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hibaerrai

PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines. - 0 views

  • “When you look at the in­ter­net bank­ing ser­vices avail­able at the mo­ment, it is very ex­pen­sive to just log in and check one’s bal­ance,” said Mr Nchai.“Also, most of the mo­bile money ser­vices are not user friendly. So our aim is to sim­plify life for our clients with dif­fer­ent prod­ucts.“We aim to pro­vide our ser­vices to in­di­vid­u­als, in­sti­tu­tions, or­gan­i­sa­tions, multi-in­dus­try sec­tors and gov­ern­ments with a cut­ting edge, fresh and in­no­va­tive fi­nan­cial management sys­tem in this ever chang­ing world.”
    • hibaerrai
       
      The financial services provided by the application are cheaper, efficient and more innovative. Also, businesses can extract or send bigger amounts easily without any problem.
kenza_abdelhaq

Ethiopia: ET Switch Completed Transactions worth 1.2 Billion Birr - 0 views

  • The company also noted its performance is challenged by high transaction decline rate of 40 percent per month due to connection failure and system failure in its member banks.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
       
      Many challenges related to connection and system failures have a huge impact on performance and credibility.
  •  
    "he company also noted its performance is challenged by high transaction decline rate of 40 percent per month due to connection failure and system failure in its member banks."
mehdi-ezzaoui

BelCash Africa Ltd | Utrecht, UT, NL Startup - 2 views

  • We process mobile money transactions for Ethiopian FI and MNO's as well as clearing the inter-exchange of mobile money between member banks
  •  
    presentation of Board of Belcash
ghtazi

AV Ventures Invests in AgroCenta, Supporting Digital and Financial Inclusion of Ghanaia... - 0 views

  • AV Ventures, ACDI/VOCA’s impact investing subsidiary, recently completed its investment in AgroCenta, a technology-driven agricultural platform provider in Ghana. The funding made by AV Ventures is part of a US$790,000 pre-Series A investment round with other participating international institutions, including Shell Foundation, the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Rabo Foundation, with support from AgroCenta’s strategic advisor, Qbera Capital.
    • tahaemsd
       
      With the newly secured funding, agrocenta will widen the reach of its smallholder farmer financial inclusion programs
  • The digital services AgroCenta provides along the selected cereals value chain also improve the repayment of loans by smallholder farmers. The services provide farmers with an end market through the offtaking of produce and through facilitating the provision of high-quality agricultural inputs, which maximize their yields and productivity. To date, the average farmer on CropChain has increased their income by 35 percent and their crop yields by 40 percent, while reducing their food waste by 25 percent. AgroCenta has also made strides to promote gender and social inclusion; nearly half of its CropChain users and more than half of its microloan borrowers on LendIt are female smallholder farmers. 
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is important because it introduces the results of using AgroCenta on smallholder farmers, ranging between the maximization of productivity, of income, reduction of food waste,to gender and social inclusion.
  • Founded in 2016, AgroCenta operates two integrated digital platforms in Ghana, CropChain and LendIt, to help address challenges related to smallholder farmers’ access to markets and financial services.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
       
      Since 2016, AgroCenta operates 2 digital platforms: - CropChain: integrated agricultural supply chain management platform. - LendIt: allowing access to financial services like mobile payments, microloans, crop insurance.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Poor infrastructure and logistics prevent many smallholder farmers in Ghana from accessing large, urban markets where they could obtain better prices for their crops. Many of these farmers lack information on fair market prices, which leaves them susceptible to selling at low prices to middlemen. Without a strong credit history, many of them also have limited access to finance for purchasing high-quality agricultural inputs that would enable them to scale beyond subsistent production.  
    • sawsanenn
       
      this excerpt shows reasons why smallholder farmers should consider agrocenta to increase their profitability and their revenues
  • For AV Ventures, the investment is part of its long-term strategy of providing innovative and catalytic capital to support growth-oriented small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) like AgroCenta that make up the “missing middle” of investment — too large for microfinance but too small or too early-stage to attract private equity investors. These SMEs are often the backbone of economies and potential drivers of innovation, but too often they miss out on financing that could enable their growth and longevity.  
    • hibaerrai
       
