Grey Broadens African Payout Network as Cross-Border Payments Surge

Nigerian fintech Grey is expanding its cross-border payments footprint across Africa, launching direct payout routes to Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Rwanda as demand grows for faster and more locally accessible ways to move money across the continent.

The expansion gives Grey users more options to send money directly to bank accounts and mobile wallets in the four markets. The company supports bank-account payouts in Rwanda, while mobile money is available in Cameroon, with both bank and mobile-money options offered in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.

Grey says the four new corridors together account for more than $7 billion in annual remittance flows, a slice of the broader intra-African and diaspora-to-Africa money transfers that have traditionally been expensive and slow. By enabling direct local-currency payouts, the company is positioning itself to capture a larger share of these flows while offering users more control over how recipients receive funds.

Users can now send payments to Senegal, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Rwanda through bank transfers and mobile money from both Grey personal and Grey Business accounts, using balances held in dollars, euros, pounds or stablecoins. Funds are delivered in local currencies including the Rwandan franc (RWF), Central African CFA franc (XAF) and West African CFA franc (XOF).

Building on a Growing Payments InfrastructureThe latest expansion builds on Grey’s broader push to deepen its African network and simplify cross-border transactions for individuals and small businesses. The Y Combinator-backed platform says it now has more than 3 million users across more than 80 countries, while its international payment network supports payouts to more than 170 countries.

In recent months, Grey has also added local-currency deposits in Ghana and Kenya, allowing users in those markets to fund their global accounts directly in cedis and shillings via bank transfer or mobile money. This removes a long-standing workaround where users had to route funds through a separate platform before accessing Grey’s multi-currency accounts.

While remittances remain a core use case, Grey is increasingly targeting business-to-business and trade-related payments. In September 2026, the company launched Chinese yuan (CNY) payouts, allowing African businesses to pay suppliers in China directly from USD, EUR, GBP and stablecoin balances without first holding a yuan account. The move responds to growing Africa–China trade volumes and the friction many SMEs face when trying to settle invoices in the supplier’s preferred currency.

Grey’s business platform, introduced in early 2026, gives African startups and small and medium-sized enterprises access to USD corporate accounts, international payments, currency conversion and stablecoin transactions. By June, the company said the platform had processed $61.4 million in payment volume, with dollar-backed stablecoins USDC and USDT accounting for the largest share of cross-border transactions.

To support its regional rollout, Grey raised $2 million in fresh capital, according to announcements linked to the new payout routes. The company says the funding will help it strengthen local partnerships, expand compliance and risk infrastructure, and continue adding corridors where cross-border payment demand is rising but access remains constrained.

Grey’s moves reflect a broader shift in African fintech, where the next stage of growth is expected to depend less on isolated national payment systems and more on how effectively those systems can connect. As African consumers and businesses increasingly operate across borders, companies like Grey are betting that seamless, low-cost, local-currency payouts will be a key differentiator in a crowded cross-border payments market.

With direct routes now open to Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Rwanda, and local-currency deposits live in Ghana and Kenya, Grey is gradually building a more integrated payments layer for the continent—one that links diaspora senders, regional traders and global suppliers to African bank accounts and mobile wallets with fewer intermediaries and lower friction.

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