UNION SYSTEMS LIMITED BANKING SOLUTIONS MEET GLOBAL STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES

UNION SYSTEMS LIMITED BANKING SOLUTIONS MEET GLOBAL STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES

 

 

Union Systems Limited (USL), Africa’s leading  finance software company  located in Victoria Island Lagos has recently made industry players in finance and tech space to understand the unique product(s) offerings that they have and places they have deployed in in various banks in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. This product(s) expose to the media has been lauded by financial players, describing their various solutions like Kachasi international Trade Finance solution and other financial solutions such as Sakobia, Optimus, EGORA and Tentacles as world-class.

Speaking to the team of journalist, Chuks Onyebuchi, the Chief Executive Officer of Union System Limited described Union Systems as “USL has been a player in the delivery of financial software solutions to financial institutions for over 2 decades, in this time, we have seen a steady increase in the intricacies of software requirements from these institutions as their process have evolved to suit the increasing sophistications of their customers. This has inevitably brought about the demand for more efficient but simpler to use solutions, this is what USL prides herself in being able to continuously deliver.

He added that “USL is a financial technology provider, we however deal primarily at the provision of business to business (B2B) enterprise financial software solutions. These solutions have a longer development cycle, a longer implementation cycle and are very integral to achieving the objectives of the financial institutions that adopts them…These implementations and many others have not only been successful but have helped these banks meet their strategic objectives. Our solutions are very flexible and highly configurable eliminating almost completely the need for customizations. This has increased the rate of adoption within our client’s organization and faster return on investments (ROI).”

On the Union System seamless integration to the CBN monitoring, Chuks opined that “The TRMS is one of several regulatory portals through which the CBN monitors specific international trade and treasury related transactions. Through collaboration with major financial institutions in Nigeria, we had integrated to similar regulatory portals such as the NSW, NCS and the NIBBS portal, so the integration of the TRMS portal was achieved with little challenges. It also helped that we were involved, also through our existing collaborations, with the testing of the initially release pilot version.”

On products acceptability in various countries and banks, Onyebuchi said “USL has demonstrated this already with our flagship Kachasi international Trade Finance solution and our other financial solutions (Sakobia, Optimus, EGORA and tentacles). The same can be said about other sectors of the economy such as health, agriculture, education and so on where we have Nigerians driving change and competing effectively. As the support and adoption for world-class indigenous solutions, such as ours, increases, Nigerians will continue to break the glass ceiling and produce software that can compete on a global stage. Kachasi is in production in 5 commercial and merchant banks in Nigeria today. We are in advanced stages of negotiation with several other banks in Nigeria and Kenya.”

The company has built a robust support system for their clients and customers that have virtually eliminated downtime in their platform,” Our approach to support starts with building capacities within the banks right from the implementation stage thereby ensuring a formidable first line of support from within and that the right sense of ownership is attained before the end of the implementation project. Where the bank is unable to solve the problem with its first line of support, the issue is logged on our support portal, ISURA, where our team of experts representing a second line of support are available for prompt resolution”, Chuks said.

As Africa’s leading trade finance software company for over 20 years, the company has been delivering future thinking trade finance software solutions to banks and corporates in Africa to achieve full automation and digitization of their trade operations. Our trade finance software solutions deliver growth, profitability, and regulatory compliance to banks and corporates.

With headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, the company has a deep understanding of the African market and a team of highly qualified consultants with real-world experience in the delivery of complex software solutions. They have been creating software solutions that solve business problems and provide professional services that give value to our customers such as Kachasi (previously Trade-X), Optimus (Single and multibank), Isura, Sakobia, Tentacles and Egora were all designed and developed by USL in their Lagos, Nigeria Head office. A major advantage of adopting their solutions is the elimination of the need to source for FX to license them

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our approach to support starts with building capacities within the banks right from the implementation stage thereby ensuring a formidable first line of support from within and that the right sense of ownership is attained before the end of the implementation project. Where the bank is unable to solve the problem with its first line of support, the issue is logged on our support portal, ISURA, where our team of experts representing a second line of support are available for prompt resolution”

 

 

 

 

 

WE PROJECT TO GO-LIVE WITH THE CROWDBUX SOLUTION IN TEST MODE BY FEBRUARY 2023 – CHIDI, DEXTER BOSS

WE PROJECT TO GO-LIVE WITH THE CROWDBUX SOLUTION IN TEST MODE BY FEBRUARY 2023 – CHIDI, DEXTER BOSS

 

In this interview, Chidiebere Onwuzurike, the founder of DEXTER, A fintech firm and research based firm talks about the fintech ecosystem, Crowdbux and how they will introduce robust credit scoring solutions for Nigerians. ANTHONY NWOSU Captured this in an exclusive interview.

 

DEXTER has been into Fintech space, tell us more about your solution?

