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The government regulates Ethiopia’s telecommunications market, meaning that there is only one telecom provider and others are not allowed. Both BelCash and M-birr are strictly technology providers. M-Birr General Manager Thierry Artaud sees the regulated market as a benefit.

Dutch company BelCash is focused on mobile banking, working in partnership with banks to provide easier access to finance through bank accounts. Ireland-based M-Birr is a mobile money service that works with micro finance institutions where no registration at a bank is needed.

“We are excited to partner with Visa, a leader in payments globally, as they are constantly building world-class solutions for consumers and businesses. Our goals are well-aligned. As we scale our wallet across emerging markets such as Nigeria, Mexico and Ethiopia, partnering with Visa to give both consumers and businesses, who have been underserved, access to Visa’s global network made sense to us,” the company said in a press release.

“What makes Ethio Pay profitable is not the number of ATMs; it rather is the large numbers of users. Our concern now is to work on promoting the system for increased customer involvement,” said Bizuneh.

After last month’s unofficial launch of Ethio-Pay, customers of other banks complained that the Bank of Abyssinia’s (BoA) ATMs did not provide service for other cards; guards of some branches unaware of the complete switch operation were seen forbidding customers from trying their cards at the ATMs.

The switch does not treat banks that have fewer ATMs any differently than those with larger networks in place. In fact, the system enables hosted members, banks without their own payment switches, to issue ATM cards without having to invest in a network of machines. It is also open to the integration of newcomers in the future without additional payments for letting their customers transact on other ATMs, the CEO added.

M-Pesa also works for businesses, which can use the service to pay for business transactions. Business can also receive payments from customers via the paybill facility and can pay employees directly into their M-Pesa accounts.

The online equity investment platform has reached a tipping point, with more than 150-thousand active users. Purple Group has reported a strong rise in first-half earnings as its EasyEquities online investment and trading platform reached tipping point. The fintech group owns 70% of EasyEquities and Sanlam Investments holds the remaining 30%.

The next six months will, no doubt, prove to be unpredictable. In many ways perhaps some of the toughest months experienced in the investment world in decades lie ahead with the world economy in unchartered waters," Purple Group said. "But that suits us just fine. Firm in the knowledge that we simply must, every minute of every day, be there for our partners and clients on their financial journey."

EasyEquities grew revenue by 140% to R28.6 million in the six months to end-February as the number of funded retail investment accounts more than doubled to 199,491. The platform generated a R76,000 profit for the period from a R12.4 million loss previously. Platform assets quadrupled to R15.8 billion.

How to Send Money with SimbaPayThere are several options that one can use to send money to and from Kenya with SimbaPay. By partnering with various financial institutions in the country, SimbaPay has eased international money transfers.Option 1: Using the SimbaPay appAll you need to do is to download the SimbaPay app either on Google Play or App Store. Input the needed details including the amount you intend to send and the recipient’s information. You can choose to pay via a debit card or by a bank account transfer.

Capitec has added share trading to its portfolio after entering into a partnership with low-cost investment platform EasyEquities. The move, which was announced on Friday, could be seen as a sign that Capitec wants to be able to satisfy the diverse requirements of more upper-income clients for broader financial services. The company has traditionally used no-frills bank accounts to attract budget-savvy low- to middle-class banking clients. ..

Capitec partners with EasyEquities to offer share trading in SA and US The move is part of a broader strategy to provide diverse financial services through a partnership network

Digital money transfer provider, SimbaPay, has announced the launch of its money transfer service to Nigeria. Using the SimbaPay app or website, Nigerians living in the UK can send money to Nigeria at zero charge using SimbaPay. The payment can be made to any bank account or mobile phone in Nigeria instantly.

With Apple introducing the biometrics technologies like Fingerprint identification and now facial recognition on its latest X series phones, biometrics is not only a day-to-day part of consumers’ lifestyles but also opening a whole new doors to biometrics industries and consumers’ financial operating methods.Companies like FIDO Alliance pulling out all the stops to make the biometrics systems standardized and more secured introduces the world to the new era of FinTech with easier, secured and adaptable approach of Biometrics Finances.

