Ajackus partnered with InstaReM—Asia’s leading digital cross-border payment platform—to design and build a React Native MVP that now serves over 1 million users across 60+ countries, processing $8B+ in transactions and contributing to the company’s path to fintech unicorn status.
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How InstaReM Reached 1M+ Users with a Cross-Platform Remittance App
Services
Mobile Development
UI/UX Design
Managed Projects
Technologies
1M+
Users Across 60+ Countries
$8B+
Transactions Processed
4.5/5
App Store Rating
Overview
Executive Summary
Client Overview
The Challenge
Project Goals
Our Approach
Results and Impact
Frequently Asked Questions
Executive Summary
The Problem
InstaReM, a Singapore-born global fintech, needed a mobile-first solution to democratise international money transfers across 60+ countries. Users were forced to rely on expensive bank branches or opaque traditional remittance operators with 3–5 day processing times.
The Solution
Ajackus took full ownership of mobile app development—from product discovery and user research through UI/UX design, React Native development, payment gateway integrations, and KYC compliance implementation across 11 jurisdictions.
The Result
The MVP achieved 10,000 downloads in its first month, a 65% day-1 retention rate, $10M in first-quarter transaction volume, and 30% month-over-month growth. InstaReM grew to 1M+ users, processed $8B+ in transactions, and eventually became part of fintech unicorn Nium.
Client Overview
InstaReM is a Singapore-born global fintech and one of Asia’s leading digital cross-border payment platforms, providing instant, low-cost international money transfers to consumers, SMEs, and financial institutions.
By leveraging real-time payment rails and proprietary exchange rate technology, InstaReM offers remittance services at rates close to mid-market prices, processing transfers that traditionally took 3–5 business days in mere minutes or hours—serving users who have been historically underserved by traditional banking.
| Industry | Fintech / Cross-Border Payments |
| Headquarters | Singapore |
| Reach | 60+ countries, 10 sending currencies, 35+ receiving currencies |
| Regulatory Scope | 11 jurisdictions’ financial authorities |
| Outcome | Now part of fintech unicorn Nium |
The Challenge
THE BOTTOM LINE
InstaReM needed a cross-platform mobile app that could make international money transfers as simple as sending a text message—while maintaining bank-grade security and regulatory compliance across 60+ countries and 11 jurisdictions.
International money transfer users lacked a mobile-first solution that combined transparency, speed, and affordability. They typically relied on bank branches with limited hours or expensive traditional remittance operators with opaque pricing.
Core Pain Points
- No mobile-first experience: Users couldn’t send money, track rates, or manage transfers on the go—everything required desktop access or physical branch visits.
- Lack of pricing transparency: Traditional providers buried fees in inflated exchange rates, making it nearly impossible for users to know the true cost of a transfer.
- Slow transfer speeds: Cross-border payments took 3–5 business days through conventional banking channels, creating frustration for time-sensitive remittances.
- Multi-market complexity: The app had to serve users across 60+ countries with different cultural backgrounds, financial literacy levels, payment preferences, and internet connectivity.
- Regulatory compliance across 11 jurisdictions: Every feature had to meet the legal and regulatory requirements of financial authorities in 11 different markets simultaneously.
Project Goals
The project aimed to deliver a production-ready React Native MVP that could scale globally while meeting the security, compliance, and user experience standards expected of a regulated financial platform.
| Goal | Success Criteria |
|---|---|
| Mobile-first remittance experience | Send money to 60+ countries from a single app with real-time FX rates |
| Cross-platform architecture | Single React Native codebase serving iOS and Android with native performance |
| Multi-payment method support | Bank transfers, cards, and local methods (PayNow, PayID, UPI) |
| Regulatory compliance | KYC verification and compliance with 11 jurisdictions’ financial authorities |
| Scalable architecture | Infrastructure ready for rapid geographic expansion beyond initial markets |
| User engagement and retention | Rewards programme, rate alerts, and referral system to drive organic growth |
Our Approach
Ajackus was assigned full ownership of the mobile app development—from defining user experience to choosing the technical approach and implementing the delivery methodology. The team integrated directly with InstaReM’s product, compliance, and banking teams, working in Agile sprints with two-week cycles.
Phase 1: Product Discovery
The engagement started with deep user research. The team conducted interviews with 100+ potential users across target markets, defined user personas and journey maps using design thinking methodologies, and identified the critical user needs that would drive MVP feature prioritisation. This phase also established the technical architecture: React Native app structure, API design, security framework, payment integration approach, and an offline-first data synchronisation strategy for users with unreliable connectivity.
