You probably know someone who has left the country for work, education, safety, or to stay abroad. Every year, millions of people move for various reasons. In 2024, UNDESA reported that the number of international migrants reached 304 million, nearly double the 154 million recorded in 1990.
Migration creates numerous operational needs, including documentation, finance, compliance, relocation logistics, and maintaining identity continuity. Unfortunately, no well-coordinated system exists to address these concerns. Migrants often face fragmented bank systems, immigration offices, payment tools, and advisory services, making navigation difficult.
Vesti understands these challenges and has entered the market to bridge this infrastructural gap.
Migration happens for many reasons, and is happening faster than ever.
Unfortunately, the systems on which migrants rely do not evolve at the same rate that migration does. Payment systems, banks, employers, schools, and migration authorities all function in fragments and only provide limited solutions to issues. They are not designed to fully meet the needs of migrants. This fragmentation usually causes friction.
Let’s be more specific. Migrants face delays in transferring money across borders, expensive exchange rates, documentation issues which vary from country to country, compliance regulations that differ from one jurisdiction to another, and difficulty in verifying information. Employees deal with onboarding delays, students with challenges with fee payment and securing loans for migration, governments and individuals face compliance gaps, and financial institutions lose potential customers due to rigid requirements.
This is beyond a mere social problem but an economic and systems problem that requires coordinated tools and not just moral framing.
Vesti’s migration-focused financial technology helps users plan, fund, and manage the financial aspects of moving abroad for work, education, or settlement. On its LinkedIn page, Vesti clearly states its mission: “to simplify financial services for the Neohumans on the move.”
Olusola Amusan, Co-founder and CEO of Vesti, reinforced this vision at an event in Dallas, Texas: “At Vesti, our goal has always been to empower immigrants by providing seamless legal and financial solutions tailored to their unique needs.”
Vesti serves not only those who have already moved but also individuals planning to migrate. The platform treats migration as an ongoing process rather than a one-time event.
The app combines banking features with migration support tools. These include a virtual dollar card, in-app wallets, and remittance services that simplify the payment of migration-related fees.
Vesti provides visa advisory and legal support. Through its WorldForce™ initiative, it partners with employers to assist with work visas, including the H-1B. Vesti goes beyond traditional banks, remittance apps, or migration consultancies. By merging financial and migration solutions, it gives users a single platform to manage all their needs.
Users can receive and send money internationally, save for goals such as visa application fees or travel expenses, and pay migration-related fees directly from the app. Vesti also ensures that international transfers comply with required protocols. The product supports users from initial preparation through post-migration planning.
Adeshina Ajayi is one of Vesti’s success stories. He shared: “A few months back, I joined a clarity session with the Vesti team, where they introduced me to the US entrepreneur visa (O-1) and explained how I could qualify. After the call, I joined, and the experienced attorney team at Vesti worked tirelessly on my case. Today, I have my US O-1 visa, which covers my spouse and kids.”
Vesti has recorded over 1 million app downloads, conducted 3,000+ migration clarity calls, forged 17 new partnerships, and earned a 4.7 app rating. The app also features an AI assistant, Miai, and a website that guides users through migration steps. Miai helps users explore migration options, manage relocation logistics, and answers questions in simple language.
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Vesti is one of the few to approach the problem of migration from a financial context. Their tools for payments and savings are built with cross-border mobility in mind. This makes them different from general finance apps, which presume that users remain in one nation.
In its operation, Vesti relies on partnership; it works with financial institutions, payment networks and compliance systems. This way, it operates without becoming a bank itself.
As a mobile app for migrants, Vesti focuses on coordination rather than replacing systems or governments. It helps users navigate the process.
The business model used by Vesti finds market relevance from its functional alignment with migration workflow. There are many steps involved in migration, like planning, saving, moving funds, arrival and settling. When these steps are fragmented, there is an increase in both cost and stress of travelling. By putting all of these in one place, Vesti reduces the friction, helps users gain clarity in every step of the process, and financial preparation for traveling becomes more predictable.
Continuity also boosts trust, as users form cross-border relationships with a single platform. This is mostly important in situations where migrants may need to start over. The platform fits into what migrants already need to do; it doesn’t require them to do things differently or to change their behaviour. It only simplifies existing processes and behaviour.
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Traditional banks are country-bound and are regulated locally within a system built to suit residents. Vesti is borderless
Other Remittance and payment platforms deal only with transactions, transferring money from one point to another. They do not deal with planning, saving or settlement of migrants. In contrast, Vesti provides both financial services and migration advisory and planning.
Firms that are into immigration consultation primarily focus on documentation and advisory services. They rarely deal with matters of financial readiness or post-arrival needs. Their services are usually one-off. Finance apps and organisations generally assume that their customers are residents. They do not provide services regarding currency shifts, relocation timelines or documentation gaps.
Vesti is a unique blend of these options; it treats finance as part of immigration infrastructure and not as a separate or independent service.
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There are, however, limitations which plague Vesti. Financial services and cross-border operations are usually heavily regulated, and different jurisdictions have rules and laws that regulate these kinds of operations. The cumbersome compliance requirements that vary per country pose a limitation to Vesti’s operations and services.
The Vesti platform collaborates with existing financial and migration systems and does not work independently on its own; therefore, it cannot completely eliminate the friction that exists with these systems; rather, it can only work around them.
Another limitation is that migrants do not have knowledge about planning tools before relocation. There is heavy dependence on travel agents, and this habit would usually take time to change. However, these constraints are not limited to Vesti; they are structural gaps.
Migration is fast becoming an infrastructure market, and as movement increases, there will be an increase in the importance of supporting systems. Vesti’s presence shows a likelihood of increase in migration-focused technology platforms. They will focus on finance, identity, compliance and logistics.
Financial services will act as scaffolding for migration. Money is central to movement; thus, where finance is weak, migration slows down. New business categories will emerge around portability and continuity. Products will be designed for people in motion, not fixed locations. Vesti’s portability reflects this pattern. Its relevance depends on structural fit, not storytelling.
Wrapping up, opportunities emerge where coordination is weak. Therefore, companies that understand migration as a workflow and not as an event can build durable products. Vesti’s relevance lies in how well it fits into this gap, not through branding or narrative but through operational alignment.