      Agrocenta attracts more investors as it is considered among small and medium businesses that promote innovation. In fact, the fintech is specialized in agricultural loans, something not that common in the country.
  • CropChain is an integrated agricultural supply chain management platform that provides smallholder farmers with access to markets. Farmers use the platform to advertise their produce, while large offtakers or buyers of selected cereals use it to make purchases or enter long-term offtaker purchase contracts with AgroCenta. AgroCenta leverages the platform to source cereals directly from smallholder farmers to supply to large offtakers who have contracts with the company. This allows AgroCenta to earn margins between the price it pays farmers and the contractually agreed upon price with offtakers.
    • mbellakbail69
       
      Agrocenta draws even more investment amongst SMEs that promote innovation. This extract shows some of the reasons why smallholders should consider Agrocentra for increasing the profitability and income .
  • “This is a significant milestone for AgroCenta, having the support of leading institutions, particularly with the COVID-19 backdrop, underlining the strength of AgroCenta and the importance of its mission. The demand for agricultural raw materials from offtakers in the brewery, manufacturing, and consumer sector is increasing exponentially because of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions that were put in place by the government of Ghana. Hence, this capital injection will help to secure purchases at fair and transparent prices from smallholders — a much needed lifeline for many who are at the proverbial bottom of the pyramid.”
    • ghtazi
       
      in this excerpt, we can see how agrocenta takes the pandemic situation and what are the solutions that the company adopts to face it.
sawsanenn

10 Things You Thought You Knew about M-PESA - 2 views

  • The M-PESA cash merchants (or ‘agents’ in M-PESA parlance) pre-buy mobile money so that they can sell it against cash to the customers who come to their retail store for cash-in operations. They are investing their own working capital and are not intermediating someone else’s funds. For cash-out operations, they sell their cash and buy mobile money instead. Consequently, the cash and M-PESA balances that cash merchants manage and store are always their own.
    • tahaemsd
       
      Cash merchants are mainly super users, who resell their own working capital balances, with no more access to the M-PESA platform than any other customers, except that they have higher transaction limits.
  • Each and every transaction done on the M-PESA platform is electronic and can therefore be monitored by Safaricom, which runs its own bank-grade anti-money laundering system. Even a cash-in or a cash-out operation has an electronic leg and is captured by the system. The Central Bank of Kenya gets regular reports on M-PESA transactions, as it does from other payment service providers.
  • Cash merchants are mainly super users, who resell their own working capital balances, with no more access to the M-PESA platform than any other customers, except that they have higher transaction limits.
    • samielbaqqali
       
      M-Pesa is a product which is stable, fast and reliable. However, because of their fear of technology, some people still don't know the value of this business. I assume that this is the case for most of countries with high illiteracy rates.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The M-PESA cash merchants are recruited by Safaricom after a due diligence process and put under specific training. They are regularly monitored and re-trained, and Safaricom aims to visit them on-site every two weeks. The same process is applied to all cash merchants so that any customer anywhere in Kenya has the same experience at any cash merchant.
    • ghtazi
       
      After a due diligence process, the M-PESA cash merchants are recruited by Safaricom and placed under unique training. They are tracked and re-trained daily, and Safaricom aims to visit them every two weeks on-site. All cash merchants are subject to the same procedure so that any customer anywhere in Kenya has the same experience with any cash merchant. which I believe will be something that will trigger its competitor.
  • The funds are deposited in several commercial banks, which are prudentially regulated in Kenya. In addition, the funds are held by a Trust and are therefore out of reach from Safaricom, which cannot access or use them. In the unfortunate event of Safaricom going bankrupt, the creditors of Safaricom would not have access to the M-PESA funds. This is a requirement from the Central Bank of Kenya which oversees M-PESA. The funds remain at all times the property of M-PESA users.
    • sawsanenn
       
      this is a good approach to gain customers trust since it's one of the main challenges of this business
  •  
    M-Pesa is a safe, fast and efficient product. However, some people still don't know the importance of this company due to their fear from technology. I believe that this is the case for most of countries with high illiteracy rates.
mehdi-ezzaoui