Yes, we are a research-based software startup company founded in May 2021, we are leveraging the boundless powers of data and insights from curated user research to develop and innovate more powerful, and inclusive software for the fintech sector.

Your brand has Crowdbux as a solution do you think that it will make the needed impact in the industry?

Yes, I’m confident that it will. We only innovate software premised on credible insights and Crowdbux is one such innovation as a result of diligently curated consumer research. We have received early validation for the Crowdbux solution from potential investors, current and prospective partners as well as intended users. For context, during our waitlist marketing campaign in October, we successfully waitlisted over 2000 individuals in 3 weeks – a few of whom we identified to be decision makers of potential partner organizations.

When do you intend to launch?

We project to go-live with the Crowdbux solution in test mode by February 2023.

You also said that you are a R&D firm in the fintech space. How has this been?

Yes, research and development are the bedrock of our operations at Dexter, however I must point out that it has been most profitable for us in the sense that, we do not compromise on research as we rely heavily on quality feedback for iterations. It has also been some shades of challenging, largely due to limited resources to recruit volunteers and paid analysts to curate research online and offline, sort through volumes of responses and analyze the data for product development.

What are the challenges you face as a startup?

The same as every other startup creating amazing innovation, access to financing – whether credit or investment facilities – can be challenging when you are new in software industry because you have to prove your worth even to your team – that your solution(s) eases the pain-points of a large group of people and that you are uniquely positioned to generate huge revenues from that as a result.

Are you open to investors or are you okay bootstrapping?

Oh yes, though we have bootstrapped up to $15,000 in the past 1 year, we are very open toinvestment and have been in talks with a few notable potential investors recently.

When are you launching your mobile app?

This for us is a research-informed decision, we want our customers to tell us if and when they want it, however the crowdbux web application will be accessible using any web enabled device from February 2023.

 

Tell us about the people behind this innovative brand called Dexter?

The Dexter Force as we fondly call ourselves is a 6-member team of determined, cross-functional, diversely skilled and uniquely qualified professionals, led by my noble self, who are collectively positioned to ensure the overall success of the company. We are driven towards the same objectives and trained in several disciplines that make working and creating together, brainstorming new ideas and sharing solutions worth all our whiles. We are committed to throwing our best weights in all the ways necessary behind all our products now and in the future to simplify access to financial services for all.

What is your take of the Nigerian Fintech space?

Oh, what a time to be offering a revolutionary fintech solution in the Nigerian fintech sector. It’s clearly an ever-burgeoning space attracting over $507m in 2022 alone, and I think this trend is going to continue for the foreseeable future as innovation and globalization continue to evolve business transactions in Nigeria.

What do you think about credit ratings and how can you make Nigerians key into this?

Credit scoring is essential in helping us to determine who is creditworthy on the crowdbux solution, we have innovated a fantastic proprietary scoring model that takes important data points into account, constantly learning data and patterns in order to provide accurate scores for users. We are also partnered with Nigeria’s biggest credit bureau to further substantiate our model in order to provide a more robust credit reportage for users, and also provide our lenders with quality information to inform their lending decisions. In same vein, we are leveraging the expertise of our partners to provide 1 free comprehensive credit report to our users annually. Furthermore, as the CBN’s cashless policy continues to soar, the fintech’s in the credit market would begin to experience a growing demand for credit scoring as it’ll become a pre-requisite risk assessment accessory to accessing credit finance in the future.

What advise do you have for startups?

A quote that I picked up during a mentor session on Lagos Innovate’s IdeaHub program, it says “As an entrepreneur you’ll always have problems. That’s what you signed up for. So, my advice would be, consumer research is gold – never compromise it, stay the course of your vision, network as much as possible – seek mentorship, be visible and courteous, protect your IP, delay tough decisions until you have the solutions, feed well, rest well and remain coachable.

What do you think that the regulator (CBN) can do to improve the fintech space?

I must commend the CBN for systematically implementing its cashless policy which has enabled innovation to unlock several layers of alternative transaction channels, in conformation with global social development benchmarks. The CBN can also be commended for creating safe test environments – sandboxes – for financial companies, but must in same vein create safe spaces for information sharing amongst financial institutions (FIs), other financial institutions (OFIs), and other financial regulators (OFRs). More specifically however, I implore the CBN to begin implementing pertinent components of the credit insurance policy which will widen the financial safety net to substantially provide additional incentives for credit finance institutions (CFIs) to encourage long-term lending and cover against non-performing credits. Furthermore, since the CFIs rely heavily on FIs and vice-versa, the CBN can foster the partnership and conversations between these stakeholders to improve the global standing instruction (GSI) guidelines to include a memorandum on the execution of liens between FIs and CFIs on defaulting accounts to improve credit repayment culture and security of credit in Nigeria. Lastly, the CBN can consider creating monitored credit operator groups to categorize licensed CFIs into specialized groups, with each group guided by set standards, differentiated policies and internal operational frameworks based on operating license category, partnerships and public sector affiliation, as well as modes of operation, this will stimulate cooperation amongst relevant stakeholders and bring about standardization of the credit market operation guidelines.

