Global Money
We don't sell hours and bodies.
Build with you
One backlog from day one — your product vision plus our fintech and blockchain engineers.
Sequence, don't cut
Every deferred feature maps to your own Phase-2 list — we stage the vision, we don't shrink it.
Honest numbers
Every hour and cost is on screen and firms up at Discovery. No surprises mid-build.
What we are building — and why now
Global Money is a single premium account that lets people in emerging markets hold, move and grow money across currencies and crypto — one balance, one brand, bank-grade security. Instead of juggling a Naira bank app, a dollar account and a separate crypto exchange, a user can receive, buy, sell, convert and withdraw fiat and digital assets from one place, with KYC/BVN onboarding built in.
One wallet for currency-volatile, fast-growing markets
The problem
In markets like Nigeria, people hold Naira, dollars and stable-value crypto across disconnected apps. Access to USD / USDT is a hedge against currency swings, but moving between them is slow, costly and fragmented.
The product
A cross-platform mobile wallet — receive, hold, buy, sell, convert and withdraw fiat and crypto behind one account, with biometric security, live pricing and compliant onboarding.
Why now
Crypto is now legal-but-regulated in both target markets: Nigeria's ISA 2025 brought digital assets under the SEC and the CBN reopened banking access; the UK runs an MLR + promotions regime with full FSMA rules landing by 2027. The compliant path exists — premium, trusted UX wins first.
Markets & model — sequenced, not scattered
Nigeria first
The strongest NGN ⇄ USDT/USD loop and available licensed local partners. Launch on a licensed MMO / bank with BVN KYC — the app layer only.
UK as a funded Phase 2
Enter as an EMD / PSD agent of an FCA-authorised EMI (e.g. OpenPayd) — no own licence and no €350k capital lock-up at launch.
Then EU, UAE, US
Each is a separate, evidence-led expansion. There is no mutual recognition, so every market is licensed locally once volume justifies it.
Partner-led by design
Regulated partners sit behind one adapter; you keep the brand, UX and product logic while deferring licences, capital and regulatory burden.
See a payment move end-to-end
How a payment moves end-to-end — user request, KYC gate, banking / custody, liquidity, ledger, settlement. Watch it live; flip to Stress and rejected transactions rise.
Target architecture
Every regulated partner sits behind one adapter — swap or add a provider without touching the apps. Switch views; click a module for design intent, the engineering gotcha, and the requirements it covers.
Architectures we genuinely evaluated
Three honest, buildable configurations — including the leanest safe baseline. We recommend the Optimized MVP, and show why, not just that.
Lean pilot · Android-first
One platform, one consolidated provider, must-have core. Proves demand cheapest — but no send/convert/statements and Android only.
Optimized MVP
Cross-platform, one consolidated provider under its umbrella, Nigeria-first with UK as a funded Phase 2. Premium UX, affordable, shippable.
Full original scope
Two native codebases, five discrete partners, live failover, custom admin, AI. Maximum control and margin — at roughly double the MVP and a longer timeline.
Indicative time-to-users, aligned with Delivery (section 06) and the ~16-week Nigeria integration window (section 07): the Optimized MVP reaches a Nigeria launch in ~4–6 months (Discovery + Phase 1), with UK as a funded Phase 2 (a further ~4–6 months); the full scope builds both markets up front. Costs are the same indicative build budgets as section 09, blended $52/h — everything firms up at Discovery.
What moves to Phase 2 — and why that is the point
| Capability | Optimized MVP | Full scope |
|---|---|---|
| App technology | Cross-platform | Two native codebases |
| Infrastructure | 1 consolidated provider | 5 discrete partners + live failover |
| Markets at launch | Nigeria first | UK + Nigeria together |
| Admin | Low-code + partner consoles | Bespoke admin platform |
| Support | Off-the-shelf widget | Custom AI assistant |
Highlighted rows are where the full spec roughly doubles cost. None of this cuts the vision — every item is sequenced, not deleted.
Requirements traceability matrix
Every requirement carries a REQ-ID and maps to where it's satisfied. Filter by priority.
| REQ-ID | Requirement | Priority | Covered by |
|---|
Phases, gates & cutover
Phased delivery with a readiness gate between each — you can stop, review and re-scope at every gate.
Discovery
- Partner shortlist + real integration costs
- Confirmed regulatory perimeter (counsel)
- Prioritized backlog + firm estimate
Nigeria MVP
- App on a licensed MMO/bank + BVN KYC
- Consolidated provider under its umbrella
- NGN ⇄ USDT/USD core loop live
UK + hardening
- UK entity as EMD/PSD agent of an EMI
- s21-compliant crypto promotions
- Statements, limits, richer admin
Scale & transfer
- Second provider / live failover on volume
- Selective in-housing of licences
- Runbooks + knowledge transfer
Vendor-slip stress test
This is the ~16-week Nigeria MVP integration window (Phase 1). Bars are placed in weeks: each regulated-partner integration and the product feature that depends on it. Drag a vendor's slip — every dependent feature cascades right and the mitigation appears. Plan against reality, not best case.