Entrepreneurs from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe now fundraising... - 0 views

  • Belcash provides an ICT platform to banks and coordinates the roll out, with special focus on rural areas. LOI with local banks are signed for implementation. The project is advised by a former CEO of a large Dutch Development Bank and 2 international banks sit in the advisory board.
  •  
    Participation of Belcash in the foundraising
ghtazi

Mukuru Groceries enables people in SA to support Zimbabweans in need - 0 views

  • African remittance provider Mukuru has launched a grocery service that will give foreign national workers living in South Africa, as well as any South Africa-based customer, the ability to send groceries to families and communities in Zimbabwe.
  • As one of the largest money transfer operators on the continent, the grocery service represents an extension of the company’s existing offering. At a time when many Zimbabweans are struggling to obtain basic commodities, Mukuru Groceries aims to help ensure that families are provided for and given the best chance to remain healthy throughout the crisis period.
  • “In addition to price fluctuations for basic goods, people also face the uncertainty of whether certain goods will be available - as many Zimbabwean retailers have struggled to replenish stock,” adds Jury. “By enabling South Africa-based workers to pay for a pre-agreed basket of goods for families in Zimbabwe, we are removing these uncertainties and providing families with peace of mind during this immensely tough period.”
  • ...3 more annotations...
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      These excerpts reflect how Mukuru managed to adapt to the changing circumstances during the covid-19 pandemic. By launching the Mukuru Groceries service, the company enabled poeple from South Africa (most probably Zimbabwe immigrants) to buy groceries for people in Zimbabwe (most probably their families). This reflects the capacity of adaptation and strong network that Mukuru enjoys.
  • Existing Mukuru customers will not be required to register for the grocery service, they will simply follow the same process on USSD and WhatsApp to create an order and pay at any Mukuru pay-in partner using a payment reference (similar to the cash order reference).
    • sawsanenn
       
      it is a good and easy solution for customers that are not expertized in using smartphones, so the procedure can be easy for them.
  • We have listened carefully to what our customers are asking for, and we have innovated and added to our service offering to make sure that Zimbabwean families receive the resources and support that they so desperately need right now,” says Andy Jury, CEO, Mukuru.
    • ghtazi
       
      I think it is a good thing that Mukuru tries to put itself in the customer's shoes because it will be only beneficial for the company, and will help them to have a "closure" connection to their customers.
nouhaila_zaki

M-Pesa: a Mobile Money success story from Kenya - Technology and Operations Management - 0 views

  • Given the up-front costs of acquiring agents, it is tempting for mobile money providers to want to take short cuts and minimize the agent-to-customer ratio. However, this does not set an individual agent up for success. If Safaricom were to recruit too few agents, customers would find M-Pesa difficult to use and difficult to access.. On the other hand, if there were too many agents, many of them would not be able to generate enough business to cover the cost of managing their e-cash and cash liquidity. As a result, they would stop maintaining their electronic money float and cash balances. M-Pesa’s success lies in the fact that they grew their agent network at the same pace as their customer base, keeping transactions per agent per month steady at around 1,000 / agent / month.
  • According to a McKinsey report on Mobile Money, proximity of nearest agent makes a significant impact on transaction volumes. “When a cash agent is more than 15 minutes away, mobile money has relatively little appeal, and customers use it once or twice a month. But when the agent is less than 10 minutes away, usage rises to 10 times a month—and for those within 2 minutes of an agent, to 30 times a month.” Safaricom spread its agents out across Kenya so as to truly enable network effects and enable Kenyans to send e-cash to their family members and friends even if they did not live in the same geography.
  • Customers who sign up for the M-Pesa service can convert between e-cash and real cash (these are called cash-in / cash-out transactions), and can transfer e-cash from their account to that of another account holder via SMS.
    • kenzabenessalah
       
