Canada-based fintech LemFi has acquired Pillar, a UK credit startup that aims to help immigrants build credit from the outset.
Pillar, founded by Revolut alumni Ashutosh Bhatt and Adam Lewis, helps newcomers access credit without local history.
This move, backed by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), marks a major shift in immigrant financial services as LemFi becomes the first global remittance platform to fully integrate credit products, starting with the UK.
Solving the immigrant credit problem in the UK
Millions of immigrants arriving in the UK face the same frustrating reality: despite steady income and solid financial backgrounds, they’re often shut out of credit products simply because their histories don’t align with UK standards. Roughly 5 million people in the UK are “credit invisible,” and many are newcomers locked out of basic services like credit cards, personal loans, or mobile contracts.
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Pillar, founded by former Revolut executives Ashutosh Bhatt and Adam Lewis, was built to change that. In 2022, the startup raised £13 million in pre-seed funding to develop a system that uses Open Banking, global credit histories, and non-traditional data to evaluate creditworthiness. Bhatt’s own experience—being denied a phone plan and credit card despite earning well at Barclays—sparked the mission. With this acquisition, LemFi now gains Pillar’s proprietary credit-scoring tech, its FCA licence, and its founding team.
LemFi Credit
LemFi quietly launched “LemFi Credit” in a private beta earlier this year. Within six weeks, the service gained over 8,000 users, growing 18 percent weekly. Users received virtual cards—usable via Apple Pay and Google Pay—with credit lines of £300, £700, or £1,000. Physical Visa cards will follow later this year.
What sets LemFi Credit apart is its integration with the company’s core remittance services. Customers can now send money home and build their UK financial identity in one app. Pillar’s tech enables LemFi to recognise international credit reports and assess customers using alternative metrics. It also offers step-by-step credit building, perfect for those starting from scratch.
According to LemFi CEO Ridwan Olalere, “Credit marks the next frontier for us in this journey. Rian and I are particularly pleased that Adam and Ash have agreed to join us in building it.”
Building a full-stack financial platform for immigrants
Founded in 2021 by Ridwan Olalere and Rian Cochran—both Opay veterans—LemFi began as a remittance platform, helping over 2 million people send money to more than 20 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. With over $1 billion in monthly transactions, a team of more than 300 across three continents, and $85 million in funding, LemFi is now evolving into a full-service fintech tailored for migrants.
This acquisition brings LemFi one step closer to building a global financial ecosystem that doesn’t leave immigrants behind. With net migration to the UK topping 700,000 in 2022, and exclusion rates for immigrants more than four times higher than the national average, the market opportunity is vast—and deeply needed.