Why Global Fintech Expansion Fails Without Context
By Mitchelle Chibundu
4 MIN READOCT 16, 2025In London, customers complain if a transfer takes more than three seconds. In Lagos, they take screenshots to prove their money still exists. Both are fintech, yet they operate in different worlds.
Designing for both African and European markets alters how you perceive financial technology. Fintech stops being a product and starts becoming culture, infrastructure, and daily behaviour.
The myth of universal design
One of the most enduring fallacies in fintech is that one system can serve everyone. For years, companies attempted to scale from Berlin to Nairobi using the same UX framework, assuming that expectations and infrastructure were universal. However, context, trust, and access influence how people experience money, and money travels differently in each market.
At Flutterwave, I led the development of Barter, a product born out of a genuine need. In 2016, Nigerians had limited access to online payments and global commerce. Virtual dollar cards, peer-to-peer transfers, and bill payments were not just features, but lifelines.
At Wise, I worked on some of the world's most advanced cross-border systems, creating financial crime and support experiences that built confidence across dozens of markets and regulatory layers.
The anatomy of trust
In markets such as Nigeria, trust is the foundation. When an app fails, a screenshot becomes proof of transaction. When the network fails, a human agent becomes the helpdesk.
At Flutterwave, we were doing more than just building apps. We were creating a possibility. We had to design for FX volatility, craft clear error messages for low-literacy users, and rebuild trust through real-time feedback loops.
“Cash still accounts for over 90% of African retail transactions, where mobile money, agent networks, and informal systems define the landscape more than card rails or open banking protocols (McKinsey, Fintech in Africa: The End of the Beginning, 2022).”
Design evolved into a trusted language, rather than just a visual layer. Every pixel needed to compensate for a missing piece of infrastructure.
The same principle applies even in mature markets.
I once advised a fintech whose entire onboarding process revolved around compliance. It met every regulatory requirement yet lost half of its consumers before verification. We reframed the journey from "proof of identity" to "path to access," explaining the importance of each step, what happened next, and the benefits they would gain.
Conversion increased by 30% without compromising compliance. Trust becomes scalable when you translate regulation into reassurance.
Europe’s Fintech Blueprint
In contrast, Europe's fintech sector is built upon centuries of banking stability. People expect systems to work and regulations to protect them, but reality often differs.
Customers want real-time notifications and automated support that works. If something goes wrong, they prioritise resolution over risk. Our role as designers was to highlight that trust, not to replace it.
This distinction is subtle but crucial. In one sense, the product is a safety net. In the alternative scenario, the system is already in place. These two worlds reveal that global fintech success isn’t about exporting features but re-engineering trust.
Where Global Fintechs go wrong
Western fintechs expanding into Africa sometimes prioritise polish over infrastructure, speed over reliability, and assume that what works in London will work in Kigali.
Meanwhile, African fintechs expanding globally may overestimate the appeal of survival-based use cases, underestimate Western users' low tolerance for friction, and conflate resilience with universality.
The motivations are different, and the product design must reflect that.
Design as a bridge
Barter wasn't just an app. It connected people to global opportunities in ways that traditional banks could not. Wise, on the other hand, showed me how scale, regulation, and trust intertwine. They shaped my notion that design shows a system's limitations: when it's broken, it's exposed; when it works, it's amplified.
Across both contexts, my work has shown that success in fintech is about translating trust rather than exporting functionality.
Final thoughts
Global fintech expansion fails without context, because what boosts confidence in one system might produce friction in another. Success is dependent on translating trust, not exporting design. Fintech's future belongs to those who can adapt, localise, and build systems rooted in cultural and institutional knowledge.
Ready to scale the right way? Book a free session to align your product, market, and design strategy for cross-border success. If you’re scaling across borders, let’s build your trust architecture for 2026.
-Mitchelle
“Fintech isn’t one-size-fits-all; it’s a local solution with a global vision. The next decade will be defined by its ability to understand context deeply.”
About Mitchelle Chibundu
Mitchelle Chibundu is the Award-winning Founder and CEO of Designer Babe®, a multidisciplinary creative and education company shaping the future of design, technology, and culture.
As a seasoned product designer, educator, author and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience, Mitchelle has designed and led global initiatives across fintech, media, and education. Her work spans top organisations, including Flutterwave, Wise, and Ledger, where she helped build trusted financial experiences used by millions worldwide.
Mitchelle is widely recognised for her ability to merge clarity, creativity, and business strategy, helping professionals and teams communicate their value and lead with precision. Through her books, lectures, and workshops under Designer Babe®, she has inspired thousands of creatives worldwide to merge storytelling, design, and strategy in pursuit of purposeful work.
About Designer Babe®
Designer Babe® is a global creative education and media platform that helps designers, universities, and organisations turn creative skills into measurable impact.
Through lectures, workshops, publications, and cultural programming, Designer Babe® equips individuals and teams with the tools to think clearly, communicate confidently, and design fulfilling careers. The company partners with universities, fintech organisations, and creative institutions to bridge the gap between creativity, business, and leadership.
What began as a design community has evolved into a trusted ecosystem, partnering with universities, global brands, and tech organisations to make creative ownership accessible to everyone.