      M-PESA gives people the option of converting their e-cash to real cash which is not the case in most services.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Customers who sign up for the M-Pesa service can convert between e-cash and real cash (these are called cash-in / cash-out transactions), and can transfer e-cash from their account to that of another account holder via SMS. Cash-in / cash-out operations take place at one of many designated M-Pesa retail outlets, also known as “agents”. These agents are not employed by Safaricom, but are simply retailers / regular businessmen and women that are ‘authorized’ to trade e-cash for real cash.
    • ghtazi
       
      m-pesa is a company that allows its customers to convert between e-cash and real cash.
  • Although some of M-Pesa’s initial success could be attributed to a uniquely favorable context for mobile-payments (strong customer need, welcoming regulatory environment, support from banks, strong brand awareness of Safaricom), its rapid and sustained growth was only possible due to a thoughtful operating model design, particularly regarding M-Pesa’s “agent network.”
    • nourserghini
       
      M-pesa's success goes back to its advantageous situation in Africa as well as it successful operating model design.
  • Revenue from transaction fees that Safaricom collects via the agent during cash withdrawal operations and transfer operations (depositing money into mobile wallet is free). Reduce Safaricom customers’ churn, improve engagement, lifetime value etc.
    • sawsanenn
       
      This excerpt shows the business model that M-pesa follows and thier values
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt is important because it reports the two ways in which Safaricom makes value through M-Pesa: on the one hand revenues from transaction fees collected via agents, and on the other hand, the reduction of Safaricom customers' churn.
  • Safaricom pays commission to its “agents”, usually on a monthly basis, based on metrics such as transactions per branch, customers per branch, and quantities transacted, etc. Because it takes agents a couple months to ‘ramp up’ at their branch by attracting M-Pesa customers and convincing them to start transacting, the business model of M-Pesa incurs significant up-front costs and is one of the reasons many mobile-money deployments fail in the early days. Mobile-Money becomes profitable only when it goes viral. According to a McKinsey report, to make mobile money for the unbanked commercially viable, operators and telco’s like Safaricom “must sign up 15 to 20 percent of the addressable market.”
    • nouhaila_zaki
       
      This excerpt describes M-Pesa's business model, which consists of paying commissions to agents, incurring significant up-front costs and relying on mobile-money to become viral for success.
  •  
    I think that it's interesting to see that agents are playing a vital role in the success of M-Pesa in Kenya. The company knew about the costs related to acquiring agents, but they also knew that recruiting too few agents will kill the solution M-Pesa is providing. In addition to that, M-Pesa tried to spread its agents all over Kenya to make their solution available and easy to access anywhere in Kenya.
mehdibella

Fawry | Arab News - 0 views

  • Egypt’s Fawry eyes UAE deal, Saudi and Kuwaiti markets
  • Fawry offers digital payments to companies and individuals in Egypt Fawry handles around 2.1 million transactions daily and collected 40 billion Egyptian pounds last year
mehdibella

FWRY.CA - Fawry for Banking Tech and Elec Pay SAE Key Developments | Reuters - 0 views