 

 

 

 

Credit scoring is essential in helping us to determine who is creditworthy on the crowdbux solution, we have innovated a fantastic proprietary scoring model that takes important data points into account, constantly learning data and patterns in order to provide accurate scores for users

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Issues New Cash Withdrawal Policy Effective January 9th, 2023

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Issues New Cash Withdrawal Policy Effective January 9th, 2023

:

1. The maximum cash withdrawal over the
counter (OTC) by individuals and corporate
organizations per week shall henceforth be
N100,000 and N500,000 respectively.
Withdrawals above these limits shall attract
processing fees of 5% and 10%, respectively.

2. Third party cheques above N50,000 shall not
be eligible for payment over the counter, while
extant limits of N10,000,000 on clearing
cheques still subsist.

3. The maximum cash withdrawal per week via
Automated Teller Machine (ATM) shall be
N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000
cash withdrawal per day.

4. Only denominations of N200 and below shall
be loaded into the ATMs.

5. The maximum cash withdrawal via point of
sale (PoS) terminal shall be H20,000 daily.

6. In compelling circumstances, not exceeding
once a month, where cash withdrawals above
the prescribed limits is required for legitimate
purposes, such cash withdrawals shall not
exceed N5,000,000.00 and $10.000.000.00 for
individuals and corporate organisations,
respectively, and shall be subject to the
referenced processing fees in (1) above, in
addition to enhanced due diligence and further
information requirements.

My Take: CBN wants to improve on cashless
policy via internet/mobile banking/electronic
transmissions, ensures that money remains in
bank vaults and discourages hoarding of
money. It’ll also help to stop the crazy people
that spray and abuse naira currency in social
events and gatherings.

ROBAN STORES ANAMBRA: ARE THEY LOOSING IT DUE TO POOR PAYMENT SYSTEM?

ROBAN STORES ANAMBRA: ARE THEY LOOSING IT DUE TO POOR PAYMENT SYSTEM?

 

Electronic payment and Digital transactions are the hallmark of a solid economy. it helps in transactions and reduces the risk of carrying cash around . Many small businesses in the country are using one form of electronic banking technology to facilitate their business and bring ease of doing business for their customers but as it stands now,ROBAN STORES, a departmental mall in Anambra seems to be having difficulty coming to terms with the basic concept of electronic payment technology .

Many of the customers of the store have shown their displeasure and anger in doing business with ROBAN stores and have decided to go to SHOPRITE for ease of lament. Speaking on this development , Okeh Onyekachi Chukwuemeka said in his Facebook page that “At ROBAN NNEWI, they no longer do online transactions or POS payments in their shopping malls lately rather you have to step just outside the shopping mall door but within the premesis to withdraw cash and then go back inside themall to make your purchases. I have missed those days when I used to get in there, pay with my card and move away. ”

He added that “I have wondered what sort of business sense that is for each time I have been to Nnewi and experienced such.But wait oooo, if I may want to ask, could there be a critical reason for this or is it a clear cut
approach to cash out from POS and also
product sales? Just asking to know if the
Management is aware? “

“The business model really amazes me and for our likes that hate dealing with cash no matter how small, that is a red flag and it should be addressed. ”

One the stress of payment ,Okeh added that “Once you don’t have cash to pay and do not
want to use their POS, you can as well drop the goods and check somewhere else or go to
wherever you choose to withdraw and come
back with cash..”

“Ana aga nụ iru ka ọ bụ azụ?The aim of this post is for the Management to review their processes and do the needful which would help them not to loose revenue unnecessarily”,Okeh concluded .

Not only in their Nnewi Branch, even in Awka Branch, Ezinne Obiatuegwu, a resident of Áwka City said “The same with the Awka branch. I think they are just exploiting their customers. I went there today to pick up some groceries, and when I saw the long queue waiting for POS withdrawals, I left my items at the pay point and went to another mall.”

While Chris Ogo Ndubuisi said “Generally I think the POS terminals given to businesses from mainstream banks are messed up machines.The independent POS operators don’t use mainstream bank POS terminals. They use terminals from fintech companies and those fintechs don’t joke with their businesses. ”

Ndubuisi added that “You’ll always get failed transactions/no service from most mainstream bank POS machines but the uptime of the fintech terminals is top notch.
Some businesses have actually started using fintech terminals. Mkudi, palmpay, Opay, moniepoint etc”

While Uchechukwu Onuorah said”Lol….Terrible ways of extorting customers.I raised an alarm last year when i had to pay 1k @ POS to enable me withdraw to clear my items worth 40+.I called their customer care the following week and complained…Gave a google review .Anambra has very few malls hence issues like this.Sadly, they will help the owner stay out of business when a competitor comes in future”

Chukwunonso added that “Very archaic bunch of traders. Their POS machines are always out of service.The independent POS operator beside the pharmacy at the entrance charges a kill.Today; it was totally a cash affair.”

