrants to access credit cards before they even arrive in the country. Since launch, Pillar has issued around 20,000 cards and raised $16.9 million from backers, including Global Founders Capital.
With this acquisition, LemFi gains more than just technology. It now holds an FCA credit license, a proprietary credit engine covering 18 emerging markets, and a team with direct experience navigating migrant financial needs. “We’re building our credit decision engine that takes into account your history in your previous country,” Olalere told.
Though they began on separate paths, both LemFi and Pillar set out to solve the same issue: the financial invisibility of migrants. “If we do not fuse, we’ll end up competing, and customers will get confused. It’s just messy,” Bhatt said.
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