It was in Nigeria when I hung out with a couple of friends, and our conversation spiraled into the challenges of moving money across borders as African migrants. We all shared the same struggle, sending money home was expensive, slow, and stressful. Each of us had tried different banks, apps, and agents, but the hidden fees and long delays made the process a nightmare. We all agreed we had a real problem in our hands, and that’s when we decided to get to work immediately.

In a bid to understand how African migrants send money internationally and the challenges they face while doing so, I conducted user interviews with 6 participants who regularly remit funds back home. I also leveraged my membership in migrant and diaspora online communities to gather quantitative insights through surveys, which were completed by 44 participants. KEY INSIGHTS

High transfer fees and long delays are the main pain points users face.

Most users rely on traditional banks, money transfer operators, or informal agents, often juggling multiple channels to complete a single transfer.

Key user types identified are breadwinners sending recurring remittances and students/young professionals sending occasional transfers.

Western Union, MoneyGram, WorldRemit, and local bank apps are the most commonly used services by users.

On average, users send money 2–4 times a month, with amounts ranging between $100–$500 per transfer.

African migrants need a simple and affordable way to send and manage money across borders because existing transfer options are expensive, slow, and fragmented. CashEx provides them with a single app to securely send, receive, and manage funds without the burden of high fees, delays, or reliance on multiple services.

Having identified the problem, we converged to brainstorm potential solutions that could help African migrants send and manage money across borders more effectively. We asked the important “How Might We” questions that enabled us to focus on the key challenges:

How might we save users money and time on international transfers?

How might we enable users to send and receive funds seamlessly across borders?

How might we keep users’ financial data and transfers safe and secure?

Providing answers to these “How Might We” questions helped us identify the key features of the app and the solutions they could offer. I then went ahead to explore sketches and prototype potential solutions.

To ensure the app genuinely helps users send and manage money across borders, it’s important that transfers are processed quickly, securely, and at minimal cost. This is achieved by designing a user flow that connects the mobile app to trusted banking and payment partners through secure APIs. Users unfamiliar with cross-border transfer processes are guided with clear, step-by-step instructions within the app to make sending and receiving money simple and stress-free.

To ensure that the app genuinely helps African migrants manage and use their money seamlessly across borders, we integrated a virtual dollar card feature. This allows users to instantly create and fund a virtual card directly from their CashEx wallet. With the virtual card, users can:

Make international payments online without relying on expensive or unreliable third-party services.

Shop on global platforms (e.g., Amazon, Netflix, app stores) without worrying about currency barriers.

Control spending securely by topping up only the amount they wish to use.

For users who are not familiar with how virtual cards work, the app provides clear step-by-step guidance to set up, fund, and start using their card in minutes.

During the research process for this project, we realized that we were not the only ones struggling with the challenges of sending money across borders. We validated the need for this solution by conducting usability testing sessions with other African migrants, and most of them found the solution potentially life-changing. One of the major feedback points from the usability testing sessions was that the prototype tried to do too much at once. Users emphasized that what mattered most was fast, low-cost, and secure transfers. We also noticed at the tail end of prototyping that multi-currency support was a critical feature for migrants who earn in one currency and send in another. For the MVP, we agreed to focus on seamless international transfers, multi-currency wallets, and transparent fees. With this clarity, we commenced the development phase.