“A lady on my queue didn’t know of this so at the point of paying, she was advised to withdraw cash. They wiped the system to process another customers payment.By the time she got back, her purchases were computed afresh leaving me to spend more time.”

Esther Chime said on their mentality of businesses in Anambra state . She had this to say “Most of the businesses in Anambra thinks they are doing you a favour selling to you🤣🤣🤣,no be on top my hard earned money Once I noticed you have attitude issues, I am not buying ,and I won’t patronize you again, you can’t stress me on top my money.”

“Unprogressive mentality and unappreciative behaviour have sent so many businesses home or stagnated, most are blaming it on witches”,She added.

Juliet Ikebudu added that “It happened to me when I came to experience at nnewi.
After calculating… The lady said Atm is not available and they don’t accept transfer…. I went outside to withdraw…. The post girl was not available. I kukuma return back, carry my bag and left. They can’t come and stress me”

Though some few people said that it might be a lie that there might be exaggeration here.Okoye Ebuka said “This is a very big lie. I live in Nnewi and patronize Roban Stores steadily. I have never experienced such.”

Uzoma Marnet concluded that “So accurate
This same thing happened to me and my friends this evening. So annoying that immediately you open the door, you will see a POS lady with good network while inside the mall, they claim that the network coverage is poor..”

Anthony Emeka Nwosu
writing from
Amichi ,Nnewi South ,Anambra
antoniokrys@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

Banker and Regulator Agree Chat Commerce can Radically Shift Financial Inclusion in Nigeria

Banker and Regulator Agree Chat Commerce can Radically Shift Financial Inclusion in Nigeria

Clickatell (www.Clickatell.com), the Chat Commerce and business messaging leader, discussed with attendees at Clickatell’s Connect Interact and Transact (CIT) annual event earlier this month how they could drive financial inclusion and reach their revenue goals by adopting Chat Commerce. The event took place at the Radisson Blu, Anchorage in Lagos with industry experts from Clickatell, Ecobank and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sharing insight and tips with an audience of business and technology leaders.

 

Werner Lindemann, Clickatell’s Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales, Growth Markets, kicked off by pointing out how global brands, like Amazon and Uber, have built their entire business model on convenience commerce – where businesses find ways to deliver services and products to their customers wherever they are and at a time that works for them.

Lindemann went on to share that the best way to reach customers where they are is on their phone. However, he said apps have a very limited shelf life, saying the average customer regularly uses just five apps on their phone. He advised instead of focusing on building apps, brands should be looking to leverage the power of chat, especially since WhatsApp is the most used (https://bit.ly/3Nab6Q1) social media platform in Nigeria. What’s more, when combined with USSD, companies will be able to reach almost every person in the country.

The power of Chat Commerce is especially relevant for the Nigerian banking industry and Lindemann shared that banks can now onboard new clients and conduct Know Your Customer (KYC) standards using chat, meaning banks can serve customers anywhere in the country, in real time.

Lindemann shared other use cases where Clickatell had radically changed how Southern African businesses engaged with their customers, these included:

  • How a national retailer was able to cut their broadsheet print production and distribution from 5 Dollars to just 3 cents
  • How that retailer now has a 40% to 70% engagement rate on their product specials using WhatsApp, compared to 3% on SMS
  • How a national retailer now uses WhatsApp to enable self-service for their loyalty programme and has eliminated more than 20 000 call centre calls per month to block or replace loyalty cards
  • How a national healthcare chain now allows customers to order and arrange collection of their chronic medication at their nearest outlet, no matter where they are in the country
  • How a Southern African low-cost airline allows travellers to check in and receive their boarding pass on the WhatsApp channel

 

People are already on these chat platforms, and we aim to serve them with payments where they are

An engaging panel discussion followed the keynote, introduced by Clickatell’s West Africa Managing Director, Samson Isa and facilitated by Uzo Nwani, Commercial Director of Clickatell.

Opening the discussion, panelists highlighted how their organization had used technology to boost inclusivity. For CBN, this was achieved by its introduction of the eNaira digital currency. For Ecobank, its move to offer a WhatsApp channel allowed them to reach their customers more easily. And for Clickatell, it has been the company’s drive to help banks in Africa improve their reach by moving to the more ubiquitous chat channel.