The tiresome process of entering long and complicated passwords and initials at every transaction along with the risk of compromising the security of the consumers’ accounts played a major role in accepting the Facial Recognition, Fingerprint scanner, IRIS Sensor and Voice recognition as a method of authentication at a Banking sector. 

‘KYC’ is one of the most important terms in FinTech, as ‘knowing your customer’ is a regulatory requirement for all financial institutions. The main goal is fraud prevention and constraining the ability of certain users who do not meet given acceptance criteria. Traditionally of course, this was done entirely in person, with account holders visiting their banks with the relevant ID documents. But for the past years, KYC has been moving increasingly into the digital domain. This move has brought a vast range of benefits to users and FinTech providers alike, but a number of challenges remain. Below, we outline some of these and present you with ways in which to combat them if you’re looking to set-up, or improve your digital finance platform, or to improve your customer experience.

Cloud eliminates many data storage management problems that plague dated enterprise infrastructure. Cloud computing in banking offers easy access to data for regulatory reporting, risk mitigation, analytics, deep learning, and discovering risk management anomalies.

Cloud based financial services can scale to meet variable and increasing data volume. Plus clean, consolidated, contextualized data eliminates the blinders caused by data silos. Additionally, on-premise grids typically force banks to allocate compute resources while cloud resources are available on-demand.

Open banking promotes banking and payments technology standardization, drives competition, enhances security of customer account data, and leads to data use innovation. APIs simplify the way financial institutions collect actionable data (e.g. customer purchasing, loan needs, preferred journey patterns, risk profiles, and future income projections).

The company will continue to develop and expand its offering to provide a range of product development and payments services.Kobus Ehlers, Firepay CEO, said: “Our team is looking forward to building out our payments platform to solve the real-world payments problems we have always focused on, and to provide customers with the best experience possible. We’re excited to work with Standard Bank in our mission to achieve this both in South Africa and across the continent.”

“We are excited about working more closely with the Firepay team and think that there is an excellent strategic fit between their capabilities and Standard Bank’s vision for a truly universal bank, both in South Africa and throughout the African continent,” said Wendy Pienaar, SBSA Head of Emerging Payments.“Firepay’s experienced team and industry know-how will be used to bolster Standard Bank’s emerging payments strategy,” she added.In addition to SnapScan, the Firepay team’s technology platform already enables payments for several clients, including WeChat and Masterpass.

“We are excited about working more closely with the Firepay team and think that there is an excellent strategic fit between their capabilities and Standard Bank’s vision for a truly universal bank, both in South Africa and throughout the African continent,” said Wendy Pienaar, SBSA Head of Emerging Payments.“Firepay’s experienced team and industry know-how will be used to bolster Standard Bank’s emerging payments strategy,” she added.In addition to SnapScan, the Firepay team’s technology platform already enables payments for several clients, including WeChat and Masterpass.

Latest News on M-Pesa | Cointelegraph

M-Pesa is Kenyan mobile, phone-based payment service provider for the mobile companies’ customers. M-Pesa is a money transfer service that, additionally, provides financing and micro-financing operations. The company was launched in 2007 by the two largest mobile network operators in Kenya and Tanzania. In 2013, M-Pesa in Africa became available for money transfers in Bitcoin, which are very popular among Kenyan and other African countries’ citizens due to their national currencies’ hyperinflation. Initially, M-Pesa was developed for Kenyan and other African citizens who don’t have access to ATMs or bank accounts to send or receive money, but the service has now reached Afghanistan and some European countries.

Key Features Fast and easy signup Simple integration Customers need not re-enter card details Customers scan on a desktop or click to pay on a mobile device Responsive and mobile friendly Payment happens onsite with a trusted mobile payment provider! Why choose SnapScan?SnapScan is the preferred way for South Africans to pay with their phones.You may know the app from your favorite weekend market or local coffee shop, but SnapScan also provides payment solutions for larger merchants. From payments and invoicing for Pathcare laboratories to online checkout for big brands like Superbalist, Spree and Wellness Warehouse, we have expanded rapidly, and our flat rate of 3% (incl. VAT) per transaction is highly competitive.How do I start using SnapScan?To get started with SnapScan, you need a merchant account. No mountains of paperwork! Just mail help@snapscan.co.za and we set you up in no time. The sign-up process takes 10 minutes maximum, then we send you all the information you need.Once a customer has paid, their order is automatically completed and the website updates. As a merchant, your order list displays confirmation of the SnapScan payment, and you can begin the delivery process.

