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Ticteq is using FINTECH to reduce Tickets’ purchase hustle and commotion

Our Reporter.

For those that have attended events in Uganda, you are familiar with the hustle and bustle involved in buying entry tickets. This includes long queues, higher prices than originally advertised and fraudsters selling fake tickets among other issues.

But all this will soon be history; if event organizers and revelers can incorporate technology in the ticketing journey.

Already on the market is a solution that brings together event organizers and party-goers on a single online platform called Ticteq.

Ticteq is an online ticketing company that deals in events ticketing and crowd funding. So far, the platform has sold over ten thousand (10,000) tickets, has sixty thousand (60,000) subscribers and has digitally transacted in excess of sixty million shillings (UGX 60m).

According to George Katuramu, the Ticteq Director, the solution has allowed event organizers to shift from the slow, costly and inconveniencing manual process to a digital one that allows them to register and upload their events on the Ticteq platform for potential customers to purchase tickets.

Using the platform, event organisers can contact people who have bought tickets, and customers can also get refunds in case they are unable to attend.

“This is a complete solution for someone who wants to organize a successful event, without worrying about tickets, fake notes, coins or being cheated at the entrance,” Katuramu says, adding that one simply visits the Ticteq website to buy a ticket using either MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money or a credit card. The money is automatically remitted to the event organizer’s mobile or bank account.

He further explains that even though the long COVID-19 lockdown set them back, the platform is fast picking up given that it gives events stakeholders a variety of advantages including safety and settling transactions in real time.

“We were affected by COVID-19 because all events were cancelled. But since we resumed events, we are picking up from where we had stopped. We have already had a few successful events and there is hope and growth.”

Away from ticketing, Ticteq is also offering a crowd-funding product that allows people to share their causes with the public, and raise funds to address their pressing needs.

The causes supported by this platform, according to Katuramu, can range from education to medical to social, among others.

“With our portal, you can always know who donated, the total number of people who donated and the total amount donated and you can withdraw the money to your mobile money account or a bank account at any time. When a person makes a donation, the benefactor automatically receives the money instantly at no cost,” he says.

Although the product would salvage many people who we usually see on social media platforms conversing for financial support, Katuramu notes that most Ugandans are yet to appreciate the power of crowd funding.

“Most Ugandans think that crowd funding is for people who need organ transplant or surgery which is not true; it is for everyone. You may need tuition to complete your education or need money to travel, you can raise it through crowd funding,” he says.

“Simply share your story, giving details of what you need to do and how you want to do it. The people who will like your story and get touched to contribute towards the cause; they will do so,” he explains.

Ticteq is the sixth participant of the 2022 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

Now in its third edition, #40Days40FinTechs has quickly grown into one of the world’s premier showcase events for the innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space. That is surely going to remain the case, in large part due to the inspiration and collaboration that our partners Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies generate, but mostly because of the continuing generous support of the Gates Foundation.

Digital Innovators and FinTechs around East Africa should be more eager to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three covers physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products & Services and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold.

The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to the industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

According to HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya, this year’s edition will cement achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also build on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond.

“As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant and inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor,” Kawooya said.

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Peleyta is using FINTECH to enable less fortunate Ugandans access quality healthcare

Our Reporter.  

Majority of Ugandans are just one medical emergency and hospital admission away from financial ruin and untold disaster. This is because accessing quality healthcare is very expensive and a preserve of a few.

Even though the government, with support from development partners, has invested massively in healthcare, the cost of medication remains very high for the uninsured.

It is this predicament that inspired a group of young Ugandans to come up with a digital platform that can enable ordinarily Ugandans save money for health emergencies.

Named Peleyta Health, this digital platform is a flexible, affordable and convenient FinTech helping low-income earners prepare for and afford quality healthcare anywhere at all times through a digital healthcare micro savings and lending.  

“We derive our name Peleyta from the English word Pay Later; meaning that if you request for a medical loan from Peleyta, we have it extended to you, get treated and pay later at your convenience. We believe that no one should struggle financially to receive healthcare,” Douglas Smith, the Peleyta Co-Founder, said.