“One out of three Nigerians are financially excluded. Therefore the work we have done with Clickatell on the eNaira USSD channel is so exciting. We are also looking to the eNaira to lower the costs of remittances as well as bring down the high costs of cash management. We believe the eNaira will drive inclusive growth and make the Central Bank, as an institution, much more effective in carrying out its mandate,” said Stephen Ambore, Assistant Director, CBN.

Osahon Akpata, Group Head of Consumer Payments at Ecobank shared the power of mobile with the audience.

“Across 33 countries, Ecobank Group processed $5.1 billion through our mobile app in 2021 and we built an agency banking network of 110,000 agents, leveraging the ubiquity of mobile devices. While Chat Commerce is still in its infancy for us, we are scaling up the platform for better customer service. We have integrated artificial intelligence into our chatbot, Rafiki, to help solve customer queries quicker and seamlessly. We also have customers using the chat channel for transactions and we plan on expanding its use to product information as well. People are already on these chat platforms, and we aim to serve them with payments where they are,” he said.

Akpata went on to share that being able to generate QR codes on the WhatsApp channel, make transfers and buy airtime have all been met with great enthusiasm by Ecobank customers, adding that chat will be a key part of the bank’s drive to reach its target of 100 million customers.

CBN will also be looking to chat to connect with people in Nigeria further in the future.

“We are looking at chat to help us deliver financial literacy and boost inclusion. When it comes to innovation, chat, including USSD, can help us reach new customers and I am excited about the future opportunities, especially at the base of the pyramid,” said Ambore.

Lindemann wrapped up the proceedings by saying: “We’ve just kicked off a project with a major bank with around 15 million active customers, and we will be building them a chat banking wallet in just six weeks. In my opinion, chat is allowing us to fast-forward innovation for enterprises. I believe every enterprise has a responsibility to deploy products that have a real impact on their customer and society, and to see this happen in six weeks is testament to the power of chat.”

FINTRAK ACADEMY GRADUATES AN ARMY OF SOFTWARE EXPERTS

FINTRAK ACADEMY GRADUATES AN ARMY OF SOFTWARE EXPERTS

 

Nigeria’s foremost financial technology (Fintech) firm, FINTRAK recently graduated trainees from their academy. This is in line with the organization’s policy of building capacity in the information technology (IT) ecosystem with emphasis on fintech solution. The organization designed this program as a way of giving back to the society and also deepening the widening capacity gap now that the country is having skill flight to other nations.

Having seen numerous talents and potential in these kids, FINTRAK Software has decided to build and train army of youths that will power the country’s IT ecosystem in future.

Speaking about the event, the founder of FINTRAK and Group Managing Director, Bimbo Abioye said “FinTrak Academy is designed to train highly qualified and motivated young graduates to become tech guru in the field of Software Development, Software Implementation, Software Support and Software Quality Assurance. Its main goal is to give successful candidates the opportunity to improve their analytical and technical skills in an international environment.”

“The Fintrak Academy Programme is open on an on-going basis. Young graduates are enrolled at a fully accredited degree programme (Bachelor, HND, M.eng, Master, ) during the entire duration of their internship can apply online. Selected interns are on-boarded for full employment upon graduation”, he added.

On a final note, the Fintrak boss opined that “The Fintrak Academy provides young graduates the skills and foundational experience they need to begin building a career in their chosen field. Our development programs offer a variety of professional experiences within a structure that provides opportunities to learn, grow, and ultimately succeed.”

Apart from these trainings, Fintrak absorbed many of these graduands into their organisation . These graduands will man their various locations across the world. FinTrak Software is an indigenous  global company based in Nigeria,over the years have deployed solutions in many parts of Africa . Armed with and army of software engineers and professionals with competencies across banking, finance, audit, consulting and software development, FinTrak Software can be described to be on a  mission to support organizations and states with technologies and intellectual strength required to enable them surpass their stakeholders’ expectations.

ANTHONY EMEKA NWOSU

FINTRAK BRINGS INNOVATIVE TECH SOLUTIONS TO THE RWANDA FINANCIAL ECOSYSTEM

FINTRAK BRINGS INNOVATIVE TECH SOLUTIONS TO THE RWANDA FINANCIAL ECOSYSTEM

 

 

 

Fintrak Software Limited, an indigenous financial technology firm based in Lagos with an international footprint in various African country recently held banking and financial industry of Rwanda in awe with the reintroduction of their solution known as ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION. A software application that is designed for businesses to boost productivity and reduce human error in all the areas of their enterprise. The Fintech also presented their credit management solution known as CREDIT MANAGEMENT SOLUTION, the event was held at the KIGALI MARRIOT HOTEL, in the Rwandan capital City.

Speaking to the Rwanda financial ecosystem, the company described the Credit management solution as a software that was designed to help banks meet the need to identify, measure, monitor and control credit risk as well as to determine that they hold adequate capital against these risks and that they are adequately compensated for risks incurred. The Credit Risk 360 solution is Web based and can be easily accessed from all branches of the bank without separate installations on branch-by-branch basis.

