Cross-border payments platform HuruPay is expanding its services with the launch of two new features aimed at wealth creation for its users in Africa and other emerging markets.
The company, founded in 2023, is rolling out an “Invest” tool allowing users to buy and sell US stocks directly from its platform using stablecoins. It is also launching an “Earn” feature, a savings product that enables users to earn an annual percentage yield (APY) of up to 10% on their stablecoin deposits.
These new products mark a strategic expansion for HuruPay, moving it from a platform focused solely on facilitating international payments to one that also provides investment and savings tools. The company’s core service provides virtual USD accounts to freelancers and businesses to receive payments from the US and manage payouts across Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America.
From Payments to Wealth Creation
The new “Invest” feature is designed to give users in traditionally underserved markets access to the US stock market without needing a conventional brokerage account. According to the company, trades will be executed in real-time and powered by stablecoins, digital assets pegged 1:1 to the US dollar.
The “Earn” feature functions as a high-yield savings account. Users can deposit, or “stake,” their stablecoins to earn a return of up to 10% APY. HuruPay states that the feature offers flexibility, with no fixed lock-in periods for deposits or withdrawals.
The move into wealth-building services is rooted in the personal experience of co-founder and CEO, Philip Mburu. A Kenyan national, Mburu faced significant challenges with cross-border finance after relocating to Ghana in 2021.
“I had a very big challenge sending or receiving money as a migrant. There were few to no options to transact money across borders, and those that existed charged a very high fee of up to eight per cent for a transaction that would still take up to three days to process,” Mburu earlier told Disrupt Africa. “At the same time, the value of the Ghanaian cedi was constantly depreciating, affecting the savings I had in Ghana.”
This experience led him to explore stablecoins as a means to hold savings in a more stable currency and transact internationally with lower friction. HuruPay was born from this idea, initially as a crypto wallet to help individuals and SMEs protect their income from local currency depreciation.
As it rolls out crypto-related products, HuruPay is actively engaging with regulators. The company told Launch Base Africa that it is working towards gaining access to the Bank of Ghana’s regulatory sandbox.
This move aims to position HuruPay as one of the first companies to offer crypto-related financial products under Ghana’s developing legal framework.
“We commend the Bank of Ghana for taking a proactive step in creating this structured environment, a significant improvement from the past, when the absence of a clear crypto regulatory framework created uncertainty,” the company stated, emphasizing its commitment to compliance and transparency.
HuruPay was founded by Philip Mburu (CEO), a computer science graduate from Ashesi University. He is joined by co-founders Allan Okoth (CTO), a certified blockchain developer, and James Mugambi (COO), who has a background in economics and finance from Kenyatta University. The three connected through their shared interest in solving financial challenges using blockchain technology and formally launched the business in February 2023.