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Loosely translated to ‘Pay with M-PESA’ (mobile money service). The service has two components, Paybill and Buy goods. Pay Bill is for remote payments and the customer does not have to be present whilst paying.  The customer has an official relationship with the organization to whom they are making payment and has an “account number” that helps identify the user. The customer inputs a business number (paybill number) for the entity they are paying. Buy goods and services is mostly for retail purchase of goods and services. Both parties immediately confirm these proximity payments via text message. No relationship between the buyer and the organization or account number is required.

Loosely translated to ‘Pay with M-PESA’ (mobile money service). The service has two components, Paybill and Buy goods.

“The introduction of these two electronic platforms is in response to the Central Bank’s challenges of financial inclusion of the citizens. The USSD and the SnapScan, which are in the testing phase, will allow people from remote locations, even without bank branches, to perform fast and safe operations”, said the Managing Director from Standard Bank.With these two platforms, as mentioned, Standard Bank also intends to boost the migration of banking transactions from branches to electronic platforms, making the bank more accessible, in a quick, convenient and safe manner from anywhere, anytime.

With these two platforms, as mentioned, Standard Bank also intends to boost the migration of banking transactions from branches to electronic platforms, making the bank more accessible, in a quick, convenient and safe manner from anywhere, anytime.

“The introduction of these two electronic platforms is in response to the Central Bank’s challenges of financial inclusion of the citizens. The USSD and the SnapScan, which are in the testing phase, will allow people from remote locations, even without bank branches, to perform fast and safe operations”, said the Managing Director from Standard Bank.

Funded through a government innovation agency and a successful crowdsourcing campaign, the start-up has also won several awards and grants, including best start-up in 2014's Global Innovation through Science & Technology competition.Last year, it was chosen by the International Red Cross as a provider for its Fire Sensors initiative, a project that has distributed 900 of the devices along with extensive market research.Julie Arrighi, Innovation Advisor at the American Red Cross, said that using networked heat sensors like Lumkani is crucial to mitigating the growing risk of slum fires around the world.

FarmDrive generates real-time credit reports for small farmers, allowing them to access loans from financial institutions and agricultural input providers via mobile phone. 

FarmDrive collects expense and revenue data from farmers via SMS and combines it with satellite imaging, remote sensing technology and alternative data points (e.g., soil analysis, weather forecasts) to create detailed yield estimates and assess credit risk.

A quiet but exciting revolution in surgery has been gaining ground in hospitals in the more advanced nations of the world. Robots, controlled by highly trained operators, have been very effectively carrying out a multitude of operations. Could robot-assisted surgery be the solution Africa has been waiting for in order to be able to deal with the hugecurrent unmet demand?

FarmDrive is a Kenyan ¬based social enterprise that is unlocking access to financial services for over 50 million smallholder farmers in Africa. Using simple mobile phone technology, alternative data sets, and sophisticated data analytics, FarmDrive is closing the critical information gap that keeps smallholder farmers from getting loans that would allow them to grow and diversify their businesses. Potentially creditworthy smallholder farmers are often denied loans because they lack the traditional credit profiles that lenders rely on to evaluate borrowers.FarmDrive bridges the funding gap between smallholder farmers and financial institutions in two ways. The first step is to bring together multiple streams of data to create yield-predictive agronomic algorithms specific to each farming vertical and geographical region. T hese streams of data can be classified into three categories: 1. Agronomic Data: crop portfolio, soil health, drainage, weeds, pests, etc. 2. Remote Sensing Data: vegetation, weather conditions, climate trends, etc. 3. Market Data: offtake security, price trends, etc. FarmDrive then creates credit profiles for farmers by combining the agronomic algorithm with behavioral data. The behavioral data is obtained from farmers through a simple SMS/Android mobile phone application. With this application, Farmers can track their revenues and expenses, and also send demographic information to FarmDrive.

“It’s about using insurance to get rid of risk for these farmers and unlock opportunities for them,” Chris says. He says that research found that for farmers who received insurance (rather than cash grants) borrowed and invested more in their farms.

