Category: Interoperability

Malawi based FinTech, PayChangu is supporting financial inclusion through a digital payment platform that simplifies transactions for businesses and individuals.

The PayChangu platform enables merchants to accept payments through mobile money and card payments thus providing customers with flexible payment options.

“At PayChangu, we help businesses; small or big to collect payments locally and globally. We have got APIs which developers use to integrate. We also have the payment gateway which is our biggest product. While we started the development of PayChangu in 2021, we got our license from the Reserve Bank of Malawi in July, 2024. Since then to date, our platform has transacted over 7 billion Malawian Kwacha. We have got over 4000 active merchants on our platform. We are doing well in Malawi and looking forward to being allover Africa,” Joshua Mwendo, the Chief Operations Officer at PayChangu said.

He added: “Our newest innovation is the instant direct bank transfer. This one allows our customers to do big transactions instantly via PayChangu. This allows for industries like real estate, car dealerships, hardwares and other big industries to integrate PayChangu and transact. This service is picking big interest from the Betting Industry as gamers are able to deposit 10, 15 million at once. Similarly, the Betting company is able to disburse wins of up to 500 million Kwacha in one transaction instead of writing multiple cheques.”

He noted that Malawi is still ‘a fresh market and virgin land when it comes to Technology, especially FinTech’, thus urging the organizers of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative to further support this ‘young yet nascent’ industry through capacity building, knowledge sharing and collaborations.

PayChangu featured on Day 29 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.

The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

Ashers Foods, an Agriculture value addition start-up found some 200 kilometers outside Lilongwe, Malawi has a developed a digital payment platform that ensures that farmers get full value for their money.

Though in its infant stages, Pay per Coin seeks to ensure that farmers, offtakers and suppliers transact digitally; pay and receive the exact amounts without losing any coin.

“As part of our Agriculture value addition work, we found out that most offtakers and suppliers have challenges with handling payments and financial management. Many were complaining that whenever they are making payments, they lose money. For example, if one was paying 49 dollars and 20 cents, they would pay 50 dollars and won’t get the change/balance back. They end up losing money in these small figures, which becomes a lot at the end of the whole transaction. It is from this experience that we came up with Pay per Coin to encourage our suppliers and offtakers to use electronic payments which ensure that they pay the exact amount and don’t lose any coin,” Watupa Wyson Mtambo, the Founder and Operations Manager of Ashers Foods, the organization behind the Pay per Coin innovation said. 

Watupa noted that Pay per Coin allows its users to pay for their goods or services and also receive payment for the goods or services they supplied in local currency.

“Pay per Coin also allows other services such as purchase of talk time, payment of utilities bills, sending and receiving money. In a transaction, the platform allows you to pay the exact amount without losing any cents,” she said.

She noted that as a new platform, they are facing several challenges including poor connectivity, digital and financial illiteracy, limited funding and low public acceptability and trust of digital innovations.

She urged the organizers of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative to roll-out more digital and financial literacy trainings focusing on farmers and cross border traders as knowledge acquired from these workshops will propel their businesses to greater heights in addition to building more trust for digital innovations.

“CBC and HiPipo should give us more trainings that are in line with digital payment platforms and how such platforms can operate not only in one country but several countries. For example, I am also a cross border trader operating in Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and some times Mozambique. Such trainings on cross border digital payments platforms would help me and other cross border traders address issues such as forex exchange.” 

Pay per Coin featured on Day 28 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.

The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc. 

Those that have used local buses, and taxis will tell you that most payments are done in cash; with passengers usually paying for a full trip fare regardless of your drop off point.

It is such rigidities that YendaRide seeks to address in Zambia, through a digital platform that allows passengers to pay fares that are in sync with distance travelled.