“Banks are increasingly facing credit risk (or counter-party risk) in various financial instruments other than loans, including acceptances, inter-bank transactions, trade financing, foreign exchange transactions, financial futures, swaps, bonds, equities, options, and in the extension of commitments and guarantees, and the settlement of transactions”, they added.

Bimbo Abioye, the Group Managing Director of Fintrak used the opportunity to address Rwandan stakeholders on various features of their solutions such as Portal Driven Loan Origination, Online Loan Appraisal and documentation, Credit rating, mobile Loan approval and other areas of loan management such as SME Digital lending and disbursement.

On enterprise solution they focused on key features such as cost allocation, balanced scorecard, product profitability reports and flexible transfer pricing. All these features are embedded in the solution to make business seamless.

FinTrak Software is a global Financial Technology organization providing innovative technology and business solutions to financial institutions in the financial services sector and enterprises across continents. FinTrak Software is a global company, with business offices in Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia. Armed with and army of software engineers and professionals with competencies across banking, finance, audit, consulting and software development, FinTrak Software is on a mission to support organizations and states with technologies and intellectual strength required to enable them surpass their stakeholders’ expectations.

 

 

ANTHONY EMEKA NWOSU

 

ONE THING WE HAVE DONE RIGHT IN NOWNOW IS TO GATHER EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD – OYENIKE OWOMOYELA

ONE THING WE HAVE DONE RIGHT IN NOWNOW IS TO GATHER EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD – OYENIKE OWOMOYELA

 

 

 

In this interview with the top executive of NowNowDigital Systems  Limited, Oyenike Owomoyela who is the Head of Growth at NowNow, a financial technology (FinTech) firm based in Lagos. She talks about their strides in the fintech ecosystem such as the launch of their debit cards and virtual cards for their customers. She spoke of the impact the apex bank; the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made in the sector and how thy have made their API available for fintechs to use. Anthony Nwosu captured this in this exclusive interview. Oyenike is an expert in Financial Inclusion, Mass Retail & Youth Banking, digital sales products and loans, SME, process improvement and innovations to increase digital adoption by customers for seamless customer onboarding and retention via USSD, APS and Web.

 

Tell us the mission behind NowNow as a fintech firm?  

Our mission as a leading African B2B and B2C FinTech company is to deliver best in class financial services to SMEs, Agents and Consumers alike. We have a passion to deepen financial inclusion and provide job opportunities to the unemployed youths in Nigeria. We are a mobile bank that gives you control over how you spend your money. Be the Boss when you send money, receive money and pay bills for everyday essentials such as recharge card and data, insurance, electricity, shop online and instore-all in one place!

What informed the name NowNow?

We wanted to resonate first with one of the country’s local languages; Nigerian Pidgin English, what NowNow means in pidgin is to make haste or get something done instantly. The name also connotes that we are a fast-paced technology company that offers efficient services with speed! Our mission is to be a leading African B2B and B2C FinTech company whose mission is to deliver best in class financial services to SMEs, Agents and Consumers alike. We are building the world’s best technology that digitizes cash payments and provides financial empowerment for a better life for everyone.

Your slogan is “The New Way to Bank”, how has the journey been over these years?

We wanted to play on the double words ‘NowNow’ hence the slogan. Also, we realized there were a lot of negative sentiments with brick-and-mortar banks which included crowded banking halls, non-presence of bank branches at remote locations, slow response to customer complaints and resolution of issues. We wanted consumers to believe there is a new digital bank that will ensure they have control over their finances 24/7. Our customers resonate with the New way to bank and we have seen a steady increase in the adoption of our products and services.

Nigerian Fintech ecosystem can be said to be pretty busy, maybe one of the busiest in the continent, what are the unique things that set you apart from other players?

One thing we have done right in NowNow is to gather experienced professionals from across the world in the FinTech and Financial Services space hence we have a global view of what we need to do to achieve our goals as an organization. We are also focused on agile and adaptive technology and have a presence not only in the urban centers but rural communities also. We offer financial literacy tools as well as business solutions to all our consumers and merchants as a whole and have empowered a lot of youths and the unemployed through our agency banking model.

Opening an account in minutes is one of your selling points, how and what are you doing to ensure compliance with CBN regulation in the area of KYC?

Absolutely, this has been one of our major achievements; fast and seamless onboarding. What we have also done is to leverage API integrations with NIBSS and other 3rd party providers to ensure that we are opening quality wallets and profiling customers in line with the CBN 3-tiered KYC policy. Our Compliance team is also doing a lot at the backend to ensure transaction monitoring takes effect and processes related to KYC upgrades are done as at when due digitally. We also carry our EDD on transactions when the need arises.

