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Fintech International strives to promote financial inclusion

World Bank’s lead private sector specialist for East Africa Steven Dimitriyev (left), Child & Youth Finance International chief operating officer Bram Van Eijk (middle) and Midas Touché East Africa Tanzania CEO Nick Kasera exchange views on the sidelines of the Financial Inclusion summit recently

 The world is abuzz with the word “fintech"

To be fair, it is Loita Group, founded in Mauritius, with its headquarters in Nairobi that founded a company and named it Fintech International 25 years ago and popularised the terminology, now synonymous with finance and technology. The just-concluded Tanzania Financial Services Conference organised by Mr Deo Kilawe and his Mikono Speakers gave a wide array of speakers the opportunity to share on challenges facing financial inclusion including the micro finance sector.

Fintech International has been providing customers, largely banks and financial institutions, with tailor-made solutions that ease the institutions’ capacities to provide faster and better financial services.

Mr Polycup Osero, the Group head of sales and marketing, says in keeping with UN strategic development goals on eliminating poverty in all its forms, Fintech has identified partners and is working with microfinance institutions and Saccos that have a key role to play in mobilising savings, providing access to affordable credit and improvement of agriculture production and marketing, among others.

In responding to the challenges in the sector which include the lack of resources, high unemployment, infrastructure, low literacy including financial literacy, Fintech sees opportunities to meet Africa’s needs.

In this case, back office Coresystems become critical whether out rightly purchased or shared/hosted platforms.

It is the latter which Fintech has deployed in Malawi successfully as Mr Joseph Mayenda, chief executive officer of the Micro Finance Institutions Hub testifies.

Initially, financial institutions feared to venture into rural Malawi where over 70 per cent of our 17 m people live and 55 per cent of them were financially excluded.

The formation of the MFI Hub in Malawi was a government initiative, driven by research findings of a Finscope Survey and the need to mobilise savings and forms part of the base capital the country’s financial sector needed.

The government created the environment by working on payment systems and regulatory environment for MFIs. Creating systems was high to breaking key barriers hence to create a shared system that was inter-operable with MNO’s, National Switch.

Since Fintech entered into the arrangement with the shared core banking systems it has seen completely integrated solution that has seen more than 100 MFIs and Saccos joining the hub, thus create a net effect of more people saving/investing, easier partnerships between banks, improved confidence by clients and easier monitoring by regulators and credit referencing.

More on the article here: https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/1840340-4975252-view-asAMP-l293wbz/index.html