“Our platform is a post-paid e-ticketing payment system that makes it easy for passengers to pay bus fares seamless. The genesis of this platform is that I identified a problem in the way passengers traditionally pay for bus fares on local routes. In a typical bus situation, a passenger pays with cash, expects change and even when the authorities come up with a standard bus fare, the operators don’t follow it. At the end, passengers are overcharged, and some time lose their balance. This affects bus owners too,” Colins Mulenga Nonde, Founder and CEO YendaRide said, adding:

“It is this mess that we seek to address. This is an electronic platform that calculates and allows you to pay the exact fare for your trip. The idea is that you should pay for the distance covered, not round payment or full fare even when you dropping off half way the trip. Our platform has come to ensure that customers don’t make such losses.”

Mulenga noted that YendaRide is an APP based platform, currently downloadable on the Google Play store.

“Once you download it on Google Play, you register and link the platform to your mobile money or bank account to enable you deposit and recharge the account. After this set up, you are able to start initiating trips and the platform will give you a QR code which is scanned by a conductor using a point of sale machine after which you are allowed to board. Bus owners are registered with us and issued with point of sale machines that they use to scan the tickets. Through the point of sale machines, the bus operators are able to see and monitor all transactions.”

He nonetheless noted that while this platform is exciting, the town council authorities are skeptical and less knowledgeable about such innovations thus ‘resistance to adopt’.

Mulenga applauded the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for ‘encouraging Zambian FinTechs to take a lead in ensuring that more people are included in the digital payments ecosystem plus ensuring that payment systems are at the center stage of driving innovations.’

YendaRide featured on Day 27 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide. The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

Robust365 is contributing to Zambia’s Digital and Financial Inclusion through empowering micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) to take control of their finances, make data driven decisions and achieve their business growth.

The tool allows small businesses to manage their finances, track quotations, invoices, income and expenses among other things. Its latest addition is a payment functionality.

“The financial technology solution we have created helps small businesses to manage their finances. Our system not only helps businesses manage finances but also allows payments. When our users send invoices, they directly receive payments on to their wallets,” Fredrick Alban, co-founder and CTO of Robust365.

Alban noted that while they started the development of their software in 2019, it at some point crushed and had to be redeveloped to meet the needs of the market.

“There are over 500 businesses using our platform. The main challenge we are facing is the fact that most small businesses have no records of their finances and are hesitant to migrate to digital. These, we are reaching out to and educating them to understand why they should digitize their business.”

He further revealed that low funding, limited technical skills and expertise are key barriers to Zambia and broadly Africa’s digitization and financial inclusion.

“Our market lacks technical knowledge. You find for example, we are failing to integrate the Mojaloop API on to our systems. It is not just about finances but more about the technical competence. We need to have the right technology and developers to build our FinTechs and boost our systems.”

Alban applauded the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative noting that “if it continues to operate over years, many start-ups which are still lagging behind will get a lot of achievements.”

Robust365 was featured on Day 26 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.

The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc. 

ValueFin is supporting micro, small and medium sized businesses in Zambia to scale and reach higher heights through connecting them to ready markets, and providing patient credit.

This according to Mukuka Bwalya, a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ValueFin Limited is part of their commitment to promote entrepreneurship and provide solutions to the social and economic challenges faced by communities at the bottom of the pyramid.

“At ValueFin, we work with low income entrepreneurs and provide three specific services. These are access to finance, market linkages and business formalization services,” Mukuka Bwalya, a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ValueFin Limited said.

She added: “From a financial inclusion perspective, we use a web-based loan management system that allows us to gather specific customer data points especially in the informal sector where there is no real record system. The system we have in place allows to leverage AI analytics to make credit decisions about what our customers need but also mitigate risk by following the patterns and behaviors of our customers.”

Mukuka noted that the ValueFin loan management system in flexible and accessible on an entry level smart phone thus making it easy for field agents to capture data required in ‘our day to day credit decision making’.

“We strongly believe that there should be a balance between touch and tech and thus ensure that in every market we work in, we have a physical presence so that from a trust perspective our customers can reach us to assist them whenever there is any challenge.”

She noted that ValueFin onboards 80 per cent women, serves about 500 women every month in 13 market locations and disburses average loans sizes of about 1500 Kwacha per person.

