Grey, the Y Combinator-backed cross-border payments company, plans to use foreign-currency salary records to help remote workers access credit, addressing a gap in how traditional lenders assess professionals earning from international employers.

Speaking on the Moonshot Podcast at Moonshot by TechCabal 2026 in Lagos, Nigeria, Grey's co-founder and chief executive officer, Idorenyin Obong, said many remote workers struggle to establish creditworthiness because conventional credit bureaus have limited visibility into income earned from foreign employers. Where loan approvals hinge on bureau records, income from foreign employers can be difficult to verify, leaving salaried professionals without the borrowing history lenders look for. The company intends to draw on income and transaction data it has accumulated over the past six years to build credit services for these customers.

"This is built on our own data and income intelligence from the last five to six years," Obong said.

The planned credit offering forms part of Grey's broader expansion into salary management, following Wednesday's launch of Paycheck. The product allows professionals earning in US dollars, British pounds, and euros to automatically split their salaries across spending, savings, and emergency funds.

Under Paycheck, Obong explained that a customer receiving $1,000 per month could choose to allocate 20% to savings, another 10% to other financial needs, and retain 70% for immediate expenses. These allocations are adjustable, rather than following a fixed spending formula.

Eligible Paycheck customers can also earn up to 3% annual interest on their US dollar Pouch, Grey's savings feature. The product includes an emergency fund designed to help users work towards saving three months' salary over a year, alongside salary tracking and other account benefits.

"We need to build a bit more around the lifestyle of salary customers; if a customer wants to save, we can help them with that, and then offer them interest. If a customer wants to travel, we can help them with that," Obong said, adding that Grey is looking to support flight bookings and provide eSIMs for customers travelling internationally.

"That was where the thinking came from. We still saw a gap here because I think there's a lot of innovation we could still build for our customers; we saw that gap and decided to start with it."

Grey's move underscores the shifting needs of remote workers, who initially relied on cross-border fintech platforms primarily to receive foreign payments. As international employment becomes more established, these customers increasingly require tools to manage their earnings, build savings, and potentially access loans. For Grey, that shift turns the salary and transaction records it already holds into the raw material for lending — precisely the data trail conventional bureaus lack.

Grey has not announced when the credit feature will become available, nor has it disclosed proposed lending rates or borrowing limits, leaving timing and credit terms as the key open questions around the planned service. For now, Paycheck is rolling out to customers earning at least $300 in foreign-currency salaries.

While salary management and savings benefits are already available, Grey's planned credit offering could extend its services to remote workers whose international earnings are often overlooked by traditional lenders.