Key Takeaways:
Credit Bank PLC and Anzens launched a pilot to slash cross-border payment fees to a flat 1.5%. Stablecoins now drive 43% of African crypto activity as users bypass slow SWIFT-based banking. Credit Bank and Yeshara will next test USDA as a payment option for tokenized assets by 2024. Lowering Costs for International RemittancesAnzens CEO Shantnoo Saxsena underscored the potential impact: “A business in Nairobi trading with suppliers in Mumbai or Dubai should not pay 8% in fees and wait a week for payment to clear. With Credit Bank, that same transaction settles in minutes at 1.5%. That is what infrastructure is supposed to do.”
Kenya’s cross-border payment flows are expanding rapidly. Diaspora remittances reached a record $5 billion in 2024, overtaking tea and horticulture as top foreign exchange earners. Yet SWIFT-based correspondent banking remains slow and expensive, often involving multiple intermediaries and settlement delays of up to five days. The World Bank estimates average remittance costs at 6.45%, rising to nearly 8% across sub-Saharan Africa.
The collaboration also extends into tokenized assets. Yeshara, operating under Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority sandbox, is working with Anzens and Credit Bank to enable USDA as a payment option for tokenized real estate and commodities.
