Grey, the Y Combinator backed cross border fintech, is expanding its international payments offering with Chinese yuan payouts, giving African businesses and individuals a new way to pay directly into bank accounts in China using their existing USD, EUR, GBP and stablecoin balances.
The move comes as China continues to play a major role in Africa’s import economy, particularly for Nigerian businesses sourcing electronics, machinery, vehicles and other goods from Chinese manufacturers and suppliers. By allowing users to settle payments directly in yuan, Grey is positioning itself to capture more of the payment activity taking place along one of Africa’s most important trade corridors.
Simplifying the China payment corridor
Grey’s new Chinese yuan payout allows customers to convert funds held in their Grey accounts into yuan and send the money directly to Chinese bank accounts.
For businesses, the service is designed to support payments to suppliers and manufacturers, while individuals can use the service for expenses including education, travel and retail purchases in China.
The company said the expansion responds to challenges customers face when trying to settle transactions with Chinese partners.
“We have seen customers delay purchases, put transactions on hold, or walk away from opportunities because paying a partner in China requires unnecessary complexities,” said Idorenyin Obong, Grey’s chief executive officer and co founder.
“By enabling direct Chinese Yuan payouts from existing Grey balances, we are making payments simpler so that more people and businesses can participate in global trade.”
Why China matters to African businesses
The opportunity is significant.
China was Nigeria’s largest source of imports in the fourth quarter of 2025, accounting for 31.22% of total imports, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
For thousands of Nigerian businesses, China is an important source of inventory, machinery and equipment. Yet moving money across borders remains one of the friction points in doing business internationally.
Grey’s latest offering is therefore less about adding another currency to its platform and more about building a payment rail into a trade corridor where African businesses already have significant demand.
China’s importance extends beyond Nigeria. South Africa imported about $23.57 billion worth of goods from China in 2025, while Kenya imported approximately $4.31 billion in 2024, according to Trading Economics.
The scale of these transactions is creating an increasingly attractive opportunity for fintech companies building infrastructure around international trade.
Grey’s broader push into business payments
The yuan payout also builds on Grey’s broader expansion into business financial services.
In February 2026, the company launched Grey Business, providing African startups and SMEs with access to USD corporate accounts, international payments, currency conversion and stablecoin transactions.
By June, Grey said its business platform had processed $61.4 million in payment volume, with USDC and USDT accounting for the largest share of its cross border transactions.
Adding China to the network extends that strategy by allowing businesses to move from holding foreign currency to actually using it to settle transactions in one of Africa’s most important commercial markets.
A growing fintech race
Grey is not entering an empty market.
Other fintech companies are also developing payment solutions for the Africa China corridor. UK based remittance fintech LemFi supports CNY transfers to China, while Raenest lists China among its international payout destinations.
Daya, a Nigerian stablecoin powered fintech that raised $2.4 million in pre seed funding in June, is also targeting emerging market trade settlements, particularly across China and Hong Kong.
The growing competition reflects a broader shift in African fintech. Rather than focusing only on domestic payments, companies are increasingly building infrastructure that allows African businesses to participate more easily in global commerce.
Stablecoins are also becoming part of this infrastructure, providing fintech companies with another mechanism for moving value across borders and connecting markets where traditional payment rails can be slow, expensive or difficult to access.
Beyond payments
The deeper opportunity for Grey may ultimately be in becoming part of the infrastructure behind Africa’s international trade.
Nigeria’s bilateral trade with China reached nearly $19.9 billion in 2024, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, although the relationship remains heavily weighted towards imports.
For fintechs, this creates a large and relatively consistent flow of businesses that need to pay international suppliers.
Grey’s yuan offering puts the company closer to that activity, giving African businesses another option for settling transactions with Chinese partners without first navigating multiple payment steps.
As African businesses become increasingly global in where they source products, receive payments and manage suppliers, the next phase of fintech competition may not be about who has the biggest wallet or the most payment features.
It could be about who can build the most useful bridges between African businesses and the markets they depend on.