How many downloads are we, looking at present from Nigerians?

We are aspirational when it comes to our consumer app, hence, we are on track to hit more than 1 million downloads by the end of the year. Yes, we know our competitors have well over that amount but what is paramount to us is not just the downloads but retaining those users to be loyal consumers for the long haul. Here we strongly believe in offering world calls financial services to people. We might not have millions of downloads yet but we are looking at offering seamless services to many people and these people will be with us on a long haul.

What is your market share in Nigeria, and do you have footprints in other African countries?

We think of ourselves as an embedded finance business, no longer a start-up. With that being said, it is part of our mission statement to have digital footprints all over Africa and really make a difference wherever we go. However, more information will be unveiled as we commence operations in more countries in the near future. We are looking seriously at the sub-Saharan fintech market. We have the expertise and the traction.

Some of the online banks do give debit cards, have you ever thought of that?

We recently had a soft launch phase of our Naira debit Mastercard in early August 2022 and we already have over 2000 active cards. We also have a virtual card which most of our consumers currently use for online transactions. So, we can say that we are abreast with the technology trends in the country. We do give out cards for those that love using cards but our strength also is in cardless transactions.

Do you think that the CBN is creating the enabling environments for fintech like yours to thrive?

In affirmative, the Apex bank created licenses that FinTechs can explore for financial services businesses all through. CBN believes that FinTechs are key actors in achieving National Financial Inclusion goals with Technology, Innovation, Speed and Scale. They also created a sandbox environment for product testing and innovation.

What are the challenges that you face in this business?

There are various challenges but I will mention the items that have the most impact: The rapid changes in macroeconomic landscape and terrain, upsurge and threats of competitors in various shapes and forms, shortages of skilled human capital, infrastructure not supporting scale i.e. internet penetration and switching infrastructure, insecurity and lastly, lower margins and ROE inhibiting access to capital (equity or debt).

What do we expect from NowNow this latter part of the year?

A few things! Firstly, our card campaign, which is aimed at our B2C customer segment – a project that we have been working on extensively for quite some time. We also have a new product launch to tackle the SME segment in Nigeria, which has one of the largest footprints of SMEs in Africa. We want to empower this segment by creating a digital platform that moves them from offline to online, provides access to market channels as well as financial capabilities, and ERP solutions. All these and many more are in the pipeline to really propell business owners to the next level of exposure and success. We will begin to roll out these products as we progress.

 

“One thing we have done right in NowNow is to gather experienced professionals from across the world in the FinTech and Financial Services space hence we have a global view of what we need to do to achieve our goals as an organization. We are also focused on agile and adaptive technology and have a presence not only in the urban centers but rural communities also.”

Ecobank Group Launches 2022 Edition of its Fintech Challenge with US$50,000 Prize Money up for Grabs

Ecobank Group Launches 2022 Edition of its Fintech Challenge with US$50,000 Prize Money up for Grabs

Fintech Challenge offers early stage and mature start-ups the potential to partner with Ecobank (www.Ecobank.com) across 33 African countries; Applications open until 16 September.

 

Pan-African banking group, Ecobank Group, has launched the fifth edition of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge and encourages African Fintech entrepreneurs to enter the competition.

Fintechs that are aligned with the Bank’s strategic objectives stand a chance to win an overall cash prize of US$50,000 for the top winner and the opportunity to partner and scale their solutions across Ecobank’s 33 African markets.

Fintech companies and developers originating from any of Africa’s 54 countries, as well as global Africa-centered Fintechs, are eligible to enter the Fintech Challenge by visiting: https://bit.ly/3KnrDz2. Applications can be made until the 16 September 2022.

Ecobank believes that the only way to transform financial services in Africa is for Pan-African banks like Ecobank to continually support and collaborate with innovative Fintechs

Ten finalists will be inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship after the finals and awards ceremony which will take place in October 2022.

In addition, all Fellows will qualify to explore the following opportunities with the Bank and its partners:

  • Multinational products roll out: an opportunity to pursue integration with Ecobank and potentially launch products in all or part of Ecobank’s pan-African 33-country ecosystem.
  • Service provider partnerships:  Ecobank may select some Fintechs as pan-African service partners within the Bank’s ecosystem.
  • Access to Ecobank’s Pan-African Banking Sandbox: Fellows will be given access to Ecobank’s APIs to test and improve their products for the pan-African market.
  • Priority Access to Ecobank’s Venture Capital partners for funding exploration.

Ade Ayeyemi, Chief Executive Officer, Ecobank Group, said “Ecobank believes that the only way to transform financial services in Africa is for Pan-African banks like Ecobank to continually support and collaborate with innovative Fintechs and start-ups. We invite and welcome Africa’s best Fintechs to work with us through the 2022 Challenge.”

