Joseph Cleetus Highlights Innovations in Cross-Border Payments and API Integration
Dubai, UAE – At the prestigious Dubai FinTech Summit 2025, Joseph Cleetus, AVP of Business Transformation at Lulu Financial Holdings, took center stage to present revolutionary solutions reshaping the cross-border payments landscape. Representing one of the leading payment players in the GCC and APAC regions, Cleetus unveiled two innovative platforms—Digit9 and Tisai—designed to address the persistent challenges faced by fintechs and digital banks.
Lulu Financial Holdings: A Leader in Global Payments
Founded 16 years ago and headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Lulu Financial Holdings operates in 10 countries, serving over 7 million customers across 140 nations. The company has cemented its reputation as a trusted provider of cross-border remittance solutions, particularly within the GCC and Asia-Pacific regions.
Joseph Cleetus emphasized the company’s strategic expansion into APAC five years ago, underscoring its commitment to transforming how money moves across borders for both consumers and financial institutions.
Digit9: Simplifying Cross-Border Integration with World API
At the heart of Lulu Money’s latest innovation is Digit9, a cross-border payment orchestration platform designed to streamline how fintechs and digital wallets interact with global Money Service Businesses (MSBs).
“Traditionally, integrating with MSBs takes months of negotiations, contract signings, and technical integration,” said Cleetus. “With Digit9 and our World API, we’ve simplified that entire process into a single, unified interface.”
Using the World API, fintech companies can now connect to multiple MSBs without needing individual tie-ups. This “plug-and-play” architecture enables institutions to build their own payment networks with maximum flexibility—much like choosing custom toppings on a pizza.
Tisai: AI-Powered Integration in Just Five Minutes
One of the most disruptive announcements at the summit was the launch of Tisai, an AI platform that allows companies to integrate with the World API in just five minutes.
“Even with unified APIs, the bottleneck is often IT bandwidth,” Cleetus explained. “Banks and fintechs can’t always spare developers for months-long integrations. Tisai solves that.”
Built on the MCP protocol, Tisai is a demonstration of how artificial intelligence can drastically reduce IT effort, cut costs, and accelerate product deployment. Remarkably, this isn’t just a commercial offering—Lulu Money is making Tisai open source and free for the fintech community.
This move reflects a broader vision: democratizing access to cross-border payment infrastructure while promoting open innovation across the ecosystem.
A Call to Action for the FinTech Community
By offering both Digit9 and Tisai at no cost, Lulu Money is encouraging collaboration and open standards. The company invites developers, fintech founders, and digital banks to try the platform and provide feedback—fueling a cycle of continuous improvement and co-innovation.
“We’re not just here to benefit ourselves,” Cleetus emphasized. “We want to reduce cost and speed up innovation—for everyone.”
Conclusion: Setting a New Standard for FinTech Integration
With the introduction of Digit9 and Tisai, Lulu Financial Holdings is boldly redefining the future of cross-border payments and fintech infrastructure. Their approach aligns perfectly with the ethos of the Dubai FinTech Summit—empowering financial institutions to innovate faster, integrate smarter, and serve customers better.
As fintech companies across the world grapple with rising costs and development delays, Lulu Money’s groundbreaking initiatives stand as a powerful testament to what’s possible when technology meets purpose.
