LemFi, the financial platform built for immigrants, announced the launch of its Instant Access Savings Account in the United Kingdom, powered by ClearBank, the enabler of real-time clearing and embedded banking. Launching in the UK, its customers will earn interest on their savings, within the LemFi app, marking an expansion in LemFi’s mission to build a financial ecosystem for the immigrant community.
With LemFi Instant Access Savings, users can grow their money in the same app they use for global transfers to “simplify their financial lives.”
Funds are held with ClearBank, a UK financial institution, and eligible deposits are protected “up to £85,000” under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
At launch, LemFi’s savings product offers one of the competitive interest rates in the UK “at 3.92%, compared to the national average of 2.27% for similar accounts.”
The rate is tracked to the Bank of England’s base rate, with plans to move to a variable rate in the near future, allowing LemFi to remain “competitive for customers seeking flexibility and returns.”
Immigrants play a key role in the UK economy and global financial flows. In 2023, immigrants in the UK sent more than “£9.3 billion in remittances to family and friends.”
Despite this, many lack access to proper savings tools that align with their financial behaviors and cross-border needs. In addition, immigrants face significant and “widespread issues when accessing credit and banking services more broadly.”
Approximately 5 million individuals in the UK are considered “credit invisible”, with immigrants from “emerging countries disproportionately affected.”
LemFi’s expansion into savings is part of its roadmap to “provide a full suite of financial products tailored to immigrants’ needs.” This includes LemFi Credit, designed to help immigrants who struggle “to access and build credit do so while also benefiting from flexible payments.”
LemFi’s platform is able to do this by recognising international credit histories and employing alternative credit assessment methods. In addition to this, its alternative credit scoring tech enables Send Now Pay Later (SNPL), designed to enable its customers “to send money to their loved ones when they need to, and access credit safely and securely.”
Since being rolled out in private beta in August of this year, the Instant Access Savings Account has reportedly been used by more than 7,000 customers, indicating steady demand for more accessible and immigrant-focused financial products.