Scope configurator
Toggle features — the budget recomputes live. Must-have is the Lean pilot; add Recommended for the Optimized MVP; add Optional for the full original scope. Must-haves are locked.
What each phase buys you
The same figures as the live configurator in section 08, blended $52/h. Each tier is the one before it plus a block of features — the deltas below add up exactly to the totals.
(adds the Recommended block)
(adds the Optional block)
| Scope tier | What it adds | Adds @ $52/h | Cumulative build cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lean pilot | Must-have core — Android-first, one consolidated provider | — | ~$140k |
| + Recommended | Send & convert · statements, limits & audit · low-code admin · QA·BA·delivery | +$60k | ~$200k · Optimized MVP |
| + Optional | Two native apps · 5-partner + failover · custom admin · AI assistant · extra currencies · UK package | +$158k | ~$358k · Full scope |
| Axis | Lean pilot | Optimized MVP | Full scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Markets | Nigeria | Nigeria, UK Phase 2 | UK + Nigeria |
| App technology | Android-first | Cross-platform | Two native |
| Infrastructure | Consolidated | Consolidated + backup | 5 partners + failover |
| Feature coverage | Must-have | Must + recommended | Everything |
| Indicative timeline | ~3–4 mo | ~4–6 mo (Phase 1) | ~9–12 mo |
| Indicative budget | ~$140k | ~$200k | ~$358k |
SLA, severity & knowledge transfer
Defined severities, response/restore targets, and a knowledge-transfer track so your team takes ownership.
15 min / 4 h
Response / restore. Payments, withdrawals or login down.
1 h / 1 day
Degraded function, workaround exists.
1 day / next sprint
Cosmetic or low-impact issues.
Your questions, answered
Every written question and assumption you sent — how we handled it, whether it is in scope, and which phase it lands in.
What the licences themselves cost — and what that buys
Separate from the build budget in section 08. These are indicative government / regulator figures — capital plus application fees — for each route, so you can weigh the asset-light launch path against holding your own licences. Green rows are the recommended launch routes the build estimate assumes. Indicative only, not a quote and not legal advice.
| Route | Covers | Indicative capital lock-up | Government / application fees | What it enables |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | ||||
| EMD / PSD agent of a licensed EMI launch | Fiat | None of its own | Per-agent notification + revenue share to the principal (commercial) | Branded multi-currency wallet with no own EMI licence — live in ~30–60 days |
| FCA cryptoasset MLR registration | Crypto | None prescribed (AML-only regime) | ~£11,150 application (Cat 6) + annual periodic fee | Be the customer-facing crypto (buy / sell) provider to UK consumers |
| Own Authorised EMI later stage | Fiat | €350,000 (~$380,000) + 2% of e-money float ongoing | £5,580 application + ~£1,500 / yr | Hold customer fiat as principal — maximum control & margin |
| Nigeria | ||||
| Partner with a licensed MMO / bank launch | Fiat | None of its own | Commercial terms with the partner | Naira wallet + BVN KYC via the partner; you build the app layer only |
| SEC VASP — Digital Asset Exchange / Custodian | Crypto | ₦2bn (~$1.3–1.4m) by 30 Jun 2027 | ₦300k app + ₦1m processing + ₦150m registration (2024 figures — confirm) | Be the customer-facing crypto provider to Nigerian users |
| SEC ARIP onboarding (interim) | Crypto | Phased toward ₦2bn | ₦2,000,000 processing fee | Supervised entry / Approval-in-Principle before full VASP registration |
| Own MMO licence later stage | Fiat | ₦2bn (~$1.3–1.4m) + ₦2bn refundable escrow | ₦100,000 app + ₦1,000,000 licence | Hold Naira balances as principal |
Assumptions. Figures are indicative government / regulator amounts drawn from public sources (e.g. FCA 2025/26 fees, CBN licence categories, SEC Circular 26-1 of Jan 2026) — not a quote and not legal advice. They exclude the real professional costs of getting authorised: specialist UK & Nigerian legal counsel, application preparation, compliance staffing, external audit and PI insurance — which routinely exceed the government fees themselves. USD conversions are approximate and move with Naira / GBP / EUR rates. Several figures are flagged for verification against the live rulebooks (FCA crypto fee, per-agent notification fee, SEC crypto registration fee, PSSP escrow). The build estimate in section 08 assumes the green launch routes, so none of this capital sits inside that budget — it is separate, regulatory expenditure to plan for alongside it.
Team, ramp & governance
Core team scaling at each gate, and the market-by-market regulatory reality baked in from day one. This is a research summary — confirm with qualified UK and Nigerian counsel before launch.
Delivery proof
Challenge → what we built → tech → measurable result. Anonymized where under NDA.
Consumer neobank built on licensed infrastructure
Crypto custody integration with tiered on-chain KYC
"They didn't just take our brief and quote it back. They showed us the leanest safe version, what each ambition adds, and let us choose with real numbers."
Your engineering partner since 2007
European, full-cycle software engineering — end-to-end development, team augmentation, IT audits, support and consulting. We mobilise certified blockchain engineers from EU delivery centres and scale the team to each phase.