  • Fawry Shareholders Approve To Sell 1000 Shares In Fawry Dahab Electronic Services To Banque Misr
  • FAWRY FOR BANKING TECHNOLOGY AND ELECTRONIC PAYMENT <FWRY.CA>::SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE TO SIGN AGREEMENT TO SELL 1000 SHARES IN FAWRY DAHAB ELECTRONIC SERVICES TO BANQUE MISR.SAHREHOLDERS APPROVE FCILITY AGREEMTNT BETWEEN UNIT FAWRY MICROFINANCE AND EGPYTIAN AMERICAN ENTERPRISE FUND IN A LIMIT OF EGP 160 MILLION .TO SELL SHARES IN FAWRY DAHAB ELECTRONIC SERVICES AT EGP 6,705 PER SHARE.SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE FINANCING OFFER FORM BANQUE MISR IN AUTHORISED CASH LIMIT OF EGP 150 MILLION.SAHREHOLDERS APPROVE AUTHORIZED CAPITAL INCREASE TO EGP 1 BILLION FROM EGP 500 MILLION.SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE ISSUED CAPITAL INCREASE TO EGP 453.7 MILLION FROM EGP 353.7 MILLION.SHAREHOLDERS APPROVES ISSUED CAPITAL INCREASE TO EGP 853.7 MILLION FROM EGP 453.7 MILLION THROUGH RIGHTS ISSUE.
ayachehbouni

Kenyan Agri-Tech Startup FarmDrive Secures Latest Round Of Investment From 5 Investors - 0 views

  • The investment will allow FarmDrive to scale to US$13 million of loan originations in 2019 with minimal losses and exceptional returns using RiPe, a customisable lending engine that will allow lenders to plug in and access low-cost loan origination channels such as USSD, credit scoring, identity verification, and a portfolio management suite that includes recovery and collections, payments, customer support, and advanced real-time data analytics.
    • ayachehbouni
       
      In order to be able to help more farmers, FarmDrive needs funding and is doing a great job at finding it.
mehdi-ezzaoui

SimbaPay is now processing money transfers to Ghana and Uganda | TechCabal - 1 views

  • Money transfer company, SimbaPay, has expanded its services to Ghana and Uganda. This means that SimbaPay users living in Europe can transfer money to their loved ones via mobile money or their bank accounts. SimbaPay users with a bank account or debit card can use the service to securely make money transfers. The transfers are credited to recipients immediately or after 3 days depending on which option the user selects. Recipients can then access the money through mobile money channels or via their bank accounts.
  •  
    Simbapay has expanded its services to Ghana and Uganda. This means that SimbaPay users living in Europe can transfer money to their loved ones via mobile money or their bank accounts.
mehdi-ezzaoui

Techstars Announces 10 Startups For First-Ever African Program - 1 views

  • SimbaPay (UK, focussed on Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda) – "Send money to family and friends bank accounts or mobile wallets in Africa (from abroad) in a convenient and cheap way. Customers can also use their bill settlement technology to pay merchants in Africa (such as universities, utilities). You can also open a bank account back home using the app".
  •  
    simbapay as one of the 10 best startups
mohammed_ab

Benefits of Cloud Computing in Financial Services - iTech blog - 0 views

  • 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).
  •  
    Using cloud computing can really improve data protection which is vital for a company like M-Pesa.
hindelquarrouti

The Impact Of Cloud Computing In Fintech - VEXXHOST - 1 views

  • The impact of cloud computing in fintech is evident. While the use of cloud technology within fintech services is still catching on, the opportunity for growth is massive. Even though cloud adoption is still in its early stages, cloud computing in fintech is growing at a steady pace. Moreover, a total of 22% of all applications within fintech are currently running on the cloud. That being said, this leaves substantial room for growth and innovation.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
       
      Cloud Computing is in rapid expansion, already 22% of all applications in Fintech run on the cloud which presents plenty of benefits like flexibility, security and scalability.
  • Moving forward, banks are now able to partner with fintech startups with ease. Most noteworthy, startups are developing as cloud-native from the very start. The global fintech market size expects to grow to $124.3 billion USD by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 23.84%
  • As an increasing number of businesses make the move to adopt a digital payment system, the demand for fintech solutions is only expected to grow and drive market growth.
  •  
    The use of cloud computing by fintechs is very strategic as it is contributing to their remarkable growth.
mohammed_ab