Even with this encouraging growth, Mukuka noted that low digital literacy, and low smart devices penetration are delaying last mile financial inclusion.

“We are looking for opportunities for collaboration because we believe that with collaboration, you can achieve anything. We are also improving our system to create more impact. Beyond that, we have also noticed that our customers have a lot challenges around micro insurance when tragedy befalls them. We are looking for ways of partnering with strategic partners and providing a holistic service that captures services like micro insurance to our customers.”

ValueFin was featured on Day 25 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.

The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc. 

pawaPay; one of Africa’s FinTech Giants is supporting financial inclusion through enabling hundreds of businesses to seamlessly make and collect payments.

Currently operation in at-least 19 African countries, pawaPay provides one API (Application Programming Interface) and one dashboard that integrate mobile money services in payment processes, making collections and disbursements faster and safer.

In Malawi, it has over the past 3 years established itself as a dependable mobile money aggregator.

“At pawaPay, we are a mobile money aggregator. This means that we enable merchants – our customers such as BetPawa to collect and disburse funds via mobile money. We enable customers to deposit money in to their wallets and to also collect/withdraw money from their wallets,” Arthur Muyepa, the pawaPay Country Manager for Malawi said.

He added: “We are regulated by the Reserve Bank of Malawi. We got our license in 2024. Before that, we worked on a 6 months pilot scheme regulated by the Central Bank. Since 2022, we have grown from working with one merchant to over 170 merchants in Malawi who are collecting and disturbing payments. In 2023 alone, we processed about USD 24 million while in 2024, we processed around USD 207 million. This points to the progress we are making.”

Muyepa noted that the FinTech Industry in Malawi still has a lot of untapped opportunities as most people are still unbanked and mobile money penetration is still low. He further highlighted limited interoperability, and less collaborations as key obstacles to financial inclusion.

“Unlike mature markets such as Kenya where there is a lot interoperability between banks and mobile money operators, it is still low in Malawi. A lot of work needs to be done to address this and open a lot of opportunities in the future. This makes the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative important as it is helping to address some of these issues but more effort is required. For instance, we (pawaPay) organize the FinTech Fridays where we bring our competitors together to discuss industry issues, find synergies and areas of collaboration. More of such is needed to help with capacity building, and fundraising for the players in the industry.”

pawaPay was featured on Day 24 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.

The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

World over, the Gig economy is fast-growing, offering millions of people with a decent livelihood.

According to Investopedia, the gig economy, also known as the sharing economy or access economy, refers to a labor market characterized by short-term, independent work, often accessed through digital platforms. This includes freelance, contract, or project-based work, as opposed to traditional employment with a regular salary and benefits.

The gig economy relies heavily on temporary and part-time positions filled by independent contractors and freelancers rather than full-time permanent employees.

In Zambia, Skille Technologies Limited is using a ‘Gig Economy approach’ to connect freelancers to available gigs – short term work.

“We are a market place for digital services. As a client who needs digital services such as website development, influencer marketing, graphics designing, and anything you need for your business to grow or upscale, we are a platform that provides that for you. You just come to Skille and at a click of a button, you check the service you need, find a sustainable freelancer and get the work done,” noted Kabwe Chama Nkandu, a co-founder at Skille Technologies.

She added: “All our freelancers subscribe to be listed. For any freelancer to be connected to a client, you must be a subscribed member. This means that we vet all service providers, their levels of competence and professionalism. We do this because we want to give value to our customers, not just onboarding anybody.”

She noted that once a client is connected to an available service provider, and payment details agreed; the client then pays to Skille, who in turn hold the payment and only remit it to the service provider once the procured service has been provided as per the client request.

“The clients pay directly to our platform, we hold the money and only pay the freelancer once the job is completed. It is from this payment that we also get our commission directly.”

Nkandu noted that the roll-out of Skille has been a rollercoaster as the market is not yet fully accustomed to digital payments, with customers worried about cyber fraud while majority are still comfortable with cash-based transactions.

