- SoFi says it will be the first US bank to integrate Lightning and UMA for cross-border transfers in its app.
- The initial rollout targets U.S. to Mexico payments with plans for additional corridors after launch.
SoFi has partnered with Lightspark to enable in-app international money transfers using the Bitcoin Lightning Network and Lightspark’s Universal Money Address system. The company positioned the move as a first for a US bank and said the service will debut soon.
SoFi Sets U.S.-to-Mexico Corridor Using Lightspark UMA
The service will support a U.S. to Mexico corridor at launch. A sender in the United States will fund a transfer in dollars inside the SoFi app.
The dollars will be converted to bitcoin in real time, routed over Lightning, then converted back into local currency and delivered to the recipient’s bank account in Mexico. SoFi said it plans to add more destination countries after the initial phase.
SoFi + Lightspark = instant global payments. 🌍⚡
Send money abroad in seconds, right from the @sofi app, powered by UMA.
Coming soon for 🇺🇸→ 🇲🇽 with more countries to follow.
The future of global payments is here: https://t.co/MxAA5o9k2Z pic.twitter.com/GFVq4KhoxF
— Lightspark (@lightspark) August 19, 2025
UMA functions as an addressing and interoperability layer that maps simple, human-readable identifiers to the payment routes.
Lightspark describes UMA as a way to abstract Lightning’s technical complexity while preserving settlement speed and cost efficiency. For SoFi, that means Lightning can operate in the background while customers interact with a standard bank interface.
Bank Plans In-App Dollar-to-Bitcoin-to-Fiat Transfers
SoFi framed the product as a cross-border money transfer feature rather than a crypto trading tool. Funds originate in fiat and are delivered to recipients in fiat with conversion handled within the flow.
This design reduces exposure to bitcoin price volatility at the user level because the asset is used as a transport layer rather than a balance that customers must hold.
The company said transfers would post in near real time with lower network and foreign exchange costs than many incumbent options, though specific fees were not disclosed.
Remittances between the United States and Mexico remain one of the largest consumer cross-border corridors. Lightspark has promoted UMA for that route and cited speed and cost metrics that are competitive with legacy rails.
By integrating Lightspark’s stack, SoFi aims to bundle account funding, compliance, routing and settlement into one experience inside its existing mobile application.
SoFi’s announcement highlights a growing trend of regulated financial institutions experimenting with Lightning as an alternative settlement path for retail payments and remittances.
The company said it would be the first US bank to deploy Lightning at this scale, with availability rolling out in the app after the partnership launch. Industry reports said the service is coming soon and will expand to additional markets following the Mexico launch.
At the time of press, Bitcoin is trading at $113,597.00, marking a precise drop of $1,600.00, or –1.389%, compared to the previous closing price. The intraday high reached $115,796.00, while the low touched $112,647.00, illustrating the range within which BTC has fluctuated over the past 24 hours.
