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The hunger for financial inclusion on the African continent gets higher each passing day. With the spread of coronavirus, the opportunities for the emergence of fintech startups are high.
In March, Flutterwave, the Nigerian payments startup company, announced that it had closed a Series C funding round of $170 million, putting the fintech company's value to over $1 billion and officially giving it a unicorn status. Flutterwave joins Interswitch (fintech), Jumia (e-commerce), and Fawry (fintech) as the only unicorns — companies valued over $1 billion— in Africa.
Related: Top FinTech Companies In Cameroon
In 2018, the bank of Botswana set out to work together with the IMF and Bank of Canada on this important two-day Workshop on ‘Fintech, Payments and Financial Inclusion: Unlocking the Potential of Financial Innovation for Sub-Saharan Africa.’
In Botswana, some commercial banks have joined hands with mobile telecommunications service providers to provide e-money services, such as Orange Money and Myzaka. The two services do not need a bank account to use, and they are critical in financial inclusion.
“Fintech is critical especially to the unbanked people,” said Scott Hendry of Bank Of Canada.
In Botswana, nearly 40 percent of the adult population has no access to traditional banking services. With fintech comes reduced banking fees, which in Botswana have been a concern. The concern has also been in the form of those engaged in business regionally and internationally.
Fintech in Botswana has changed the way finance operates. It is being assimilated as a way of life.
With that said, what are the top fintech companies in Botswana?
If you are looking for the companies at the top of fintech in Botswana, you are in the right place.
1. Moneychaps
Founded by Thabiso Mabaka, Moneychaps is a fast-growing leader of fintech in Botswana. MoneyChaps provides peer-to-peer lending services that offer higher value for receivers while increasing ROI. Through its mobile-based data-driven platform, MoneyChaps offers financial tools to individuals, businesses and groups.
MoneyChaps services ;
Business Tools – Invoicing, Estimate, Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, Inventory
Group Tools – Goal-based savings, Peer to Peer savings, Rotating Savings
Personal Tools – Financial Education, Budgeting
MoneyChaps is targetting:
Low to Medium Income (LMI) in urban and peri-urban settlements.
MSMEs, according to MoneyChaps, most MSMEs fail due to poor cash flow management practices. Therefore, they need proper education, training, and record maintenance to accumulate data for credit and other value-added services.
Savings Group, through its digitization, the efficiency and effectiveness of these groups can be enhanced so that they are more impactful in people’s lives.
Youth and informal employees – this segment of the market needs to be educated so that they understand basic financial products and are empowered to make better financial decisions.
The MoneyChaps apps have two types of accounts, which are the basic and premium accounts.
The basic account gives access to free basic tools. Users will need to go through a minimal KYC to access the basic account, but as users progress, they can move to the Premium account.
Related: Top Fintechs In Rwanda
2. Orange Money
Orange money is a modern, mobile phone-based payment scheme that gives unlimited opportunity to clients to conduct easy banking operations and transaction dealings without needing a bank account first. Orange money is committed to serving the population of Botswana with several interesting and amazing services, for example;
Managing accounts
Making payments
Money transfer
Prepaid services
Orange money card to wallet and very many other services.
They have a product called orange yame, which allows customers to check their credit balance, see our latest data offers, find the nearest Orange Shops and manage their Orange account subscriptions. This state-of-the-art application will also keep users updated with the latest promotions, offers and services from Orange.
Moreover, the user could recharge his mobile prepaid account with access to their Orange Money account, Bank Top-up or by sharing airtime through the Mpharanyetse Airtime service.
3. MyZaka Mascom
MyZaka Mascom is one of the most secure, trusted means to deliver money to anyone anywhere in Botswana. With MyZaka, you can send money, receive money, pay for goods and buy anything you want using your own mobile phone; all you need is to have your phone registered with MyZaka Mascom Money.
Myzaka Mascom money is open to all;
Users and subscribers,
Individuals with identity documents.
Any mobile phone user, whether prepaid or postpaid, and even
Non-subscribers who are not registered with Myzaka and these are some of the amazing benefits.
With myZaka, you can buy prepaid electricity, buy airtime, send and receive money in Botswana, pay DSTV subscription and pay Mascom postpaid bills. For more details, you can contact them at customerservice@mascom.com or visit them at; Tsholetsa House Plot 4705/6 Botswana road main mall or prepaid 111 and postpaid 129. Alternatively, you can follow them on their social media pages on; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
4. Unayo
Increased levels of competition in Fintech in Botswana has pressured Stanbic Bank to release Unayo, a digital solution accessed via mobile devices designed to connect business users with the markets they operate in.
Unayo will benefit both businesses and communities, providing a single hub for economic activity. Furthermore, it is an interactive marketplace where communities and businesses can transact. It is available to both citizens and foreign nationals and is accessible through self-registration using USSD on all mobile networks in Botswana or downloading the app.
Unayo pays merchants for goods and services using a voucher or QR code and locating participating merchants using Unayo and mapping applications.
Users can open a personal or business account and upgrade their profiles to add merchant functionality, allowing them to facilitate transactions on behalf of other customers and earn a commission. The platform builds a sustainable merchant network that empowers the communities and gives customers more convenient ways to access their funds. Unayo pays merchants for goods and services using a voucher or QR code and locating participating merchants using Unayo and mapping applications.
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