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Why is this app so popular, and what does it do? In short it aims to replace the use of cash for both customer and merchant. What makes this unique for the merchant, is that they don’t need a bank account or a card machine to receive payments.

SnapScan’s partnership with Standard Bank has allowed the company to grow faster. But Ehlers and his team are still required to adapt to the differences between the corporate and start-up worlds.

SnapScan lets users make payments with their phone – quickly, easily, and safely. All SnapScan-supported stores have their own unique SnapCode (which is a QR code), and customers can make a payment in-store to them by scanning the code using the camera on their phone and the SnapScan app. Additionally, SnapScan lets users send money to friends, make online payments, pay bills, buy prepaid services in the app, and earn UCount Rewards Points when making a purchase.

Co-founder Daniel Hadgu states, “In my journey of understanding what it truly means to help others and become an effective leader, I have uncovered the power of innovation.”

While other platforms are a one-size-fits-all, Ethiopay isn’t. We support the unique payment needs of Ethiopians including payments for school fees, telecom, utility bills and other needs that are close to your heart. Our vision is a future where Ethiopians in the the diaspora touch the lives of those back home through easy, secure and seamless payments. To achieve this, we are on a mission to build the most reliable payments platform serving Ethiopians in the world. We want to make it so easy for you to send money home that your loved ones will feel as though you were right there with them.

The tech startup was built as a unique platform to help facilitate digital financial services such as credit, and savings in emerging markets, and has handed out over $1.8 billion prior to date since its founding in London in 2015.

“We’re optimistic about the  possibilities in these markets and continue to see huge growth  opportunities in Africa, with the potential to replicate our successes  in other markets over the longer term.”

JUMO Empowers Asian And African Market With Over $2.5 Billion, Eyes Nigeria, 2 Others

JUMO is one of South Africa’s next-generation fintech companies offering emerging market entrepreneurs financial services.

The tech startup was built as a unique platform to help facilitate digital financial services such as credit, and savings in emerging markets, and has handed out over $1.8 billion prior to date since its founding in London in 2015.

Your SnapScan app uses your phone's camera to scan a SnapCode (a unique QR code). Stores have their own SnapCodes, and scanning these codes allows you to pay them. SnapScan is free to use and works with any South African bank, and most international credit cards.

SnapScan may make mobile payments easy for users, says Ehlers, but the reason why the company has been so successful in South Africa is that it makes processing the payments easy—and cheap—for sellers. With traditional credit card systems, and even Apple Pay, vendors have to buy expensive equipment to process the payments—something small businesses can rarely afford. But SnapScan only requires an upfront investment of the less than five cents it costs to print out their Quick Response [QR] Code, a square, camera-readable version of a traditional bar code that resembles a mosaic tile, and tape it to the cash register. “If someone wants to buy from you and you don’t have a credit card machine, and the person doesn’t have cash, our payment system is the difference between closing the sale and not closing the sale,” says Ehlers. Registration is free, and the company charges retailers an average fee of three percent, on par with most credit card companies.

SnapScan customers don’t have to worry about sending their credit card details to online vendors that may not have the latest fraud protection. They just scan the QR code at the virtual checkout like they would in the real world.

As a result, SnapScan has been adopted by about 12,000 small and medium businesses in more than 17,000 outlets across South Africa.

SnapScan has 150,000 registered users, and processes hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments every day for everything from airline tickets to handcrafted wicker baskets at roadside curio stalls.

A free app available for any smartphone, SnapScan works almost like a pocket ATM linked to the user’s debit or credit card account. Instead of handing over a card, customers scan a unique SnapScan logo posted at the cash register with their camera-enabled phone.

SnapScan may make mobile payments easy for users, says Ehlers, but the reason why the company has been so successful in South Africa is that it makes processing the payments easy—and cheap—for sellers.

For all the talk of a new cashless society ushered in by the likes of Apple Pay in the United States, it’s going to be a while before a swipe of a phone will buy a meal in most cities. But in Cape Town, it’s already happening. I’ve used my phone to pay for parking, cover a medical bill, order take out, buy groceries at my local farmers market and give money to the homeless woman selling the South African version of Street News at the traffic light. Churchgoers use their phones for donations. My facialist just informed me that I could pay for Botox treatments with SnapScan. I’ll take that as her endorsement of an increasingly popular payment service, and not a hint.

