June 22, 2026 – Houston

Last Tuesday I watched a 67-year-old uncle in Houston bypass his lifelong bank to send $400 home using an app his granddaughter set up. Multiply that by millions.

This is not a tech problem

His name is Uncle Emeka. He has been banking with the same Nigerian institution for forty-three years. He has the loyalty card, the relationship manager who sends him a Christmas text, and a fixed-deposit account that’s older than most of his grandchildren.

Last Tuesday, I watched Uncle Emeka send $400 home for his nephew’s school fees. He did not use his bank. He used an app he downloaded six weeks ago after his granddaughter walked him through it on a Sunday afternoon. The transfer was instant. The fee was four dollars. He looked at me, smiled, and said: “Linda, my bank does not even know I am alive.”

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