MoneyGram and NALA have announced a strategic partnership to enable stablecoin-based settlement for cross-border payouts into emerging markets across Africa and Asia, as payments firms increasingly explore blockchain infrastructure to reduce costs and settlement times.
The collaboration combines MoneyGram’s global payments network with NALA’s stablecoin settlement platform, Rafiki, to facilitate near real-time transfers between digital dollars and local currencies through banks and mobile money providers.
According to MoneyGram chief executive Anthony Soohoo, “Financial inclusion only matters if it works in the real world. With NALA, we’re leveraging stablecoin settlement infrastructure to improve payout speed, reduce FX costs, and expand our ability to exceptionally serve customers across emerging markets.”
The companies said the system is designed to address inefficiencies in traditional correspondent banking, which can result in multi-day settlement delays, high foreign exchange spreads and reliance on pre-funded accounts across multiple jurisdictions.
By using stablecoins as a settlement layer, the model enables near real-time value transfer while maintaining access to local currencies through regulated payout networks connected to banks and mobile money operators across Africa and Asia.
NALA said it has also been licensed as an International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) in Nigeria and integrated with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), the country’s real-time payments infrastructure, enabling faster and more reliable transfers into Africa’s largest remittance market.
“Stablecoins are transforming global payments by providing a faster and more efficient settlement layer for cross-border transactions,” said NALA founder and chief executive Benjamin Fernandes. “By partnering with MoneyGram, we’re enabling a new generation of payouts into emerging markets combining the speed of stablecoin settlement with licensed local distribution infrastructure. Together, we’re helping unlock faster, more reliable access to global money movement across Asia and Africa.”
MoneyGram will leverage NALA’s licensed on- and off-ramp infrastructure to expand payout capabilities across emerging markets while improving capital efficiency by reducing reliance on pre-funded liquidity across jurisdictions.
The companies said the partnership supports use cases including cross-border remittances, payouts for global marketplaces, treasury and liquidity management across multiple currencies, and cross-border collections for businesses expanding into emerging markets.
MoneyGram has been building in digital asset infrastructure for several years, including crypto on- and off-ramps and a stablecoin-enabled consumer application, as global payments firms accelerate efforts to modernise cross-border settlement.
Industry analysts say stablecoin-based settlement is gaining traction as an alternative to correspondent banking networks, though regulatory alignment and liquidity depth remain key challenges across markets.