Kuda Technologies is taking another swing at the cross-border remittance market, this time, with fewer intermediaries, more control, and a focus on its fast-growing diaspora users.
The Nigerian neobank has launched a multi-currency wallet designed to let users abroad send money directly into Nigerian bank accounts, bypassing the usual complex routes.
The company had shelved similar plans three years ago, pointing to poor margins from depending on third-party providers. Now, everything is built internally, and the new wallet operates entirely within Kuda’s ecosystem. It currently supports British pounds and euros, with U.S. and Canadian dollar support planned within six months.
“The first time, we did not quite get it right, but now we have figured it out,” said Nosakhare Oyegun, Kuda’s senior vice president for Business Banking, at a media parley in Lagos. He appeared alongside CEO Babs Ogundeyi.
This new feature won’t be available to users based in Nigeria, at least not yet. Regulatory restrictions on microfinance banks processing foreign currency transactions still stand. But Kuda has its sights set elsewhere: Nigerians who’ve relocated.
According to Oyegun, Kuda noticed a consistent pattern, Nigerians abroad kept using the app, either sending money home or transacting during visits. “I have gone through that myself. It’s not ideal from a user experience standpoint,” he said. The current options, switching between apps, paying high fees, and relying on multiple institutions, are clunky and expensive. Kuda wants to fix that.
In Nigeria’s remittance space, timing is everything. Personal remittance inflows into the country hit $20.9 billion in 2024, a nearly 9% jump from 2023. The standout driver? International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs), whose inflows surged by 43.5% to $4.73 billion.
That spike is no coincidence. With the Central Bank of Nigeria adjusting its FX policies and newer players like Lemfi, Nala, and Moniepoint stepping up to challenge older giants like Western Union, the competition has intensified. Kuda, though late to rejoin the race, is hoping its app’s simplicity will give it an edge.
“Remittance is a highly competitive space, but we’re focused on convenience. It’s frustrating to have to jump between three or four apps just to make one transaction,” Oyegun added. “Putting everything into a single app that people already use—that’s the real value.”
Beyond remittances, Kuda’s financials show a bank that’s growing fast, especially in transaction volume. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Kuda processed over 300 million transactions worth ₦14.3 trillion (about $9.3 billion). Retail banking led the pack with ₦8.5 trillion ($5.5 billion), while its business banking arm handled ₦5.8 trillion ($3.7 billion).
Launched in 2022, Kuda now contributes 40% of Kuda’s total transaction value, a testament to how lucrative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can be. Still, Kuda’s retail users, despite transacting in smaller amounts, bring in more consistent revenue due to sheer volume.
Credit operations also got a lift. Kuda issued ₦16.4 billion ($10.7 million) in overdrafts in Q1 2025 alone, a 43% quarter-on-quarter jump. And despite the risks associated with lending, the company says its net margin remains in positive territory, fluctuating between 3% and 7%.
“We want to be able to give credit to anyone,” Ogundeyi said. “Risk-based pricing is the model. The better your profile, the cheaper your rate. But even if your profile is riskier, we should still be able to offer credit, just at a higher rate.”
At present, users don’t apply for loans on Kuda’s app. Instead, loans are extended based on user activity, and how engaged they are with the platform over time.
Looking ahead, if the company maintains its current growth rate, it could process up to ₦57.2 trillion ($37.2 billion) and 1.2 billion transactions by the end of 2025, more than the ₦55.8 trillion it processed in its first five years combined.
In a fintech space where many startups are still struggling to define their value, Kuda is doubling down on utility, frequency, and familiarity. We’d see if that’s enough to carve out space in a crowded remittance market, but this time, it’s not relying on others to get there.