How Can FinTech Companies Gain Agility by Setting a Cloud Strategy - The PNR - 0 views

  • Cloud computing allows financial institutions to optimize IT resources and remove development constraints based on IT’s capacity to deliver (Cofran, 2011, p. 1). Financial institutions can respond faster to needs of customers by reducing development cycles for new products and scale products as needed because of the flexibility of the cloud (Sriram, 2011, p. 4). Furthermore, cloud computing helps financial institutions standardize applications and infrastructures which simplify the overall enterprise architecture. According to Courbe (2013), having a common infrastructure already in place worldwide enables a system to serve customers more efficiently and effectively globally.
  •  
    Cloud computing has a lot of benefits on financial services. M-Pesa which is a fintech that offers mobile payment solutions to the unbanked population could really benefit from cloud computing. By using cloud computing, M-Pesa could improve its system reliability as it allows you to have higher data protection and recovery. It will also allow M-Pesa to optimize its IT infrastructure.
mehdi-ezzaoui

12 Years After, Egypt's Fintech Startup Fawry Is Now Worth Over $1 Billion - 1 views

  • The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step! After twelve years of the startup journey, Cairo-headquartered fintech company Fawry has reached a unicorn status (that is, now worth over a billion dollar!), the first ever by any fintech startup in Egypt and the first ever by any African tech startup going through an IPO (Initial Public Offering) on African soil. Jumia, the Africa-focused ecommerce startup did this in 2019, but that was on the New York Stock Exchange. Interswitch, the Nigerian payment company, also did it last year, but it needed extra funding from VISA to make that happen. 
  •  
    Fawry Has Proven That African Startups Don't Need To Look So Far Away For Their IPOs
ayachehbouni

SimbaPay scales new heights in digital money transfer - Business Daily - 1 views

  • A Kenyan-owned digital money transfer firm, SimbaPay, is taking not only the local but also the international money remittance sector by storm.The London-based firm, started with the aim of helping out Kenyans living in the diaspora pay bills through M-Pesa, has over the years grown into a full-fledged money transfer firm joining the likes of Western Union and MoneyGram in the market.Unlike conventional players, SimbaPay strives to make money transfer painless to both the sender and recipient.The tech firm allows citizens residing in the European Union to send money home instantly through its application.People with a bank account, debit or credit card use mobile phones or tablets to access the app and transfer money to recipients’ mobile money wallets such as M-Pesa or MTN mobile money or bank account.
  • “We are able to roll out new countries on our platform at a low cost which then allows us to pass on these savings to customers. We can do this due to our technology that allows transactions to be processed at breakneck speed with zero human interaction,” said SimbaPay chief executive officer Nyasinga Onyancha.The firm’s compliance and onboarding of customers is handled within the app, making it significantly easier for customers to sign up and start sending money to loved ones within minutes.
    • mbellakbail69
       
      Financial inclusion will be then positively impacted as more small scale traders will be able to directly source goods from everywhere instead of depending on middlemen to make payments on their behalf.
  • “We are able to roll out new countries on our platform at a low cost which then allows us to pass on these savings to customers. We can do this due to our technology that allows transactions to be processed at breakneck speed with zero human interaction,” said SimbaPay chief executive officer Nyasinga Onyancha.
    • ayachehbouni
       
      The strength of simbapay come from the ease of use of the platform.
omarlahmidi

BISA-Cashless-case-study.pdf - 0 views

shared by omarlahmidi on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Customers wanting a magazine who have no cash on them can download a free app [many people in South Africa use SnapScan daily for other transactions so already have the app], that allows them to scan the vendor’s QR code to pay for the magazine.
    • omarlahmidi
       
      SnapScan is a Cashless payments silution to customers.
mehdibella

Latest News on M-Pesa | Cointelegraph - 0 views

  • 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.
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