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By Kasi Money
Migrant workers send fiat from bank account and family gets cash cheaper + faster via USDC on Stellar.No crypto complexity
Kasi Money is a digital banking platform built for gig workers, freelancers, and the two out of three South African workers who earn irregular income. We are the official banking partner for Bolt, South Africa’s largest ride-hailing platform, and already serve over 50 000 customers. Our users receive a fully featured bank account and debit card to receive income, spend, and save. We also offer short term lending and automatic investing into a money market fund, giving customers both liquidity and yield.
Over 40% of our customer base are migrant workers from other African countries. For this group, the most requested feature is an affordable, fast way to send money home. Currently, they must withdraw funds from their Kasi Money account, visit a separate remittance provider, and pay 5 to 10 percent in fees, with some providers taking up to two days for settlement.
This project will add instant, low-cost remittances directly from the bank account they already receive their income in.
Customers will send fiat (ZAR) from their account, which is converted to USDC using a licensed South African crypto exchange. The USDC is then sent over Stellar and delivered via MoneyGram’s payout network for instant cash out in the recipient’s local currency. By integrating on-ramp, blockchain settlement, and off-ramp in one seamless flow, we eliminate multiple intermediaries, reduce costs to a fraction of current rates, and settle in minutes without exposing users to crypto complexity.
How the new service will work:
Customer selects “Global Pay” from their Kasi Money account.
Enters recipient details and payout country.
ZAR is converted to USDC via a licensed South African exchange.
USDC is transferred over Stellar to a Crossmint wallet linked to the sender.
Recipient details together with USDC are transferred to MoneyGram dedicated wallet
MoneyGram’s Stellar-based payout network instantly makes cash available in the recipient’s local currency.
Recipient receives an SMS with pickup instructions for their nearest MoneyGram location.
In the initial phase, our Stellar integration will leverage native protocol features including:
Payments for fast and low-cost USDC transfers
Trustlines to manage asset custody within Crossmint wallets
Multisig and pre-authorized transactions to maintain compliance and control over wallet movements
Memo fields to embed KYC-linked transaction references
These capabilities allow us to execute the full flow from ZAR → USDC → local-currency cash-out instantly, while meeting compliance requirements.
Looking ahead (not in this project scope), we will integrate Soroban smart contracts to:
Implement programmable escrow logic for staged payouts or regulatory holds
Enable dynamic liquidity routing to optimize FX rates and provider selection by corridor
This phased approach delivers immediate value to our customers and partners using Stellar’s proven core protocol, while building toward a programmable, scalable remittance infrastructure that can expand across Africa.
Maybe in the future, but not in this submission
$150.0K
Week 1: 200+ successful live transactions with <3% operational failure rate
Month 1: 1,000 transactions, 80%+ retention for repeat senders
Month 3: 3,000+ monthly transactions, $180k+ in monthly transaction volume
Primary: Existing Kasi Money users in South Africa who send money to Malawi and DRC
Secondary: Bolt drivers and gig workers in our ecosystem with family in those corridors
Tertiary: New-to-Kasi remittance senders reached through paid-media + referrals
Soft Launch (Week 1)
Limit to existing verified Kasi Money users
Test operational processes, support flows, and corridor performance
Collect feedback for quick fixes
Full Launch (Week 3 onward)
Enable in-app for all verified users
Announce via in-app notifications, push messages, and partner channels
Owned Channels
In-app banners, tooltips, and walkthrough for Global Pay
Push notifications to users with recent cross-border activity in their account history
WhatsApp broadcast lists for engaged drivers
Email campaigns to verified users with corridor-specific messaging
Paid Media + Referrals
Leverage Google + Meta Ads to target new audiences + users sending money in those corridors
Use referral-loops for acquired customers to drive virality
Refer a friend and get ZAR20 when they get an account issued and a further ZAR40 when they make their first Global Pay transaction
Zero-fees for first 4 weeks, then 2.5% after
"Send Money to DRC for only 2.5%"
"Get money to your family in minutes. Pick up from any Moneygram kiosk"
"Save up to ZAR 187.5 (~$10) each time you send money to Malawi with Kasi Money"
Although we are not yet live on Stellar, our existing banking platform has demonstrated strong market traction and demand for the remittance feature.
55 000+ users on the Kasi Money platform
Official Banking Partner for Bolt South Africa, the country’s largest ride-hailing platform
88 150+ real-world transactions processed to date
40% of our customer base are migrant workers from other African countries — the primary target audience for this remittance feature
This existing user base and transaction history validate both the scale and readiness for an integrated Stellar-powered remittance service, ensuring immediate real-world adoption upon launch.
