Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2022 Grand Finale
Discover the 2022 Finalists
MaishaPay is a domestic payment and remittance services provider that helps MSMEs, e- commerce merchants, and individuals to receive and make payments by mobile money and bank cards in a simple and secure way.
With MaishaPay platform, users can interact with different mobile payment solutions (interoperability) and make payments via QR codes.
MaishaPay is an inclusive innovation designed with for underserved and unserved segments of society. Our platform has local dialect options, can be accessed on feature phones (using USSD), and its e-KYC can be leveraged to create unique and secure digital identity for customers.
South Africa
Paycode is a unique B2B digital payment platform that provides last mile solutions to the underserved and unbanked. We solve the 3 key challenges of financial inclusion: identity, cost and connectivity, through biometric digital identity and offline low-cost transactions.
Nigeria
Moni is a community-driven platform that empowers SMEs across Africa with the working capital and the technology they need to grow and scale.
Using our Community Financing (CoFi) and credit decisioning models, we have disbursed over 15k loans disbursed valued at nearly $20m in the past year.
Nigeria
Touch and Pay provides the infrastructure to digitize and process microtransactions in Africa. Large-sum payment processing has largely been automated but simple everyday transactions are completely cash-based. This is where we come in. Through our flagship product, Cowry, we digitize micro-everyday transactions using our Cowry App or offline based Cowry card.
With more than 250 million Africans relying on cash payments with merchants every day, we seek to fill this gap.
Senegal
Western banks offer a nightmarish payment experience and no cross-border investment option into emerging markets. Cauri Money is a digital bank built to facilitate payments and other financial services between the EU and Africa (Senegal) for Africans in the diaspora. With Cauri Money, African emigrants can make money transfers and investments from Europe into Africa (Senegal).
Togo
DizzitUp is a carbon-free, green energy equipment marketplace powered by blockchain technology. Our platform is a mobile only (IOS, Android) platform with secure payment processing service.
About the Challenge
The Ecobank Fintech Challenge identifies and partners Fintechs that are ready to scale and provides them with support and access to opportunities in Ecobank’s 33 African markets. The goal? To contribute to their growth as potential Pan African Fintech success stories.
The Challenge is open to all Fintechs on the African continent. Interested Fintechs can apply by sending details of their product as well as a demo here. These products must address one or more of a specific set of pain points which can be found here.
The selected finalists participate in the Ecobank Fintech Challenge Grand Finale. The ultimate winner for 2022 will be awarded a cash prize of $50,000. All finalists are inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, which affords them the opportunity to explore deals, integration and commercial partnership with the Ecobank Group.
What's in it for you: Benefits and Opportunities
Become a finalist; get inducted as an Ecobank Fintech Fellow and stand a chance to explore the following opportunities:
Once in a lifetime opportunity to pursue integration with Ecobank and potentially
launch products in Ecobank’s over 30 markets across Africa.
The ultimate winner will be awarded a cash prize of $50,000.
Start-ups may be selected by Ecobank as local country-level partner in any of Ecobank’s 33 country ecosystem.
Fellows will be given access to a dedicated team to support on the Ecobank’s APIs test to enable them improve their products for the pan-African market.
Founders will be inducted as Ecobank Fintech Fellows, granting them access and relationships to a vast network of global and African Accelerators and potential Investors as well as mentors.
The Challenge offers opportunities
for Fintechs to potentially integrate with Ecobank’s existing digital offerings. The
existing
digital offerings include Ecobank Omni, Ecobank electronic financial supply
chain(eFSC),
Ecobank Xpress, Ecobank Mobile APP or USSD, MasterPass™ QR, mVISA™ & mCash, etc.
You can learn more about these platforms HERE. We’d like applicants to pitch us how their
solutions can add value to these existing Ecobank digital offerings.
Applicant's Journey
1
Late August - Mid-September 2022
Apply
2
Late September 2022
Get
Shortlisted
3
Mid-October 2022
Become
a finalist
4
Late October 2022
Pitch at
Challenge event/win
cash
5
Late October 2022
Get
Inducted into Ecobank
Fintech Fellowship
6
November 2022 - April 2023
Explore Integration &
commercial partnership
opportunities with
Ecobank Group
Pain-Points: What we’re looking for
We are looking for futuristic and innovative Fintech products in the following areas:
- Improvement of customer experience both online and at the branch
- Management of complaints on the Digital channels.
- Digital solutions using analytics/customer insights and AI to offer tailored adverts
- Acceleration of resolution process
- Digitization of customer journey
- Proactive support to customer
- Personalised Customer Interaction (Self-service)
- Defined reporting outcomes to measure value
We welcome cutting-edge solutions capable of improving the lending process to SMEs:
- Digital customer on boarding (Consumers, SME/Merchant, Investment Banking)
- Increasing our payment wallet size across our network
We welcome cutting-edge solutions capable of improving the lending process to SMEs:
- 360° view on customers and prospects' financial activities with other FIs
- Digitization of the lending journey for SMEs
We are interested in dynamic innovations in the following areas:
- SME/Merchants onboarding and payment integration
- Niche merchant aggregation through tailored solutions per sector
- Facilitate mobile collections with merchants that enable synchronization and consolidation with our Xpress point system
We are looking for:
- Digital solutions which improve sales force performance
We’d be happy to learn how you can help us solve problems around:
- Offline mobile to mobile payments (Dead Zones)
- Increasing our payment wallet size within the African context
Any other solution that will revolutionize banking and payments in Africa.
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