Despite robust financial subsidies, many programs have found that selling insurance to poor African farmers is extremely challenging. This remains the case even when risk products are bundled with other services, such as community savings programs and training in how to improve crop yields. For instance, a 10-year-old government farm insurance program in Ghana has fallen far short of expectations, according to multiple observers—including the same Christopher Udry who inspired Sheehan to create WorldCover. Udry and colleagues reported in a March 2019 paper that the government insurance program had had little meaningful impact. In Kenya and Ethiopia, risk transfer programs aimed at pastoralists have had disappointing results, according to an extensively researched June 2019 article in Devex, which was underwritten by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation. Experts point to two main types of obstacles. First, there are enormous marketing and logistical challenges inherent in trying to sell small insurance policies to very poor farmers who’ve never heard of the concept, live in remote areas and may only speak indigenous languages. Second, it’s difficult to build customer loyalty for an abstract product that often doesn’t provide what farmers expect. The Devex story describes how some pastoralists thought they were putting money into a savings account. When they didn’t get their premiums back, “they start[ed] thinking that this product has failed them,” a coordinator said.

Fintech, at the heart of the banking sector revolutionObviously, Fintechs and traditional banks adopt very different strategies. Indeed, while traditional institutions have a long-term vision (analysis of the financial market, risk amortization), neobanks prefer immediate action.Thus, we can consider that there are two categories of Fintech on the market. On the one hand, regulated companies that ensure compliance with regulatory constraints, and on the other, those that adopt a completely different strategy based on customer satisfaction.The first category positions itself as a direct competitor of banking establishments, while the second opts for cooperation and encourages the buyout or majority stake.Fintechs base their strategy on customer dissatisfaction, especially with their bank . These new shoots seek to improve every aspect of the banking relationship, as a priority, by neglecting issues related to organization, compliance and profitability.However, professionals remain skeptical. Do these FinTechs really hope to succeed in a few months, where several players have been striving for years? By this we mean the fact of wanting to change the regulations of the sector or even the constitution of a team of experts within a short time.So far, experts in the banking industry doubt a real revolution in banking regulation.Traditional banks remain priority players in the marketDespite the emergence of remote banking and the new measure on banking mobility , traditional banks remain the majority players in the market. Indeed, new brands are still struggling to reach the same level as a "real" bank.In addition, for the time being, income from investment funds and venture capitalists has not been of much use to the banking sector. Remember, however, that it is thanks to them that certain brands such as Uber, Amazon or Tesla have succeeded.Today, players in e-commerce are using capital increases to compensate for losses, a technique that has not yet been adopted in the banking sector. As a starting point, SoftBank has already started by building up a $ 100 billion fund for banking technology.

Financial inclusion, from my personal perspective, is the creation of value added services for the disadvantaged in the society. From the concept of Barefoot Banking to digital innovations, financial inclusion bridges the inequality financial gap that exists between the rural and the urban settings. My personal mission is to make it possible for the smallholder farmer who lives in the most remote parts of Ghana receive payment for his goods and services through a digital solution.

The Fintech space in Ghana is gradually picking up steam with active participation from the public and private sectors. Government regulations on e-money and mobile money technologies are favourable and aiding adoption and rolling out of new technologies every day targeted at the unbanked population. Out of the 6 major telecommunication companies operating in Ghana, 4 are mobile money enabled, facilitating financial transactions between businesses and consumers. Banks also have rolled out services that target financial inclusions. These positive tides are helping shape the Fintech landscape in Ghana.

In its next phase of algorithm development, FarmDrive seeks to expand the environmental arm of the algorithm by incorporating more alternative data-sets, including satellite imagery and remote sensing data. They are currently engaging with Planet, a satellite company from Silicone Valley, and The Impact Lab, a Chicago-based data analytics firm to analyze the possibilities of using satellite images in predicting a farmer’s creditworthiness.In addition, FarmDrive also plans to use these environmental data-sets, in combination with crop cycle data to predict seasonal yield and influence agricultural insurance products.The startup also uses machine learning in generating the farmer’s profile by learning from the farmer’s input. Data points about the farmer’s behaviour, education level, and their interaction with the app are all analyzed to contribute to the farmers profile score.

Smallholder farmers, especially in Kenya face difficulties when it comes to accessing loans and financing from banks and other financial institutions. The agricultural sector is the backbone to Kenya’s economy, yet banks have very little incentive to work with farmers.

FarmDrive founded in 2014 has built an innovative solution that provides “detailed risk profiles of smallholder farmers to financial institutions”. FarmDrive does this through a credit score, generated by an algorithm developed by the team, in-house. The algorithm relies on data-sets collected from the farmers through their mobile phones, alternative data and machine learning.