Grey, the Y Combinator-backed cross-border payments platform serving over 2 million users, has added Apple Pay and Google Pay support to its virtual cards, enabling users in supported regions to make contactless payments directly from their multi-currency balances.

The upgrade means Grey users earning in dollars, euros, or pounds can now tap their phones to pay at any of 150 million merchants worldwide, without converting funds or loading a separate card balance.

As contactless payments become the global default, Grey’s users, predominantly freelancers, remote workers, and digital entrepreneurs in emerging markets, gain a faster way to spend the money they earn internationally.

The virtual card market is projected to grow from $415 billion in 2023 to $2.4 trillion by 2032, primarily driven by the shift toward mobile wallets and tap-to-pay.

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“Freelancers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to spend their own money,” said Idorenyin Obong, CEO and co-founder of Grey. “You earn in dollars, you should be able to tap your phone and buy lunch with those dollars in any currency. That’s what this upgrade delivers.”

For users like Chidi, a freelance product designer based overseas who earns $6,000 monthly from clients in New York, the upgrade eliminates a familiar headache. Instead of converting dollars to pounds and waiting for the funds to settle, he can now tap his phone at a local restaurant and pay directly from his USD balance.

The upgraded Grey card also comes with 3D Secure protection, requiring users to approve each transaction before it completes, and the ability to create multiple cards for different purposes, such as separating business expenses from personal spending. Apple Pay and Google Pay support is available in supported regions.

Grey currently supports USD transfers to over 170 countries, with multi-currency wallets in USD, EUR, and GBP, and local-currency payouts in 17 currencies. Users can get the upgraded card for $5 in the Grey app on iOS or Android.

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.

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