When Wale Akanbi, founder of Bleyt, and Stealth Startup and former CTO of Aella, relocated to the United Kingdom in 2021, he struggled to use basic financial services because of a transferable credit history,
His predicament reflects a wider problem: migrants worldwide often find themselves unable to access credit cards and other services that depend on credit history.
Akanbi’s frustration became the inspiration for Bleyt, a new fintech company he founded in 2025 to solve what he describes as “one of the biggest pain points of migration.”
“I had to borrow a card from one of my friends just to be able to spend,” recalls Akanbi, explaining how the experience inspired him to create Bleyt.
How Bleyt works
Bleyt’s platform is designed as a money app with AI-driven credit portability. The service aggregates financial records and alternative data from local credit bureaus and lenders in migrants’ home countries, then converts them into a portable credit score recognized by partner institutions abroad.
The model, currently 98% complete and in closed beta testing, launches publicly in October 2025. The team says it will initially support migrants moving to 20 countries across North America, Europe, and the U.K., with plans to expand further.
Beyond credit portability, Bleyt offers:
- Multi-currency accounts and cards to ease cross-border spending
- AI-driven fraud checks and KYC compliance
- User-controlled data management, including the right to request deletion
“We have lending partners and credit providers in the new countries that we can port your credit history or score to, and they are happy to take it on and then profile you within their own system and give you a good rate and good limits almost as you are,” Akanbi explained.
Bleyt sees itself competing with global digital banks and payment firms such as Monzo, Wise, and Lemfi, but argues that none of them combine their services with credit portability, which Akanbi calls “the missing piece for migrants.”
The startup plans to generate revenue through:
- Transaction fees on cards and transfers
- Subscriptions for its credit portability service
- Revenue-sharing agreements with lending partners
- A potential B2B line, offering its credit portability engine to other institutions
What You Should Know
According to estimates by Tata Consultancy Services, nearly 300 million immigrants worldwide move to countries where their financial identities effectively vanish.
While fintech firms have built billion-dollar businesses around remittances and cross-border payments, few have addressed the systemic issue of credit portability.
“Fintechs that offer remittance services like Lemfi, Nala, Taptap Send, and others, most of them offer a one-way remittance product, but they don’t offer credit portability,” Akanbi said.
According to him, this leaves newcomers financially stranded even as they continue to earn, spend, and remit money abroad.
What This Means
For Bleyt, the promise of credit portability depends on its ability to work seamlessly with banks, lenders, and regulators in multiple jurisdictions. Akanbi admits the regulatory hurdles are significant.
By bridging the credit gap, Akanbi believes Bleyt can empower immigrants to integrate faster and on fairer terms.
So far, the company has secured a Money Services Business (MSB) licence in Canada and is pursuing additional approvals across its launch markets. Future plans also include licences to support crypto-related services, hinting at ambitions beyond traditional banking.
Talking Points
It is striking that Bleyt is tackling one of the most overlooked challenges in global migration; credit portability, rather than focusing solely on remittances or payments.
By building a system that allows migrants to carry their financial identity across borders, Bleyt addresses a real-world problem that affects millions of people who are otherwise financially invisible when they move.
At Techparley, we see how this approach could redefine how immigrants access credit, housing, and even jobs, by giving them a portable financial footprint recognized in new markets.
The use of artificial intelligence to aggregate and translate credit data into a portable score is particularly innovative, as it aligns with the broader trend of alternative data being used to expand access to finance.
However, adoption will depend on the strength of Bleyt’s regulatory partnerships and the trust it can build with both migrants and financial institutions. Data security, transparency, and affordability will be crucial factors in ensuring long-term viability.
With the right partnerships and regulatory clarity, Bleyt has the potential not only to simplify the financial lives of immigrants but also to reshape how global credit systems interact with mobility.
