WapiPay, a Kenyan fintech startup specialising in cross-border payments between Africa and Asia, has launched a new credit scoring tool aimed at transforming how banks and SACCOs assess millions of households supported by diaspora remittances.
The Nairobi-based company says its Remittance Credit Scorecard (RCS) will enable financial institutions to incorporate remittance inflows into formal lending decisions, a shift that could significantly expand access to credit in a country where money sent home by relatives abroad has become a major economic pillar.
Founded in 2019 by brothers Eddie and Paul Ndichu, WapiPay began as an international money transfer and foreign exchange provider. With the launch of its credit scoring infrastructure, the company is moving beyond payments into data-driven lending enablement.
“For too long, the regularity of remittance inflows has been ignored by traditional credit algorithms,” Eddie Ndichu told TechCabal. “This scorecard gives lenders the data rails to safely extend credit to families supported by the diaspora. We’re not just moving money; we’re building a foundation for wealth creation.”
What You Should Know
Remittances have quietly become one of Kenya’s most important sources of foreign exchange. According to data referenced by the company and industry estimates, diaspora inflows surpassed $5 billion (approximately KES 649 billion) in 2025 for the first time, placing them among the country’s top FX earners alongside tourism, tea and horticulture.
Yet despite their scale and regularity, these inflows are rarely recognised as verifiable income within conventional credit scoring systems.
Research from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) indicates that roughly 80 per cent of remittance inflows are directed towards immediate household consumption, including food, rent, healthcare and school fees with only about 20 per cent channelled into savings or investment.
For financial institutions, the oversight represents a missed opportunity. For households, it means steady monthly support often fails to translate into formal borrowing power.
From Safety Net to Asset-Building Tool
Unlike traditional credit models that focus heavily on negative behavioural data such as defaults and missed payments, WapiPay’s Remittance Credit Score is built around positive financial behaviour.
Delivered through a single API integration, the tool analyses remittance transaction histories, including frequency, consistency, ticket size and long-term stability and converts them into a credit rating that can be embedded within banks’ internal loan systems.
The system is powered by artificial intelligence models trained to identify stable income patterns from cross-border inflows. According to WapiPay, this enables lenders to formally recognise remittance beneficiaries as income earners rather than informal dependants.
If adopted widely, the model could draw millions of remittance-supported households into Kenya’s formal credit ecosystem, enabling access to personal loans, SME financing and asset-backed lending products for the first time.
Banks Seek Stability in Volatile Lending Climate
The launch comes at a time when Kenyan banks face heightened credit risk. Income volatility, informal employment structures and limited documentation continue to complicate lending decisions. Default rates remain a persistent concern across segments tied to unstable earnings.
By contrast, remittance recipients often receive consistent monthly transfers from relatives working abroad, a relatively predictable inflow stream that has historically gone unrecognised in risk models.
WapiPay’s proposition is that remittance data can serve as an alternative risk anchor.
For SACCOs and tier-two banks in particular, the tool could improve portfolio quality by differentiating between irregular informal earnings and structured cross-border support flows.
Expanding the Role of Fintech in Credit Infrastructure
The introduction of the Remittance Credit Scorecard signals WapiPay’s strategic evolution from a transaction-focused fintech into a broader financial infrastructure provider.
By positioning remittance data as credit infrastructure rather than simply payment rails, the company is tapping into a structural gap within Kenya’s lending architecture.
However, adoption will depend on several factors: regulatory alignment, data privacy safeguards, integration costs and institutional trust in AI-driven credit models. Financial institutions may also need to recalibrate internal risk frameworks to incorporate alternative data streams.
If successful, analysts say the initiative could redefine how diaspora capital shapes domestic financial inclusion, shifting remittances from a consumption safety net to a lever for wealth creation.
Talking Points
It is significant that WapiPay is shifting the remittance conversation from transactions to credit infrastructure. For years, diaspora inflows have powered household consumption in Kenya, yet remained largely invisible within formal lending systems. Recognising these inflows as structured income is a meaningful reframing.
The launch of the Remittance Credit Scorecard (RCS) addresses a structural blind spot in Kenya’s credit market. Traditional scoring models prioritise negative data such as defaults and missed payments, often penalising informal earners. By contrast, remittance flows represent consistent, positive financial behaviour that has simply not been quantified effectively.
At Techparley, we see this as a potential inflection point for financial inclusion. With remittances surpassing $5 billion annually, integrating that data into lending decisions could unlock access to credit for millions of households previously considered high-risk or invisible.
The single API integration model is also notable. By embedding directly into banks’ and SACCOs’ systems, WapiPay lowers the technical barrier to adoption, making it easier for institutions to experiment with alternative credit assessment models without overhauling their core infrastructure.
As WapiPay scales this product, partnerships with tier-two banks, SACCO networks and diaspora-focused institutions could accelerate market penetration. With the right execution, the Remittance Credit Scorecard could shift diaspora capital from short-term support to long-term wealth creation infrastructure within Kenya’s economy.
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