Grey has launched a new service for African businesses. It lets them pay Chinese suppliers directly in yuan. The cross-border fintech startup announced the update on Tuesday. Customers can now convert their existing balances into Chinese yuan. They can then send payments straight into bank accounts in China.
The feature works with US dollars, euros, British pounds, and supported stablecoins. Customers do not need to move their money out of Grey first. Instead, they can convert funds and pay directly from their account. For example, a business holding dollars can convert them into yuan in a few steps.
Grey built this update to remove friction. For years, African businesses have struggled to settle supplier payments in China. The process often involved too many steps and too much delay. As a result, some businesses lost deals entirely.
Idorenyin Obong, Grey’s CEO and co-founder, spoke about this problem directly. He said the company had watched customers delay purchases. Others put transactions on hold. Some walked away from opportunities altogether. According to Obong, paying a partner in China often involved unnecessary complexities.
“We have seen customers delay purchases, put transactions on hold, or walk away from opportunities because paying a partner in China requires unnecessary complexities,” Obong said. He added that the new yuan payout option should simplify the process. That way, more people and businesses can take part in global trade.
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The timing fits the bigger picture. China remains one of Africa’s largest trading partners. Nigeria shows this clearly. In fact, China accounted for 31.22 percent of Nigeria’s imports in the fourth quarter of 2025. That makes it the country’s single largest source of imported goods, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Nigerian businesses import a lot from China. Electronics, machinery, vehicles, and other equipment top that list. So a faster way to pay suppliers could matter a great deal to importers on the ground.
Grey’s yuan payout is open to two groups. Grey Business account holders can use it, and so can personal account holders. For business customers, Grey expects the feature to serve one main purpose: paying suppliers and manufacturers. Individual users have other options too. They can use it for school fees, travel costs, and retail purchases while in China.
This move builds on Grey’s existing business platform. The company launched that platform in February. It gives African startups and small businesses access to USD corporate accounts. It also offers international payments, currency conversion, and stablecoin transactions.
By June, Grey reported strong early numbers. The platform had already processed 61.4 million dollars in payment volume. Dollar-backed stablecoins USDC and USDT made up the largest share of those cross-border transactions.
Grey is not alone in this space. Other African fintechs already support payments into China. LemFi, the UK-headquartered remittance company, offers CNY transfers as well. Platforms like Verto have built similar payout options too. This growing competition proves something important. Demand for smoother, cheaper payments between Africa and China keeps rising.
For now, Grey is betting on one thing: ownership of the final payment step. That’s the moment money lands in a Chinese supplier’s account. If businesses can settle transactions faster, with fewer conversion steps, they gain a real advantage. They also become less likely to switch providers. Over time, that could make Grey harder to walk away from once businesses build their China payments around it.
