“Can a CBN-licensed Nigerian neobank become the default money platform for every African on the planet — including the diaspora — by owning the banking, payments and remittance rails end-to-end?”
Founded 2019 as a zero-fee mobile-first challenger bank for Nigerians, operating under a CBN microfinance bank license. Rapid 2020-21 funding (Valar/Target Global) pushed it to a $500M valuation and expansion ambitions across Africa and the diaspora. After shelving an early diaspora-remittance attempt that relied on third-party providers, Kuda rebuilt cross-border remittance in-house in 2026 via a multi-currency wallet, signalling a pivot from pure Nigerian retail neobank toward a diaspora-to-Africa money movement platform — while simultaneously productising its banking rails as the Kuda Business API.
Kuda discloses Kuda Microfinance Bank Limited (in-house) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Kuda does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Kuda Microfinance Bank Limited (in-house).
Kuda processes payments through Kuda Business API (self-operated), Pay with Kuda, Pay with Transfer / Virtual Accounts (self-operated) and Instant Settlement for third-party POS (self-operated).
Kuda's cards are issued through Kuda Microfinance Bank Limited (in-house).
Kuda's lending and capital products are provided by Kuda Microfinance Bank Limited (in-house).
Kuda runs its ledger on in-house.
Kuda uses Kuda multi-currency wallet (in-house) for FX and cross-border payouts.
Kuda's payroll is powered by Kuda Payroll (in-house).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 8 layers in Kuda's stack: Payments / PSP (Kuda Business API (self-operated), Pay with Kuda, Pay with Transfer / Virtual Accounts (self-operated) and Instant Settlement for third-party POS (self-operated)); Banking / BaaS (Kuda Microfinance Bank Limited (in-house)); Card issuing (Kuda Microfinance Bank Limited (in-house)); Ledger (in-house); Lending (Kuda Microfinance Bank Limited (in-house), Personal Loans, Overdrafts, Business Loan and 3 others); Payroll (Kuda Payroll (in-house)); Sponsor bank (Kuda Microfinance Bank Limited (in-house)); FX & payouts (Kuda multi-currency wallet (in-house)).
Kuda was founded by Babs Ogundeyi and Musty Mustapha and is founded in 2019, headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
Kuda has raised ~$91.6M disclosed in total (latest round: Series B, 2021; valuation: $500M (Series B, 2021)).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Kuda and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.