| Ghana | MTN pays 17 million cedis (~$3.3m) as interest on mobile money in Q1 2019. Since September 2016, MTN has been making quarterly interest payments to mobile money customers in Ghana. This payment is for interest accrued on money kept in mobile wallets over the period of the quarter. A total value of 17 million cedis (~$3.3m) was paid to 10,630,175 customers for Q1 2019. Citi Business News |
|
|
| Global | Android users can now pay for apps with cash, bank transfer, and direct debit. Google has launched a service called Pending Transactions that allows Android users pay for apps with alternate payment methods such as cash, bank transfer, and direct debit. Pending Transactions allows a user generate a payment code at checkout, and complete the payment at a physical store. PYMNTS |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | Pending Transactions sounds a lot like what we call Agency Banking here in Nigeria. Agency Banking here is delivered by third party retail agents that provide specific services on behalf of a Bank or Fintech. Does anyone have any numbers around how Agency Banking is working in Nigeria? Please hit reply and let me know! |
|
|
| NIGERIA | Interswitch Group inks £56m deal with British firm, Bekoz. Payments company Interswitch has partnered with Bekoz, a British transport ticketing company, to enhance transportation ticketing in Nigeria in a deal worth £56m. Bekoz co-created the technology with Interswitch and will be providing the associated electronic equipment to build a transport infrastructure similar to London’s Oyster system. Oriental News |
|
|
| Global | USSD automation platform Hover launches v1.0 of the Hover Android SDK. Hover, a platform that allows you integrate any USSD action from any operator into your Android app, has launched version 1 of the Hover Android SDK. Medium |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | Shout out to Ben Lyon, CEO at Hover for the tip! |
|
|
| Somalia | JamboPay ventures into Somalia with automation services. Kenyan Payment Service Provider JamboPay is expanding to its 5th African country, Somalia. JamboPay struck deals with 2 municipal councils in the country to automate collections for parking services. Business Daily |
|
|
| Global | Visa acquires control of Earthport to enable account-to-account transfers. Visa has acquired Earthport, a cross-border payment company catering to banks, money transfer services providers and businesses around the world. Visa currently enables payments to be sent to and from other Visa cards. Now, with Earthport, one of the biggest independent Automated Clearing Houses (ACH) networks in the world, Visa's clients will be able to make payments through bank accounts around the world. PYMNTS |
|
|
|
Share a tip | Do you have an announcement, event, or job posting you'd like to share, or have you come across an interesting bit of African fintech news recently? Hit reply and let me know! I might be able to include it in next week's newsletter. |
|
Know someone who'd enjoy Decode Fintech? |
|
|
| Twitter | Walkthrough of Chipper Cash. Africa's Talking Expansion Lead @wizaj did a neat user experience review of Chipper Cash, the cross-border payments startup we highlighted in the fundraising section of today's edition of the newsletter. Check out the mini review |
|
|
| Twitter | Financial inclusion projects should solve problems beyond mobile payments. In this Twitter thread, argues that there's a bigger opportunity for financial inclusion projects to provide value beyond only mobile payment solutions, and that overlooking this is a big missed opportunity. Read the conversation |
|
|
|
| Nigeria | FCMB partners with Systemspecs to launch FCMB Payroll for Small Business Owners. First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has partnered with Systemspecs, a software development house focused on providing financial software solutions, following its search for an innovative payroll solution for SMEs. The product, FCMB Payroll, enables small and medium business owners process payroll easily, pay employee salaries into commercial/micro-finance bank accounts or wallets, and also issue them regular pay slips. Entrepreneurs.ng |
|
|
| Nigeria | Electronic banking is profitable for Nigerian banks as they generate N124bn (~$345m) in fees for 2018. Eleven Nigerian banks generate N124bn (~$345m) from electronic transactions in 2018, with First Bank of Nigeria topping the list with N34bn (~$94m). This revenue is mostly from fees the banks charge on transactions their customers carry out over ATMs, USSD, internet banking, POS payments and agency banking. Nairametrics |
