In 2025, the Nigerian diaspora sent home a record $23 billion, the highest inflow in five years and now close to 9 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP. Yet many senders still face a trade-off between speed, cost and certainty when supporting relatives. A UK-based fintech, MoneyHive, says it was created to remove that trade-off by linking transfers directly to verified bill payments.
Founded in the United Kingdom by Nigerian product leader Ayodeji Jegede, the platform combines instant remittances with direct settlement of rent, school fees, utilities, healthcare and airtime. The sender selects the purpose, receives confirmation once the bill is settled, and the recipient can avoid handling cash. The UK–Nigeria corridor is in final preparation, with the minimum viable product nearly complete and beta testing with early users due in the coming weeks. The company says its infrastructure is designed to scale to other African corridors.
Jegede said his decision to build a new platform followed years working in banking and enterprise technology in Nigeria and the UK. “I saw the same pattern everywhere: brilliant distribution, terrible outcomes. People were sending money, then spending hours on WhatsApp chasing confirmation that rent was paid or school fees cleared. The transfer succeeded, but the purpose failed,” he said. “That gap between ‘sent’ and ‘impact achieved’ is where trust dies and leakage happens. MoneyHive was built to collapse that gap. We do not just move value – we execute the exact instruction the sender gave, with cryptographic-level proof, in the same session.”
MoneyHive argues that bill payments are central to diaspora support and should not sit on the margins of remittance products. “Because the real product the diaspora wants to buy is not ‘money in Nigeria’. It is ‘peace of mind that my family’s most critical obligations are met’,” Jegede said. He added that embedding verified bill payment into the transfer can increase recurring use, improve order value and reduce support costs, while removing cash-handling risks for recipients. “We are not bolting payments onto remittances; we are redefining remittances as purpose-driven financial support.”
The user flow is designed to be simple: select a recipient, choose a purpose such as rent or school fees, enter the amount and pay. A confirmation screen shows the biller, amount and expected settlement time. On the backend, the company is finalising regulated integrations with Nigerian billers and payment switches, with end-to-end audit trails and AML and KYC controls for each transaction.
MoneyHive was recently accepted into the Scottish Government-backed Techscaler Catalyst programme, a 10-week accelerator for early-stage founders. Jegede said the programme would focus on validation, metrics discipline, customer discovery and commercial readiness. He expects the network and credibility to support discussions with partners and investors focused on execution and infrastructure.
The company chose to base operations in the UK to access licences, banking rails and specialist talent within a predictable regulatory framework, while maintaining close links to Nigeria through regular visits and on-the-ground testing with billers. Jegede said this structure allows the firm to combine infrastructure standards from the UK with direct insight from the Nigerian market.
By linking transfers to verified settlement, MoneyHive aims to give diaspora users clearer control over how funds are used and when obligations are met. The model also addresses a common concern among senders: whether remitted funds reach their intended purpose. As remittance volumes continue to rise, the company is positioning verified, purpose-driven payments as a way to align cross-border support with accountability and dignity for both sender and recipient.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
