Remittance
I built Vance's remittance app, now Aspora, from the first line of code. People in the UK and the UAE used it to send money home to India. This page is for teams building in remittance.
What I built at Vance
- Live on both app stores in 15 days.
- KYC rules per country, kept on the server. Still running in six countries.
- Referrals brought in over a third of new users. The golden ticket campaign from the UAE launch got reused for the launches after it.
- Mutual funds for people sending money home, shipped in 30 days.
- 99.95% stable in the early months.
Why remittance
Most of India's remittances now come from the US (27.7%), the UAE (19.2%) and the UK (10.8%), per the RBI's 2023-24 survey. The money is already moving. What's still open is how cheap, fast and easy it is, in both directions: families sending money into India, and Indians sending money out for study, travel and investing abroad.
VDAs, in plain words
A VDA, or virtual digital asset, is India's legal name for crypto. For remittance, the ones that matter are stablecoins: tokens that always stay worth one dollar.
Today, money sent home passes through a chain of banks. With a stablecoin, the sender's pounds or dirhams turn into digital dollars, move across the world in seconds for a few cents, and turn into rupees at the other end.
It's already happening. Stablecoin payments across borders grew 64% in 2025, to about $135B worldwide, roughly what India receives in remittances in a year (FXC Intelligence and Allium).
In India it's also hard. VDAs aren't legal tender, gains are taxed at 30% with 1% TDS, and the RBI hasn't cleared stablecoin remittances. This year the Enforcement Directorate raided firms that ran them informally. So the real work is building both ends, money in and money out, inside the rules of each country. That's the same problem as KYC per country, and it's the kind I like.
Through banks
- £ in the UK
- Sending bank
- Correspondent bank
- Receiving bank
- ₹ in India
Through a stablecoin
- £ in the UK
- Digital dollars
- ₹ in India
Every bank in the chain takes a fee and adds time.
What I'd bring to your remittance app
I've built this once from the first line of code, and I know where it breaks. This is where I'd help.
Corridors that open by config
KYC steps, limits and flows for each country live on the server. A new corridor, or a regulator's change in an old one, ships without an app release. That's how Vance's KYC still runs in six countries.
How it worksA transfer people trust
The rate, the fee and when the money arrives, shown before they pay. A saved recipient, a status they can follow, and a first transfer that works on the first try.
Growth built into the app
Referrals brought in over a third of Vance's new users. The golden ticket campaign from the UAE launch was reused for every launch after it. I work with marketing so campaigns don't wait for a release.
Growth at VanceMore than transfers
People who send money home also want to save and invest there. We shipped mutual funds for them in 30 days.
Mutual funds at VanceReady for new rails
Banks, UPI and, where it's allowed, stablecoins. If the payout rail is a decision on the server, you can add or switch rails as the rules change, without rebuilding the app.
How I'd start
- First two weeks. Follow the money through your app. Where people drop off in KYC, where the first transfer fails, and what support hears most.
- First month. Fix the biggest leak, and move the rules that change most onto the server.
- After that. The next corridor, the next product, or the team to run them.
Building in remittance, into India or out of it? Email me. I reply within a day.