Transaction Analytics: https://mixpanel.com/p/41DjwjUQdvbwPPXFdTjddT
Goal: Have the full remittance feature built in Kasi Money (UI and backend) with simulated end to end flow from ZAR debit to MoneyGram location selection and SMS generation. No live Stellar network yet, backend logic and integrations mocked or sandboxed
Deliverable 1 MoneyGram Locations API Integration (Sandbox)
Integrate with MoneyGram’s sandbox Locations API to allow sender to search and select a pickup location in recipient’s city or town
Render locations on a Mapbox map for sender to select the closest location
Generate SMS to recipient with selected pickup location details and transaction reference
Store selected location ID in the Global Pay ledger for future reconciliation when payout is triggered via Crossmint integration
Budget: $5,500
Completion Date: 22 Sept 2025
Deliverable 2 Treasury and FX Conversion Module
Create treasury ledger entries to record ZAR debits from customer accounts for remittance transactions
Develop FX rate module that pulls from 2–3 external APIs: Open Exchange Rates API, Exchange Rates API, and an optional third source for redundancy
Logic to calculate the average price from all available sources, add baked-in margin, and present sender with conversion quotation
FX module built to handle additional corridors in future without code changes
Budget: $17,000
Completion Date: 15 Oct 2025
Deliverable 3 Fiat Ledger Debit and Reporting
Debit customer ZAR balances in Kasi backend when a Global Pay transaction is confirmed
Store all remittance transaction details in a dedicated Global Pay ledger for reporting
Generate daily treasury CSV report summarizing total ZAR debits for replenishment at VALR corporate account
Budget: $12,500
Completion Date: 27 Oct 2025
Deliverable 4 Global Pay UI Mobile App Build
Add Send Money tab to Kasi Money app
Corridor selection screen with only Malawi and DRC active in MVP
Recipient details form (name, surname, phone, relationship)
Summary and confirmation screen showing amount in ZAR, FX rate, fees, and payout amount in recipient’s currency
Post transaction screen showing reference code and SMS confirmation preview
Budget: $15,000
Completion Date: 29 Oct 2025
Total Tranche 1: $50,000
Goal: Connect the backend and UI built in Tranche 1 to Stellar testnet, integrate Crossmint for remittance moneyflow, and complete all compliance and audit readiness steps. This stage will use test wallets and sandbox payout flow but will be fully functional for simulated remittances
Deliverable 1 Crossmint Wallet Provisioning and Identity Mapping
Use Crossmint API to create custodial wallets
Sender wallets: one per Kasi user; map to user_id, bank account, and username
Recipient wallets: ephemeral (per transfer) or reusable (per recipient phone), as supported
Persist Crossmint wallet IDs and link to Global Pay ledger
Pass sender KYC (from Kasi onboarding) to Crossmint in required schema
Budget: $16,000
Completion Date: 18 Nov 2025
Deliverable 2 KYC and Compliance Passthrough
Map Kasi KYC data fields to Crossmint requirements
Ensure sender identity, transaction monitoring, and corridor-specific compliance data is passed to Crossmint for each transaction
Complete compliance documentation and prepare for Stellar ecosystem audit
Budget: $12,000
Completion Date: 20 Nov 2025
Deliverable 3 Remittance Moneyflow Simulation
Build backend logic to execute ZAR to USDC conversion from treasury preloads and send USDC to recipient wallets via Crossmint
Integrate Crossmint with MoneyGram sandbox for simulated payout completion
Trigger SMS to recipient once simulated payout reference is generated
Budget: $22,000
Completion Date: 28 Nov 2025
Deliverable 4 Testnet End-to-End Verification and Documentation
Run full transaction flow from Kasi Money UI to Stellar testnet settlement and MoneyGram sandbox payout
Document APIs, ledger schemas, and operational steps for mainnet readiness
Budget: $0 (documentation and verification included in above deliverables)
Completion Date: 30 Nov 2025
Total Tranche 2: $50,000
Goal: Deploy Global Pay on Stellar mainnet with Crossmint and MoneyGram integration, connect live backend and UI, process first customer remittance transactions, and enable full operational support
Deliverable 1 Mainnet Deployment and Backend/UI Integration
Deploy Stellar and Crossmint integrations to Stellar mainnet
Connect backend and mobile UI from Tranche 1 to mainnet transaction flow
Set up corporate USDC wallets and VALR liquidity processes for live payouts
Budget: $20,000
Completion Date: 16 Dec 2025
Deliverable 2 Website and Help Center Updates
Update Kasi Money website and help center with Global Pay product pages, FAQs, and corridor specific instructions
No marketing or promotional content included in scope
Budget: $2,000
Completion Date: 18 Dec 2025
Deliverable 3 Support Dashboard for Live Operations
Build internal dashboard for support team to view transaction history, statuses, and failure reasons
Include search and filtering by user, corridor, date, and transaction status
Add ability to trigger resend or manual resolution for failed payouts
Budget: $6,000
Completion Date: 18 Dec 2025
Deliverable 4 First Live Transactions + Post Go-Live Bug Fixes/Enhancements
Process first $100k live customer transactions to Malawi and DRC corridors
Monitor end to end payout success, reconciliation, and customer feedback
Budget: $22,000
Completion Date: 30 Jan 2026
Total Tranche 3: $50,000
We’re a lean team of experienced operators who have not only built banking and payments products in Africa but scaled them.
Thami Hoza is a second-time founder with global recognition. He previously led the informal market strategy at Yoco, one of Africa’s largest payments companies, where he grew the vertical to nearly $100 million in transaction volume in under two years, working directly with micro-merchants and informal workers. https://www.linkedin.com/in/thami-h-b1107a107/
Avi Tenzer is a seasoned leader in banking technology. He has led engineering teams at Investec and RMB, two of the continent’s top banks, and most recently headed Citibank’s global blockchain delivery group, giving him deep expertise at the intersection of banking and decentralized infrastructure. https://www.linkedin.com/in/avi-tenzer-8bab278/
They are supported by a skilled team of marketing, engineering, and operations specialists committed to delivering inclusive, scalable financial solutions for underserved communities across Africa.
Thami
No other submissions.