Commercial Bank in East Africa to integrate USDA Payments

Kenya’s cross-border payment volumes are surging.

Diaspora remittances hit a record $5 billion in 2024 according to the Central Bank of Kenya, surpassing tea and horticulture as a leading source of foreign exchange. However, the infrastructure supporting these flows has lagged behind demand. SWIFT-based correspondent banking routes transactions through three to five intermediary banks, each adding fees and delays, with settlement typically taking four to five working days.

The World Bank estimates the global average remittance cost at 6.45%, rising to nearly 8% across Sub-Saharan African corridors, significantly impacting margins for importers and exporters trading across Asia, the Middle East and within Africa.

That gap between demand and infrastructure is already pushing users toward alternatives. Kenyans processed $3.3 billion in stablecoin transactions in the year to June 2024, while across the continent, stablecoins now account for 43% of all crypto transactions, driven by currency volatility, inflation and high cross-border payment costs. The demand is there, but regulated banking infrastructure to support it has been scarce.

The biggest obstacle to stablecoin adoption in conventional commerce has not been the technology, but converting between fiat and digital dollars through regulated channels.

Anzens, issuer of USDA, a dollar-backed stablecoin enabled by cross- border payments infrastructure, has partnered with Credit Bank PLC, a commercial bank licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, to explore the integration of its solution into the bank’s services.

The initiative, which is currently in an exploratory phase and remains subject to ongoing engagement with the Central Bank of Kenya, seeks to assess how regulated stablecoin infrastructure could complement existing cross-border payment systems within a licensed banking environment. It reflects a growing interest in modernising international payments by bridging traditional finance with emerging blockchain- based technologies, in line with regulatory expectations.

If approved, a dollar-backed stablecoin could, for the first time in an emerging market, be distributed, minted and redeemed through a licensed commercial bank, and embedded within existing banking relationships. Rather than operating as a standalone crypto product, USDA would function as payments infrastructure within the banking system.

The partnership with Anzens would enable Credit Bank’s account holders, subject to approval, to convert fiat currency to USDA and back, and to settle cross-border payments at a flat 1.5% fee regardless of corridor.

Transactions would be initiated through existing Credit Bank accounts, with automatic conversion to local currency at the destination and the option to convert back to fiat at any time.

 Shantnoo Saxsena, CEO of Anzens, said: “Kenya is home to one of the most innovative financial ecosystems in the world, yet businesses here still pay some of the highest cross-border payment fees globally while waiting days for settlement. We are not asking banks to become crypto companies. We are giving them infrastructure that solves a real problem: 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.”

Credit Bank would act as custodian of funds in both Kenyan shillings and US dollars, providing a compliant bridge between conventional banking and stablecoin settlement, while the underlying blockchain remains invisible to end users.

Betty Korir, CEO Credit Bank PLC, said: “Credit Bank has always focused on providing our clients with the tools they need to compete internationally. Stablecoins are not speculative assets in this context, they are settlement infrastructure that can move value across borders in minutes instead of days, at a fraction of the cost. By partnering with Anzens and acting as custodian for USDA, we are bringing that capability inside a regulated banking relationship, where it belongs.”

This partnership closes that gap by placing the full fiat-to-stablecoin-to-fiat cycle inside a licensed bank, removing the need for businesses to use crypto exchanges or unregulated intermediaries.