SnapScan allows South African customers to check out quicker and more securely with a scan or tap via card details stored on their phone. Customers spend less time in checkout, and more time shopping!

Also, in its quest to become a digital bank, Carbon acquired a microfinance bank license. According to Dozie, the license means that Carbon’s customers are afforded additional protection through depositors’ insurance via the NDIC. The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, a federal insurance agency, protects depositors and guarantees the settlement of insured funds when a financial institution can no longer repay their deposits. With that in place, Dozie says the typical Carbon wallet is now a full-fledged bank account, and customers can perform transactions on the platform as they would with any bank.Like Carbon, other startups on the continent have followed suit by releasing year-on-year metrics. In recent memory, most of these startups play in the fintech and crypto-exchange space. But Carbon remains unique amongst this crop of companies as it releases both transaction stats and real insights into its financial performance.Whereas transaction stats tend to highlight a seemingly explosive year-on-year growth of a company, a comprehensive view of financials will likely show a mixed performance. For instance, Carbon generated $17.5 million in revenue for FY2019, up 68% from 2018. For that same period, it recorded a 23% decrease in its profit after tax numbers, a 222% rise in total liabilities and 107% increase in assets finishing the year off with a 6% increase in total equity.It’ll be interesting to see what these numbers look like for 2020. But that’s not the only event to keep an eye on. In addition to its $10 million Series A from SA-based Net1 UEPS Technologies and a $5million debt financing in 2019 from Lendable, Dozie says the digital bank, which also has a presence in Kenya, is ramping efforts to raise a Series B round soon to consolidate its position on the continent.

In 2018, Carbon, a Nigerian fintech startup, made its financials public for the first time. Although typical for foreign private startups, it’s almost an anomaly in Africa. There have been rare cases in the past, for instance, when Rocket Internet had to include Jumia’s financials in its yearly reports after going public. At the time, the German investment outfit was a founding shareholder in the African-based unicorn.

Nigerian digital bank Carbon hit $240M in payments processed last year, up 89% from 2019

Nigerian fintech firm Carbon — an early-stage financial services startup based in Lagos — has posted on its website financials audited by KPMG.This comes four months after the company obtained a credit rating as a pre-IPO venture. Carbon — which recently rebranded its OneFi holding company and PayLater product titles into one name — plans to continue releasing its financial results on an annual basis, co-founder and CEO Chijioke Dozie told TechCrunch.This may not be totally unheard of in other global tech markets, but for startups in Africa’s big tech hubs — such as Nigeria — it’s a rarity.One of the first glimpses into startup financials in Nigeria came when Jumia shareholder Rocket Internet went public in 2014, which required it to include limited Jumia data in its annual report. The accompanying prospectus to Jumia’s listing this year on the New York Stock Exchange offered the most expansive financial data to date on a tech venture operating in Africa.Prior to this — and still for the most part — companies in the continent’s (mostly) pre-public (earlier-stage) startup hubs — such as Nigeria — provide little to no financial performance info.“Typically, in the local market, we have not seen a lot of voluntary transparency or the availability of data,” said Lexi Novitske — a Lagos-based VC investor at Acuity Venture Partners.“Most startups are concerned such disclosure could expose losses, give market intel to competitors or attract unwanted attention from regulators. It could also lead to negative negotiation leverage if partners saw that they were making good returns.”So why’d Carbon go to the trouble of putting its pre-public accounting out in the open for anyone to see?