3. Regulators finally make the pivot to supporting the FinTech ecosystemBitX, a bitcoin startup in Singapore, was looking to enter the UK and European markets. Instead of having an arduous journey gaining the required licenses and approvals as it would have expected in the past, BitX was accepted into the regulatory sandbox of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. This enabled it to test its services and build its product with the backing of the regulator. This kind of thinking reflects how in the past few years we have seen regulators move from hindering innovation and new services, to proactively supporting and strengthening the FinTech ecosystem.It is a challenging line to take, particularly in the

world of finance – to help create the framework and environment for innovation, while also protecting consumers and businesses. However, increasingly we see regulators getting this blend right.For example, the European Union’s Directive on Payment Services (PSD2) will create an EU-wide single market for payments. This will drive new opportunities and innovation in the payment sector, because it will force financial institutions to provide secure access for a third-party service provider to a customer’s online account. Meanwhile, we have seen regulatory sandboxes emerge not just in the UK, but in locations from Singapore to Australia. The US Treasury meanwhile recently announced it will start issuing special purpose national bank charters to FinTech companies.In the future, expect to see the emergence of “RegTech”. This will enable real-time interaction and analysis between regulators and financial institutions. Indeed, thi

ch as in New York, London or Singapore. So, although the UK dominates the world of fintech (generating an estimated £6.6billion in FinTech related revenue), leading organizations are looking for inspiration among the innovative services, products and ideas being created from Guadalajara, to Laos, to Kenya.In many cases we can see that the unique financial environment of these locations is resulting in novel ideas. For example, Guadalajara based start-up Kueski uses a person’s digital footprint to assess their credit worthiness – a particular challenge in Mexico where credit is not available to large swathes of the population. In Latin America Tigo Cash is a mobile financial service which already handles more cash than many financial institutions in the region. We will see markets and services emerging which are currently not on anyone’s map, and become some of the most important financial organizations in the world.

software platform between itself and the banks, so it can view and analyze information in real-time.4. Look beyond the hubs to find innovative ideasAcross Kenya, mobile money has become ubiquitous – being used by at least one person in 96% of Kenyan households. But what is the real impact of mobile money in such countries? One study estimated that M-PESA, the Kenyan mobile money system which enables money to be stored on a phone and be sent via text, has helped lift 2% of Kenyan households out of poverty.What this example demonstrates is that the impact of FinTech innovation is often created and experienced outside of the usual hubs of finance su

In the past few years we have seen the rapid evolution of FinTech from generating novel ideas which solve customer problems, to offering core financial services. We have seen the shift from digital startups, characterized by a lack of financial wherewithal and which operated on the edge of tightly regulated markets, to the emergence of mature financial digital organizations at the heart of the traditional financial world.We can describe the development and maturing of FinTech in 3 main waves:The early emergence of digital startups helping consumers. Originally FinTech solutions were the preserve of B2C markets which solved specific customer problems such as offering home loans faster and easier. They used new technologies such as mobile and cloud computing, and were characterized by a laser focus on the customer with all the hall-marks of a digital Silicon-Valley style start-up.Transition to B2B markets. Today FinTech plays a role at the core of B2B innovation in financial markets, and industry observers widely expect B2B FinTech revenues to dwarf those in consumer markets within the next couple of years. Organizations such as Currency Cloud (cross border B2B payments), Payoneer Escrow (escrow services), and Hummingbill (B2B invoice platform) all reflect a maturing industry.The creation of an ecosystem between FinTech and traditional players. FinTech organizations are realizing that the required go-to-market investment, economies of scale, and regulatory needs, means it makes sense to partner with traditional financial institutions. On the other side, established players recognize the value, innovation and potential of FinTech in a world which is increasingly mobile-first. These financial institutions are also adopting many of the methods that FinTechs use so successfully, from a focus on the customer, to using Agile software development, to holding hackathons, and forming accelerators and innovation programs.

ch as in New York, London or Singapore. So, although the UK dominates the world of fintech (generating an estimated £6.6billion in FinTech related revenue), leading organizations are looking for inspiration among the innovative services, products and ideas being created from Guadalajara, to Laos, to Kenya.In many cases we can see that the unique financial environment of these locations is resulting in novel ideas. For example, Guadalajara based start-up Kueski uses a person’s digital footprint to assess their credit worthiness – a particular challenge in Mexico where credit is not available to large swathes of the population. In Latin America Tigo Cash is a mobile financial service which already handles more cash than many financial institutions in the region. We will see markets and services emerging which are currently not on anyone’s map, and become some of the most important financial organizations in the world.

It’s 2020 and to apply for a loan, instead of going to your local bank branch, you quickly ask Facebook for approval. This is far from fanciful thinking. Even as of today, PayPal is arguably one of the largest retail banks — it has more money in deposits than all but the largest 20 US banks, and offers services from payments, to loans and credit cards (albeit currently via partners). But we believe that one of the major tech companies, whether that is Facebook, Amazon, Google, or Ant Financial (the financial arm of Alibaba) will not only transform retail banking, but rapidly become the largest retail bank in the world.

In my opinion, Financial inclusion isn’t just about opening a bank for those that are unbanked, but rather being able to offer them actual financial services like lending, savings and improving their credit scoring (which is the building block for all financial services), helping them improve their actual living standards, eventually.

Upon successful purchase the bank locks customer’s credit limit at the full amount, and within 1 working day after receiving the daily reports from Fawry, the bank will convert the transaction into installment plan and only charges the customer the monthly payment with/without interest depends on program type.