Noah and NALA Launch Instant Stablecoin Settlement Network to Modernise $850bn Emerging-Markets Payments

Noah, a global payments infrastructure provider, and NALA, a global stablecoin payments company, today announced a strategic partnership to build a new generation of cross-border payment infrastructure. Global businesses in Africa and Asia can now collect USD and pay out local currency in minutes, instead of days, bypassing a century-old banking system that costs users billions in fees.

The NALA-Noah network lets businesses collect USD anywhere and pay out locally in minutes, not days, closing an estimated $850bn annual liquidity gap across Africa and Asia. Powered by NALA’s infrastructure business, Rafiki.

For decades, cross-border payments into emerging markets have been defined by high fees, trapped liquidity, and settlement delays. Remittance costs still average close to 9% in many corridors. Businesses face chronic payout and treasury bottlenecks. Consumers lose value to FX spreads and slow rails.

Stablecoins change this when paired with real, regulated infrastructure. That’s what Noah and NALA are delivering.

By combining Noah’s global USD collection with NALA’s licensed stablecoin on- and off-ramp network, the partnership enables:

• Instant USD settlement

• Real-time local currency payouts

• 24/7 cross-border treasury

• Fully compliant, bilateral flows between digital dollars and local money

All without relying on a banking system built for another era.

“For years, emerging markets have been underserved by global payment infrastructure that was never designed for its scale, speed, or realities,” said Shah Ramezani, Founder and CEO of Noah. “This partnership with NALA is about building a new payment network that removes structural friction, restores trust in settlement, and gives businesses and consumers reliable access to global money movement. Stablecoins are not the story on their own – they are the rail that finally makes instant, compliant USD settlement possible at scale.”

A global operating system for money movement

The Noah–NALA network addresses two structural bottlenecks in cross-border payments: global collection and local distribution.

1. Global collection (Noah) Noah provides regulated USD virtual accounts, enabling businesses to collect funds via standard bank transfers. Funds are converted into stablecoins in real time, with Noah managing onboarding, identity verification, transaction monitoring, and compliance at the point of entry.

2. Local distribution (NALA / Rafiki) NALA receives settled value and routes it through Rafiki, its payments infrastructure API. Rafiki connects directly to local banks and mobile money networks across multiple emerging markets. With more than 10 regulatory licences globally, NALA enables compliant bilateral flows between stablecoins and local currencies, supporting both on-ramp and off-ramp liquidity at scale.