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The device is a heat detector and not an ill-suited smoke detector. In a fire situation, the device will ring alerting the family inside enabling them to be proactive before the fire becomes unmanageable. After 20 seconds the device transmits a signal to all devices in neighbouring homes up to 60 metres away creating a community-wide response to the fire

Fawry is educating unbanked population to trust electronic payments. Fawry would not have existed in a mature economy, where electronic payments are dominant. In that sense, Fawry is filling a gap left by banking players in Egypt.

One of the most striking differences between banking in Europe and in Egypt is cash management. Withdrawals and deposits of cash are the dominant operations in the Egyptian banking branches. It is frequent to meet customers with big bags of money in or out of banking branches. In Europe, anti-money laundering laws and electronic payments popularity made large cash operations extremely rare.

The success of Fawry comes from leveraging the best of the 2 means of payment: cash for its reliability and availability, and electronic systems for their seamless and fast processing.

Like many parts of the developing world, Africans are significantly less likely to have bank accounts and credit or debit cards. But mobile phones have penetrated the African market, and in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya, the majority of people have a workable phone.

M-Pesa is a Kenyan mobile payments platform, one of the first of its kind in Africa (

he service has been a runaway success since launching in 2007, operating in 10 countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia and earning Safaricom 19.4 billion shillings (about $190 million) in the first half of 2015. It seems likely that as cell phone use continues to proliferate on the African continent, M-Pesa's transactions will grow, too.

SnapScan combines the agility and speed of a small local startup with the industry knowledge and experience of Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest bank. As a team, we love solving difficult problems, especially when it comes to making fast, easy mobile payments possible! SnapScan is a product of FireID Payments, part of the FireID group, a set of local startups building elegant solutions to a wide range of difficult and interesting problems.

According to the World Bank, Ghana is the fastest-growing mobile-money market in Africa. Mobile operators MTN, AirtelTigo and Vodafone currently lead the industry. Banks are pushing digital banking in Ghana, but with less success, according to a report from Tellimer in September. Banks such as Ecobank, Fidelity, Zenith and Standard Chartered can use Ghana’s improving digital infrastructure to widen inclusion, Tellimer says. But the firms points to downside for banks through possible loss of deposits and lower margins on digital products due to the competition. Mobile money may lead to the “cannibalisation” of some banking products, Tellimer says. “Banks will have to fight for transactions and deposits.”

MTN is the dominant player with about 90% of mobile money transactions.

It will take other players a “lot of marketing and effort or very innovative strategies” to compete with MTN,

Zeepay, a fast-growing financial technology (fintech) company into Mobile Financial Services across Africa, has announced its partnership with Transfast, a Mastercard company and a leading cross-border payments service provider.

Thndr, a YCombinator backed investment platform, makes it easy to invest in stocks, bonds, and funds completely commission free. Thndr aims at solving Egypt and the region’s painful, outdated and time consuming process to open, fund and actively manage investment accounts. Thndr’s first product is a mobile first equities trading platform in Egypt. The startup just acquired the necessary licensing from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) making the fast growing startup the first company to acquire a brokerage license in Egypt since 2008. Issuing a license to a tech company is a testament to the regulator’s strong commitment to seek modern methodologies to enhance the investment landscape in Egypt.

Thndr pre-seed funding involved an array of distinct investors such as Y-Combinator, 4DX Ventures, Endure Capital, The Raba Partnership, MSA Capital, along with some other notable investors that include Tom Stafford, Managing Partner, DST “Savings and investing is a critical part of building wealth and economic development, and Egypt’s youth needs a mobile first platform like Thndr to open the floodgates of investing in the coming decades.

Digital money transfer service WorldRemit has launched a new cash pickup service in Algeria and Lebanon, according to a press release.In Lebanon, funds recipients can collect cash from more than 130 branches of Wings International. Algerian recipients can collect cash from any branch of Trust Bank Algeria across the country. With the WorldRemit app or website, people in more than 50 countries can send instant, secure money transfers to more than 125 destinations, the release said.

In Lebanon, funds recipients can collect cash from more than 130 branches of Wings International. Algerian recipients can collect cash from any branch of Trust Bank Algeria across the country. With the WorldRemit app or website, people in more than 50 countries can send instant, secure money transfers to more than 125 destinations, the release said.

With the WorldRemit app or website, people in more than 50 countries can send instant, secure money transfers to more than 125 destinations, the release said.

Customers can also use our bill settlement technology to pay merchants in Africa such as universities, mortgage providers, hospitals, utility companies etc. Payments are instant and we cut out the 'middle-man' thus reducing transaction costs for the customer.