|
|
| Nigeria | Buhari nominates Emefiele for second term as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari nominated Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele for a second five-year term, making him the first Central Bank Governor to have his contract renewed since 1999. Emefiele will need to be confirmed by the senate, which is due to hold hearings on his re-nomination early next week. Bloomberg |
|
|
|
| Nigeria | Branch records major milestone, disburses 1 millionth loan two years after launching app in Nigeria. Branch International, a financial services company providing instant loans via mobile app, has disbursed over 1 million loans to customers in Nigeria. The company launched in Nigeria in 2017, and has since disbursed loans worth over N9bn (~$25m) to 1.2m users. Punch |
|
|
| Ghana | Qwikloan hits 2 million customers. AFB’s Qwikloan loan product, which runs on MTN’s mobile money platform, now has 2 million customers. AFB, a financial services company that provides innovative consumer credit products, has been in operation since 2010 but only had 80,000 customers before the launch of Qwikloan. Mobile Money Africa |
|
|
|
| Nigeria | Fintech startup Trove joins Ventures Platform’s investment portfolio. Ventures Platform has invested in a Nigerian micro-investing fintech startup, Trove Finance. Trove is an app that allows users invest in publicly traded equity, bond or crypto-based assets using debit cards and bank transfers. WeeTracker |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | The investment tech space in Nigeria is heating up. We see mobile apps such as PiggyVest and Cowrywise, which started out primarily as savings apps, now allowing users to also make investments. Another really interesting thing we're tracking is the rise of agritech businesses which allow everyday people invest in farms. Notable examples of these types of companies include Agropartnerships, Farmcrowdy, Thrive Agric, and GrowCropsOnline.com |
|
|
| Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe Fintech Payitup secures $13m Series-A funding from Thawer Fund Management. Payitup is the latest African fintech to land major funding, raising $13 million in Series-A funding from Thawer Fund Management. The startup, which helps consumers make payments for various services, plans to use the investment to further develop its technology and form strategic partnerships to ensure compliance with regulators. Technext.ng |
|
|
| Africa | Chipper Cash raises $2.4 million seed round. Chipper Cash, which allows no-fee, cross-border payments in Africa, has raised a $2.4 million seed round led by Deciens Capital. Investors also include 500 Startups and Liquid 2 Ventures, which is co-founded by U.S. footbal legend Joe Montana. TechCrunch |
|
|
| Global | Irish FinTech startup Umba operating in Kenya secures seed funding. Irish FinTech start-up Umba, which provides micro loans in Kenya and Uganda, has raised a seed funding round with Frontline Ventures and ACT Venture Capital. Umba has over 155,000 customers and has issued over 70,000 loans. Brits in Kenya |
|
|
|
| Ghana | Ghana's National Communications Agency (NCA) drafts first mobile money quality of service regulations. The Ghanaian National Communications Agency is introducing quality of service (QoS) regulations for digital financial services in the country. QoS regulation currently exists for Telcos but none of it is specific to digital financial services as these services did not exist when the initial licenses were issued to the Telcos about 15 years ago. Historically the NCA referred customers with mobile money issues to the Bank of Ghana, the only financial service regulator in the country. MobileMoneyAfrica |
|
|
|
| Global | Hackers steal $40.7 million in Bitcoin from Crypto Exchange Binance. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, lost more than 7,000 bitcoin to Hackers. Binance discovered the breach on May 7, and reports that the breach only impacted Binance’s hot wallet, which contains roughly 2 percent of the exchange’s total bitcoin holdings. CoinDesk |
|
|
|
| Global | Female Focused Fintech Prize - DFS Lab. DFS Lab is launching a female focused fintech competition to recognize digital financial products that are narrowing the gender gap in financial inclusion. Fintechs focused products specifically designed for women should apply. Apply Here |
|
|
|
|
|
