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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.

African fintech startup Jumo has pulled in a fresh $12.5 million to add more fuel for its expansion into Asia Pacific.

Jumo specializes in social impact financial products, such as microloans, savings and insurance.

It started in Tanzania, and today claims to have originated more than $1 billion in loans.

JUMO also has a mobile wallet technology that offers an easy-to-use service that is accessible via mobile devices.Watkins-Ball commented on the cost-effective technology used to collect information which strengthened the business model, He said: “When we founded JUMO, we were always clear that we can only achieve our mission by leveraging sophisticated information technologies at really low cost.

echnology and its trends has made our lives easier especially in the fields of financial technology and payments. Now there are more advanced ways of payments and one of the most important players in Egypt in this field is Fawry. Fawry offers financial services to consumers and businesses through different channels and locations. Through Fawry you can pay your mobile, landline and utilities bills, donate money, renew your car license and more. Fawry was founded in 2008 and officially started in the market in 2010. They now have offered their service to reach 80,000 points of service in 300 cities all over Egypt. Their portfolio of businesses include: Orange, Vodafone, Etisalat, Go Bus, Lynks, Anghami, Ahl Misr Foundation, Resala and more

We started by hiring the best people we could find, for any startup to succeed it needs a really strong team especially at the beginning. We also got a good fund at the beginning from different entities such as Raya Holding, Technology Development Fund (Ideavelopers), Arab African International Bank, HSBC, Alexbank and other banks, this is what helped us build our brand.

Strong team management and good negotiation skills. The second thing is that it was a mutual investment fund, those investors already liked Fawry’s model and didn’t want to change anything but just help accelerate our growth with some cash. We are now a large corporate but with the spirit of a startup. Even until now, we appreciate everyone’s input at the company whether they have been working here for a month or 5 years. it doesn’t matter.

This FinTech startup founded by two Kenyan women is positioned to reach 3 million smallholder farmers in Kenya in the next 5 years.

FD uses mobile technology, predictive modelling, AI and a customer first approach to democratize access to loans to all farmers; ensuring farmers can apply for a loan from any type of phone and receive a decision on their loan application in seconds. FD has achieved this by building multiple channels of access and a fully automated lending process.

In the last 4 years, FD has seen that their loans increase the productivity and incomes of farmers and has led to reduced costs, increased scale, and improved quality of agricultural portfolios for lenders.

The startup will use the proceeds from the funding to expand into new markets and launch new products. Jumo is targeting entrepreneurs in emerging markets — and plans to offer next-generation savings, lending and insurance products to them. 

The startup currently operates in five African countries — Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania. It closely works with financial firms and telecoms to provide its services, media reports said. 

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.

Ahmed Wadi, the startup’s CEO and founder, says they plan to spread their reach across Egypt (they are currently concentrated in Cairo) as well as expand to other countries in Africa.  Wadi founded MoneyFellows in 2016 and reportedly raised $1 million in a pre-Series A round last year, with the participation of 500 Startups and Dubai Angel Investors.  

In its full year 2019 financial results, MTN saw revenue grow 9.7%, while service revenue increased 9.8% and subscriptions grew by 18.2 million to reach 251 million. Further, the group’s chief executive Rob Shuter, announced he will step down at the end of his current contract, in 2021.

Nigerian telecom operator MTN has received regulatory approval for the sale of its 49% stake in ATC Ghana. The sale is expected to generate $384 million with funds due to be transferred over the coming week. It follows the sale of MTN’s 49% stake in ATC Uganda.

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.

A new Kenyan startup called Abacus (www.abacus.co.ke) is a licensed data vendor with the Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE).Its been in existence since 2015 and just early this year,in partnership with Genghis Capital and Chase bank,they began offering subscribers the ability to deposit,buy,sell and trade unit trusts,bonds and equities on their platform.

A new Kenyan startup called Abacus (www.abacus.co.ke) is a licensed data vendor with the Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE).Its been in existence since 2015 and just early this year,in partnership with Genghis Capital and Chase bank,they began offering subscribers the ability to deposit,buy,sell and trade unit trusts,bonds and equities on their platform.

All in all,Abacus allows you to easily get started on the road to investing in the NSE,its available on the web through www.abacus.co.ke and the android app is available on the Google play store,A basic subscriber account is easy to set up and allows one to easily get started with practise trading with virtual funds and realtime NSE data on market open so that one can learn.

Abacus is a web and mobile software that lets you keep tabs on whatever is going on with the Nairobi Securities exchange in real time. And now, the team behind it has launched an Android app. The app was launched today and users now have access to regular updates from activities on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The Abacus team, led by Joel Macharia as the CEO and Kevin Omwega as the director, have more than ten years of market experience. Abacus was one of the startups that participated in 2015 DEMO Africa event.

Thndr’s first product is a mobile-first equities trading platform in Egypt. The startup has just acquired the necessary licensing from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), making it the first company to acquire a brokerage license in Egypt since 2008. 

Egyptian fintech startup Thndr, a participant in the most recent Y Combinator accelerator, is gearing up for its formal launch after receiving the first new brokerage license granted in the country in over a decade.

Its latest service – Carbon Express – enables users to initiate and complete transactions such as P2P transfers and bill payments from the keyboard without launching the Carbon app or leaving the app they are using. Instead, they will be able to access services from the touch of their keyboard enabling quicker Instagram or WhatsApp commerce.

In 2019, Fawry became the first fintech company to IPO in the region and since taking that step, the price of its stock has risen by 300 per cent. In August, Fawry became Egypt’s first tech ‘unicorn,’ born during a global pandemic and what is quickly becoming a global economic meltdown of massive proportions.

Since the launch of CoFoundersLab, one of the largest networks for entrepreneurs, we have seen many small businesses and entrepreneurs flourish and benefit from the aid of this industry. However, being successful in startup fundraising via crowdfunding is not as easy as it seems. It comes with a lot of effort and dedication, but if one puts in the necessary work, they can realize fortunes that go far beyond just the raising of money.

ICT platform for mobile banking: micro money transfer (P2P), pay my bill, send local/international remittances, online payment solutions, buy calling credit. Ethiopia is one of the most underbanked countries, only 5% of the population has a bank account. Currently 617 bank branches in Ethiopia are serving 85 million people. Most rural areas lack banking infrastructure. Innovation: send money directly to anyone with a mobile phone, a free bank account for the receiver is opened promptly.

Industry leaders from across the African and global FinTech industry will gather at Finnovation Africa: Ethiopia 2017 where they will seek to harness the growing momentum around digital financial services into more inclusive and productive economies across Sub‐Saharan Africa.”