Customers can also use our bill settlement technology to pay merchants in Africa such as universities, mortgage providers, hospitals, utility companies etc. Payments are instant and we cut out the 'middle-man' thus reducing transaction costs for the customer.

SimbaPay is an award winning mobile app transforming the international remittance space. With a focus on extreme speed, convenience and constant innovation. Customers are able to send money to loved ones or even merchants, from wherever they are at any time of day or night. The company is headquartered in London and can be found online at www.SimbaPay.com SimbaPay is licensed and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

SimbaPay is an award winning mobile app transforming the international remittance space. With a focus on extreme speed, convenience and constant innovation.

SnapScan is more than just a smartphone app. It’s a contactless mobile payment solution that makes it easy and safe to pay and receive payments in a store, online, at home, and on the go. No need for cards, cash, or time-consuming EFTs – just simple payments in a snap!

SnapScan is more than just a smartphone app. It’s a contactless mobile payment solution that makes it easy and safe to pay and receive payments in a store, online, at home, and on the go. No need for cards, cash, or time-consuming EFTs – just simple payments in a snap!

SnapScan is more than just a smartphone app. It’s a contactless mobile payment solution that makes it easy and safe to pay and receive payments in a store, online, at home, and on the go. No need for cards, cash, or time-consuming EFTs

SnapScan doesn’t really need an introduction. Users marry their credit cards with the app and can then shop anywhere with a SnapScan QR-code

Thndr recently acquired the necessary licensing from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) making the fast-growing startup the first company to acquire a brokerage license in Egypt since 2008. 

“ Our vision is to put wealth in the hands of everyday individuals. With the rise of technology, and the foresight of a very supportive Financial Regulatory Authority, we can make this vision come to life — Egypt is expected to be the 7th largest economy by 2030 and has more than 100 mn people, most of which are young and are looking for a convenient and digital way to invest their money. That’s why we are excited to bring a new breed of young investors to the market.” 

M-PESA is a very popular service among Kenyans as it serves to increase money circulation in the economy by offering a fast and secure mode of transferring money, making payments and also borrowing and repaying loans.

Two weeks ago a Kenyan fintech provider PULA was among 20 finalists pitching at the Singapore Fintech Festival. The presentation by the CTO Sitati Kituyi was selected among the winners, enabling the company to walk away with a cash prize of USD 50,000, getting an exclusive opportunity for networking with investors and a fast-tracked application for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI) Proof-of-Concept Scheme. Pula ‘restructures agricultural insurance and seeks to use technology to insure the previously unbanked, uninsured and untapped market of smallhodlers across the globe. It facilitates crop and livestock insurance coverage and works with Fortune 500 companies, global NGOs, research institutions, and governments to help provide smallholders the protection they need in an increasingly unpredictable market.’ The finalists who eventually pitched for the Global Fintech Hackcelerator were selected through two parallel scouting programmes. The local programme which aimed to tackle problem statements originating from the financial industry in Singapore and the broader Asia region saw 10 winners shortlisted from among 200 submissions by companies across 30 countries.

“Mobile payment systems are quickly becoming mainstream, and it will be fascinating to see how the more mechanical systems like QR Codes compete,” says World Wide Worx managing director Arthur Goldstuck. “Ideally, there should be room for any system, with each one finding its ideal niche. But there are no certainties in a sector that is moving so fast.”

According to new research from technology research company World Wide Worx, the format first took off in the country thanks to BlackBerry Messenger, where it became the quickest way to add a friend. In the past year however gained new life as mobile apps like SnapScan roped it in for payments at small merchants, flea markets and the like. By the end of 2014, the research says, more than 2.1-million South Africans were using QR Codes. Of those 1.1-million were male, with female users only marginally behind, at 1.04-million.

ability to provide speedy payments without the need for the large-scale tech investments required by the payment technologies emerging in more developed areas of the world.

According to MarketsandMarkets, the global big data market is currently valued at almost $140 billion. By 2025, it’s expected to grow to $230 billion at a CAGR of 10.6%. This makes FinTech app development a priority for companies that are transforming financial services with big data analytics.FinTech is one of the industries that uses big data extensively due to its complex services, use of IoT technologies, and need for risk analysis and security, which requires fast operations on large amounts of data.Big data developers help FinTechs gather an overwhelming amount of information and derive insights that really matter in the decision-making process.

The FinTech revolution captures the simultaneous attack of a large number of technologies, notably mobile telephones and blockchain, which are ushering in efficiency or outreach to multiple niche markets. The use of mobile telephone technology has expanded Internet reach to the excluded, created possibilities for business where banks were not historically present and is potentially disruptive.