Dr. Tomisin Fashina, Operations and Technology Executive, Ecobank Group said, “The uniqueness of the Challenge is that it welcomes both early stage and mature start-up Fintechs alike and seeks to align them with different kinds of partnership opportunities within Ecobank that match their differing levels of maturity.”

The Ecobank Fintech Challenge was designed in partnership with international advisory firm, Konfidants and is supported by partners across Africa and globally. So far 46 Fellows have been admitted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship programme since it was launched in 2017.

For more information about the competition, its benefits and how to apply, please visit https://bit.ly/3AMixIM

NOWNOW DIGITAL SYSTEMS TO EMPOWER SMEs SEGMENT BY CREATING A DIGITAL PLATFORM

NOWNOW DIGITAL SYSTEMS TO EMPOWER SMEs SEGMENT BY CREATING A DIGITAL PLATFORM

 

 

In Africa, the Nigerian financial technology (Fintech) ecosystem is one of the busiest and biggest in the continent. Handling transaction worth billions of Naira on daily basis. The need to be innovative, adaptive and secured platform are core factors that makes the industry players relevant. In this market, an indigenous fintech firm, NOWNOW Limited has taken the industry by the storm with their arrays of robust services and innovative solutions that have come to awe the tech savvy customers.

Speaking to the media on these solutions, Oyenike Owomoyela who is the Head of Growth at NowNow said that “Our mission as a leading African B2B and B2C FinTech company is to deliver best in class financial services to SMEs, Agents and Consumers alike. We have a passion to deepen financial inclusion and provide job opportunities to the unemployed youths in Nigeria. We are a mobile bank that gives you control over how you spend your money. Be the Boss when you send money, receive money and pay bills for everyday essentials such as recharge card and data, insurance, electricity, shop online and instore-all in one place.”

On why they choose the name NOWNOW, she added that” We wanted to resonate first with one of the country’s local languages; Nigerian Pidgin English, what NowNow means in pidgin is to make haste or get something done instantly. The name also connotes that we are a fast-paced technology company that offers efficient services with speed! Our mission is to be a leading African B2B and B2C FinTech company whose mission is to deliver best in class financial services to SMEs, Agents and Consumers alike. We are building the world’s best technology that digitizes cash payments and provides financial empowerment for a better life for everyone. We wanted to play on the double words ‘NowNow’ hence the slogan. Also, we realized there were a lot of negative sentiments with brick-and-mortar banks which included crowded banking halls, non-presence of bank branches at remote locations, slow response to customer complaints and resolution of issues.”

With the dearth of capacity in the industry, this has seen a lot of software developers and engineers leave the country and has resulted to downtime in some of the financial players platforms. NOWNOW has reassured their customers of 99% uptime and has made sure that they have the required manpower to power the industry. Oyenike opined that “One thing we have done right in NowNow is to gather experienced professionals from across the world in the FinTech and Financial Services space hence we have a global view of what we need to do to achieve our goals as an organization. We are also focused on agile and adaptive technology and have a presence not only in the urban centres but rural communities also. We offer financial literacy tools as well as business solutions to all our consumers and merchants as a whole and have empowered a lot of youths and the unemployed through our agency banking model. “

On the as of doing business and opening account, this has been one of their major achievements; fast and seamless onboarding. What NOWNOW has done is to leverage API integrations with NIBSS and other 3rd party providers to ensure that we are opening quality wallets and profiling customers in line with the CBN 3-tiered KYC policy. Oyenike said that “Our Compliance team is also doing a lot at the backend to ensure transaction monitoring takes effect and processes related to KYC upgrades are done as at when due digitally. We also carry our EDD on transactions when the need arises.”

During this last quarter, the company has a lot of things for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMs) and they have said that thy are desirous of moving their business offline to online where businesses and transactions will be seamlessly. Noting that the SMEs are the power house of the economy and shouldn’t be overlooked. They said that this last quarter will be focused on them. “Our card campaign, which is aimed at our B2C customer segment – a project that we have been working on extensively for quite some time. We also have a new product launch to tackle the SME segment in Nigeria, which has one of the largest footprints of SMEs in Africa. We want to empower this segment by creating a digital platform that moves them from offline to online, provides access to market channels as well as financial capabilities, and ERP solutions. All these and many more are in the pipeline to really propel business owners to the next level of exposure and success. We will begin to roll out these products as we progress”, Oyenike concludes.

 

 

ANTHONY EMEKA NWOSU

 

 

 

“One thing we have done right in NowNow is to gather experienced professionals from across the world in the FinTech and Financial Services space hence we have a global view of what we need to do to achieve our goals as an organization. We are also focused on agile and adaptive technology and have a presence not only in the urban centres but rural communities also. We offer financial literacy tools as well as business solutions to all our consumers and merchants as a whole and have empowered a lot of youths and the unemployed through our agency banking model.”