‘Grey’ fintech offering Foreign Bank Accounts and Instant Money Transfer expands to Kenya

Grey has announced its expansion into the East African market starting with Kenya where it is partnering with Cellulant. Grey‘s products are now available to Kenyan residents. These include foreign bank accounts, instant currency exchange and international money transfer services.

The Y-combinator backed fintech startup will be looking to address the numerous difficulties of sending and receiving money abroad. Its unique International money transfer service enables its users send and receive international payments without restrictions and quickly.

Cellulant will be the company’s payments processor powering its payouts to thousands of Grey’s customers.

At the launch ceremony in Nairobi, Grey showcased how users could create virtual foreign USD, GBP, or EUR bank accounts. Users are then able to receive payments and convert directly to the Kenyan shilling or the Nigerian Naira.

The instant currency exchange service offered by Grey enables its customers to have virtual international bank accounts for free, helping small businesses, freelancers, remote workers, and content creators in Kenya to enjoy a seamless payment process.

This could be the answer to PayPal who’ve for long neglected the complaints raised by freelancers and content creators in the country.

Currently, thousands of young Kenyans access work opportunities through digital platforms in a rapidly growing gig economy. The online gig economy is fuelled by a burgeoning young workforce, internet and smartphone penetration, and mobile money proliferation.

With Africa having the youngest workforce yet with high unemployment rates, online gig work provides alternative and accessible employment opportunities and a path to economic prosperity for the youthful workforce.

It was in this environment that Grey was conceptualised. Mr Idorenyin Obong, Grey’s CEO, worked remotely for international companies but faced numerous challenges in accessing the foreign currency in his accounts. Grey was launched in 2021 by Idorenyin Obong and Femi Aghedo, who wanted to help Nigerians easily exchange to local currency and access the foreign currencies in their accounts.

Grey allows Kenyans to get paid in their preferred foreign currency and withdraw directly to M-Pesa or their local bank account. Suppose you’re a traveller on a trip to Nairobi; you can convert any supported currencies to Kenyan Shillings, pay for services directly to M-Pesa, or withdraw to a local bank account.