He added: “When you look at insurance penetration in Uganda, it stands at 1 percent, leaving over 43 million Ugandans uninsured. At Peleyta Health, we enable our users to save as low as UGX 500 cumulatively deducted and reserved for health care. All this is done through mobile money. This fund can be used to offset their medical bills or buy medicine at registered healthcare facilities and pharmacies. And in case these funds are not sufficient, they can request for a micro loan and we do a top up for them.”

To start this journey, the team behind Peleyta Health was challenged and motivated by an unfortunate viral story of a one Anita Mushieimana, who walked to Kitwe Health Centre IV (Ntungamo district) to give birth, upon reaching at the health centre, she delivered at the gate because she failed to pay UGX 50,000 to let her into the delivery Ward.

“After some time designing this platform, we launched early this year and have so far cleared medical bills of more than 150 subscribers. We also have more than 20 health facilities registered on our platform. We started from Ibanda district and are progressing well in western Uganda. We plan to expand to more healthcare facilities across Uganda.”  

To get started, you download the Peleyta APP or visit their website and register. Only registered members are guaranteed to access Peleyta services within the shortest time possible since their KYC and due diligence in general was earlier done during registration stage.

Registered members instantly have a savings account with Peleyta Health created; an account they keep servicing either daily, weekly, or monthly starting with as low as UGX 500. These savings attract interests at the end of the month. Savers will access their savings to clear their medical fares anytime.

Peleyta Health is the 5th participant of the 2022 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative.  

40-Days 40-FinTechs

Now in its third edition, #40Days40FinTechs has quickly grown into one of the world’s premier showcase events for the innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space. That is surely going to remain the case, in large part due to the inspiration and collaboration that our partners; Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies generate, but mostly because of the continuing, generous support of the Gates Foundation.

Digital Innovators and FinTechs around East Africa should be more eager to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three will cover physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products & Services and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold.

The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

According to HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya, this year’s edition will cement achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also build on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond.

“As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant and inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor,” Kawooya said.

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Money Sent is aiding borderless money transfers

Our Reporter.

Have you ever been with an account that has money but are unable to access it? Put differently, has someone ever called you with an emergency that needs money? You may even have the money but are unable to send it to this person because of the absence of a transfer system?

A few years ago, a Ugandan was faced with such a problem (had money but was unable to send it to his friend who had an emergency), and got frustrated. But from the frustration, something good was born. Together with his peers, he developed Money Sent – a mobile app that allows both individuals and companies to connect conveniently in order to send, receive and coordinate efforts involving money.

“Together with my team, we developed an application that allows people to send and receive money. The reason why I created Money Sent was because one time ago, when I wanted to send money to my friend in America and wanted to do MoneyGram online; I signed up successfully at MoneyGram online but unfortunately I couldn’t send money to another person using MoneyGram online because I was a Ugandan. So, I was like Uganda needs something international; a solution that anyone can use to send and receive money regardless of their nationality. I thought of something that would be cheaper and convenient for everyone,” said James Mukasa, the Money Sent Founder and CEO, adding;

“It has been more than a year since we started and we have been growing well. The reason why we are called Money Sent is that it is in the past. The moment you click send; money has already been sent. It is instantaneous and secure. We are serving more than 3,000 customers right now. We have 497 agents around the country. We have done more than UGX 1 billion in transactions.”

Money Sent is bridging the gap between the banked and unbanked as no bank account is necessary to send or receive money using this system. The Application is built with online banking level security, meaning that the security of the application, transactions, data, and information of clients is guaranteed. It relies on principles that govern remittances worldwide and is compliant with AML (Anti-Money Laundering) standards. The Money Sent system is built on strong security standards, and prevents criminals from using the system for their selfish gains and nefarious interests.

This online payment system addresses not only the challenges of the fees charged, delays and tediousness of remittance processes, but also promotes targeted investment.

But even with the platform picking up well, Mr. Mukasa nonetheless decries the high charges levied by the telecoms which make business very hard for other stakeholders.