Clients and recruiting were two reasons. “From a customer perspective, we are trying to get people to trust us with their financial services…so they can see this is the institution I’m dealing with and this is their financial position,” explained Carbon’s Dozie.Carbon has evolved from its original focus as an online lender to offer a broader array of mobile-based financial services — including payments, investment products, credit reports and business banking services. In March, the company acquired Nigerian payment solutions company Amplify for an undisclosed amount.By stats offered by Briter Bridges and a 2018 WeeTracker survey, fintech now receives the bulk of VC capital and deal-flow to African startups, many of which are attempting to reach the continent’s large unbanked and underbanked populations.Carbon fits into that category and its CEO believes being upfront about the startup’s financial position will attract top talent. “From a recruitment perspective, we want recruits to know we have good prospects — that this is a company that’s doing well and wants to keep doing well,” said Dozie.That impression is buoyed by Carbon’s initial results, which were fairly positive for a Series A-stage startup. The company had revenues in 2018 of $10 million, according to its online annual report, and turned a profit of around $500,000.It’s helped with recruiting interest, according to Dozie, who said he’d marked an increase in candidates inquiring about open positions since the results were posted.

we don’t get considered because investors don’t really think that you can get the results or this performance in the markets that we’re in,” he added — noting that Carbon has operations in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa and is considering expansion in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC and Egypt.Investor Lexi Novitske thinks Carbon offering financial performance data is a good thing for Africa’s tech ecosystem. “The move builds trust from clients, partners or investors in a market where there is not a lot of openness,” she said. “I am encouraged to see how other companies will react. My hope is that more will openly report their own metrics…”Dozie says the company will continue to post audited financials on an annual basis, even if they show losses. If the startup continues to expand, attract capital and talent and grow revenues, other Nigerian fintech firms may follow suit.

Susie Lonie and Nick Hughes are the people responsible for Kenya's M-Pesa mobile money transfer system. It allows people without bank accounts to transfer money quickly, easily and safely using their mobile phones, and has radically altered developing world economies. There are now nearly 100 similar systems in the developing world.The pair recently picked up an Economist Innovation award for the service.The BBC's Fiona Graham spoke to them about launching M-Pesa, how businesses have benefited from the service, and dowries.

In 2012, two brothers, Chijioke Dozie and Ngozi Dozie, founded Carbon, a Nigerian digital bank start-up. Carbon began as a digital lending company, but now the company provides a variety of services, from payments to savings to investments. According to Dozie, “Our annual report will be released in the second quarter after our financial audit is complete, to gain customer trust, Chijioke Dozie, the CEO, told ProWellTech in 2019 that the company will make Carbon’s financials public.” If you note, before we published the 2019 fiscal year update, we released a year under review in January 2020.Gross profits, profit or loss before and after tax, liabilities and equity, total assets, etc. are included in Carbon’s annual report. Carbon’s year of analysis reveals processed payments, client base, disbursed loans, and investments made on the platform. The business with about 659,000 customers processed N96.54 billion (~$241.35 million) according to Carbon’s year of analysis for fiscal year 2020, which is up 89 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. N25.51 billion (~$63 million) was the disbursement volume for its lending arm, an improvement of 9.1 percent from the 2019 financial year. Investments worth N13.02 billion (~32.55 million) were made on the site, up by 365 percent from FY 2019.The factors that affected these numbers last year, according to the company, included the launch of an iOS app that pushed clients Acquisition, introducing its feature for low-income customers with USSD banking services; and a social chat feature to allow faster transactions. Besides that, Carbon obtained a microfinance bank license in an attempt to become a digital bank. The license implies, according to Dozie, that Carbon’s customers are given additional protection by the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation through depositor insurance. The standard Carbon wallet is now a full-fledged bank account, Dozie says, and clients will transact on the platform like any bank would.

Fast paymentsViews like these account for the arrival of a number of different mobile payments options. SnapScan has garnered the most attention, but the sector also includes the likes of FlickPay, Zapper and GustPay.

SnapScan merchants receive a static QR [quick response] code - or SnapCode - identifier to display next to their tills.

"SnapScan does not charge shoppers any fees. Merchants pay a small transaction fee that is comparable or cheaper than using normal credit card facilities."