“Some freelancers don’t want to be paid on the platform. They insist on being paid cash away from the platform. So, what we have done is that there is no communication or connection between the freelancers and the customers seeking services. We manage the communication on the platform but we know that some people do further communication away from the platform. In this case, whatever challenge that comes off the platform is not our challenge to address.”

Nkandu applauded the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative noting that the knowledge shared and visibility given to participants will propel the FinTech Industry to greater heights.

Skille Technologies was featured on Day 23 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.

The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

JUMO is fast-tracking Africa’s last-mile financial inclusion through offering digital-collateral free loans to individuals and small businesses.

Described as a market leading banking as a service platform, JUMO enables real-time access to funds at the lowest possible operating cost in Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Zambia among other countries.

“At JUMO, we believe in frictionless banking systems. So, we provide a platform that allows individuals to access banking, credit and saving products without having to go through brick and mortar traditional banking. Access is through the mobile phone as most individuals across Africa do own mobile phones which are either smart or feature phones. Our customers are able to access us through the USSD platform and APP in some markets. Through the USSD, our customers are able to opt in and choose the loans of their choice. Once they opt in and wish to proceed with borrowing, a credit assessment is done and the customers are notified instantly whether they are eligible to borrow or not,” Alison Lungu, the JUMO Head of Capital Partnerships for East Africa explained.

He added: “The key thing here is that this individual doesn’t have to walk in to a branch, or fill in any forms. We are basically looking at your historical data. How long have you used the phone, transaction history, activity period, peak payments and in follows among others. All these metrics help us make a decision on whether to onboard and allow them to start enjoying these loans products.”

Lungu revealed that as of end of 2024, JUMO World had disbursed up to USD 6.6 billion across its markets, qualified 300,000 new customers on to its global ecosystem every month and currently processing about 150,000 loans in Zambia, every month. 

He revealed that some of the challenges affecting Africa’s FinTech Industry are financial literacy gaps, individuals’ inability and willingness to repay, low availability and access to patient capital.

“It is an exciting time to be in the FinTech space. Our constraint is not lack of business, it is really how much capital we can push in to the ecosystem in a responsible manner.”

Lungu applauded the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative for uplifting innovators, supporting cross border trade and helping direct capital towards the vulnerable and unbanked individuals. 

JUMO featured on Day 22 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.

The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.

MobiPay Limited, a Malawian innovation company is using technology to develop and roll-out solutions aimed at ending financial exclusion.

Among its financial inclusion solutions is Malipo – a payment gateway that simplifies transactions, enhance efficiency, and empowers business to do more and grow seamlessly across Malawi.

 “Our flagship FinTech Product is called Malipo; a payment gateway that enables businesses collect and make payments. Malipo supports bank transactions, cards, and mobile money. Malipo provides secure and hassle-free payment processing solutions tailored for all businesses across Malawi. It is accessible as an APP downloadable on both Google Play and APP store,” Alex Piringu, an ICT Manager at MobiPay Limited said.

He added: “We also have a crowdfunding platform where people can donate money for different causes. Again, through Malipo, the money will be collected and channeled to the cause that someone has created a campaign for. In brief, we provide a gateway for people to transact using any payment method wherever they are.”

Piringu noted that limited product awareness, financial literacy, low capital and rigid licensing regimes are some of the main challenges they face on the market.

MobiPay featured on Day 21 of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative; Zambia and Malawi edition. The roll-out of the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative in Zambia and Malawi followed its success in East Africa. Over the past 5 years, the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative has featured over 200 FinTech stories from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. This initiative has also engaged hundreds of end-users and shared their stories with millions worldwide.

The primary objective of this initiative is to support and showcase innovative FinTech giants and start-ups from across Africa, with a focus on promoting financial inclusion and economic growth, in addition to giving start-ups access to the resources they need to develop new and innovative financial solutions that can benefit underserved populations. Such resources include but are not limited to Level One Project guidelines, Mojaloop Open Source Software and Inclusive Finance systems, etc.