Phase 2: Design and Component System
The team created a comprehensive UI/UX design system following platform guidelines for both iOS and Android. This included building a reusable component library, designing for accessibility, and establishing a multi-language support structure that could scale across InstaReM’s target markets. Every screen was designed to accommodate users with varying levels of financial literacy—making complex cross-border transfers feel intuitive.
Phase 3: Iterative Development
Development followed a feature-priority approach, starting with the core money transfer flow and progressively layering in additional capabilities:
Core Transfer Engine
The team built the international transfer flow with real-time FX rate integration via WebSocket, supporting 10 sending currencies and 35+ receiving currencies. This included integrating multiple payment gateways and local payment methods (PayNow, PayID, UPI) alongside traditional bank transfer and card options.
Security and Compliance Layer
Bank-grade encryption, biometric authentication (Touch ID/Face ID), certificate pinning, and secure document storage were implemented from the ground up. The progressive KYC verification flow was designed to minimise user friction while meeting the regulatory requirements of all 11 jurisdictions.
Engagement and Growth Features
The rewards system (InstaPoints programme), rate alerts for preferred exchange rates, and referral mechanics were built to drive organic growth and retention—turning the app from a utility into a daily-use financial tool.
Phase 4: Testing, Launch, and Scale
The team conducted comprehensive testing across 20+ devices, security audits, and regulatory compliance checks before executing a soft launch in Australia with beta users. Following validation, the app was gradually rolled out to additional countries with continuous monitoring, performance optimisation, and feature enhancement based on real-world usage data.
Results and Impact
InstaReM received a fully functional React Native MVP with architecture designed for rapid scale-up across multiple geographies, helping the company achieve its user acquisition goals and secure additional funding rounds.
10K
Downloads in First Month
65%
Day-1 Retention Rate
$10M
First Quarter Transaction Volume
30%
Month-over-Month Growth
99.9%
Crash-Free Sessions
2s
App Launch Time
Product Achievements
- Launched a cross-platform mobile app supporting international transfers to 60+ destination countries with 10 sending currencies and 35+ receiving currencies.
- Integrated multiple payment methods including bank transfers, cards, and local options (PayNow, PayID, UPI) within a single unified experience.
- Delivered 60fps animations, offline functionality, and real-time WebSocket integration for live rate updates.
Compliance and Security
- Achieved regulatory compliance across 11 jurisdictions’ financial authorities with progressive KYC verification.
- Implemented bank-grade encryption, biometric authentication, certificate pinning, secure document storage, and fraud detection integration.
Business Impact
- The app contributed directly to InstaReM growing to 1 million+ users and processing $8B+ in transactions.
- InstaReM won multiple fintech awards including Best Value International Money Transfer Provider.
- The company eventually became part of fintech unicorn Nium, validating the platform’s scalability and market fit.
Why It Worked
Full Ownership, Zero Silos
Ajackus owned the entire mobile stack—from UX research to App Store deployment—eliminating coordination overhead and accelerating delivery.
Compliance as a Feature
Building KYC and multi-jurisdiction compliance into the architecture from day one avoided costly retrofits and enabled rapid geographic expansion.
Offline-First for Global Reach
Designing for unreliable connectivity ensured the app worked for users in emerging markets, not just well-connected urban centres.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Ajackus build a cross-border payment app compliant with 11 jurisdictions?
The team designed regulatory compliance into the architecture from the start, implementing progressive KYC verification flows that met the requirements of all 11 financial authorities. This included secure document storage, fraud detection integration, and bank-grade encryption—all built to scale as InstaReM expanded into new markets.
Why was React Native chosen for a fintech remittance app?
React Native enabled a single codebase to serve both iOS and Android with near-native performance (60fps animations, 2-second launch time, 99.9% crash-free sessions), while significantly reducing development time and cost compared to maintaining two separate native apps across 60+ country deployments.
How long did it take to build and launch the InstaReM app?
Ajackus took full ownership of mobile development through an Agile process with two-week sprints. The team moved from product discovery through MVP to a soft launch in Australia, then gradually rolled out to additional countries with continuous iteration based on real-world user data.
What drove InstaReM’s 65% day-1 retention rate?
A combination of intuitive UX designed for users with varying financial literacy, real-time rate alerts that gave users a reason to return daily, the InstaPoints rewards programme that incentivised repeat usage, and transparent pricing that built trust from the first transfer.
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