Group items tagged

A niche market is a segment of a larger market that has its own demands and preferences. Companies focus on niche markets to better cater to a specific consumer than competitors who target a broad audience. Catering to the unique demands that mainstream providers aren't addressing, businesses pursue niche markets to build loyalty and revenue with a largely-overlooked audience. For example, rather than offering a general cleaning service, an entrepreneur might pursue a niche by offering floor polishing services exclusively. Another business in the same city might occupy a separate niche, specializing in solely biodegradable cleaning products. 

Neobanks emerged — young banks licensed (often from a traditional institution) and a modern core banking system that allowed them to operate and scale faster while spending much less on customer service. Neobanks started to grow like startups — building only relevant products, nailing marketing. The rebundling phase was under way.

The next wave currently underway is niche fintech. Due to a dramatic reduction in the cost of launching technology startups (500 times in 20 years), focusing on product group for very specific user personas (teens, retirees, SMEs) became possible. Thanks to their precise relevance, these fintechs enjoy higher customer loyalty and satisfaction.

“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.

PROMOTE Find the most effective channel for your niche In consideration of some financial constraints, fintech companies must distribute their content in the channel where they’ll reach their target audience – and this may not necessarily be the most popular channel. For example, Facebook may have 2.3 billion active users but most of your customers might be a certain type of professional who mostly hang out on LinkedIn, then that may be the best channel for you. Some fintech companies find traction in Reddit, while others are big on Telegram. Find an online space where most of your customers go to seek solutions and tailor your content to reach them.

A study shows that 80% of decision makers prefer to gather information about a company via articles than make their purchase decisions based on advertisement and marketing materials. It’s clear. The most effective marketing strategy used by fintech companies is content marketing. By allocating significant efforts in creating, publishing and distributing digital content tailored to a specific market or audience, customers, as well as bottom line, are served well.

Most fintech companies get the biggest bunch of their sales from the internet. This is because the first thing people do when they need to find out more information about a finance product or service is to search for solution providers online. For this reason, every fintech company needs to have a robust online presence. When buyers start researching, their first aim is to gather information. They don’t necessarily focus on your marketing materials because there are lots of adverts on the internet, which aren’t always reliable

As electronic payments have moved to the forefront, the traditional market participants, banks, have also been facing increased competition from innovative financial technology firms (FinTechs) focusing on niches within the payments value chain. Such firms have been enabled by advances in technology, including the ability to develop their systems in the cloud and with a green field that is not tied to a mainframe and old code.

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

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.