“Most of the unbanked people use MTN and Airtel. When our customers are adding more on Money Sent, the telecoms charge two percent or more yet the client expects to get the money as they have deposited it yet Money Sent has received lower thanks to these charges. This is a very big challenge. There should be togetherness in everything we do because Uganda is too big for only MTN and Airtel,” Mukasa explained.

Money Sent is the fourth participant in this year’s 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

Now in its third edition, #40Days40FinTechs has quickly grown into one of the world’s premier showcase events for the innovations that are enabling ever more people to join the digital economy space. That is surely going to remain the case, in large part due to the inspiration and collaboration that our partners; Level One Project, Mojaloop, ModusBox, and Crosslake Technologies generate, but mostly because of the continuing generous support of the Gates Foundation.

Digital Innovators and FinTechs around East Africa should be more eager to embrace 40 Days 40 FinTechs as Season three will cover physical destinations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program that also encompasses other initiatives such as FinTech Landscape Exhibition, Women in FinTech Hackathon, Summit & Incubator and the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and Digital Impact Awards Africa; the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provides a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products & Services and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those unserved and underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold.

The 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative offers participants useful tools and an introduction to industry’s emerging technologies, such as Mojaloop Open Source Software, and guidance from Level One Project foundational material. The skills gained from this initiative cover Level One Project Principles, Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), Inclusive Finance and FinTech in general.

According to HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya, this year’s edition will cement achievements of the previous editions – where over 60 FinTechs have been transformed – but also build on them to leverage digital financial inclusion in East Africa and beyond. “As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of championing digital innovation and interoperable instant and inclusive payment systems (IIPS) in Africa to a point where our innovators enjoy and achieve sound profit margins to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive financial services for the poor,” Kawooya said.

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HiPipo awarded Best Financial Inclusion Organisation in East Africa- FinTech Awards 2022

We are proud to announce that HiPipo has been awarded the Best Financial Inclusion Organization in East Africa by FinTech Awards 2022 hosted by Wealth & Finance International.

Wealth and Finance identifies organisations that are deserving of recognition for the works they perform, giving the aforementioned organisations a boost to their profiles, and enlarging their professional networks. Theirs is an esteemed platform, and offers fantastic opportunities for HiPipo to enhance and improve its initiatives while impacting millions of lives and livelihoods.

They thus recognise organisations committed to advancing financial inclusion, gender equality and financial equity as core foundation principles for ensuring that we together build a world that is inclusive for everyone, not less. And it is for that reason that the jury chose HiPipo.

On behalf of the fantastic HiPipo team, Innocent Kawooya expressed his appreciation for the accolade. ‘I find it pleasing that the efforts of the HiPipo team are being recognised,’ he said, ‘this award was only given to HiPipo because I work with an incredible team’. He added, ‘It should also never be forgotten that we have been blessed with extraordinarily supportive partners. What we have done and achieved would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship of the Gates Foundation, and the technical input of Modusbox, Crosslake Technologies, Ideation Corner, the Mojaloop Foundation, MET Images, NG Films, and Decent Africa among others. This accolade is for all of us, and will spur us at HiPipo onwards to do even more’. Together we shall continue to grow.

HiPipo continues plays a vital role in advocating for the creation of a sound, secure, competitive, and universal financial system that is essential for sustainable and inclusive growth.

2022 has so far been another fruitful and progressive year for HiPipo. With Innocent Kawooya at the helm, the organisation once again made significant inroads in its advocacy for the adoption and dissemination of financial technology (FinTech), specifically as an avenue to increase Financial Inclusion amongst the underserved and unserved.

In this vein, HiPipo successfully carried out all its Financial Inclusion and FinTech initiatives, including the 40 Days 40 FinTechs & FinTech Landscape Exhibition, the Women-in-FinTech Hackathon & Summit, the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit and the Digital Impact Awards Africa. And added to this was the Women-in-FinTech Incubator. ‘The Incubator is HiPipo maintaining a strong commitment to empowering women in the digital technology space’, Innocent commented, adding, ‘they must be prioritised for the knowledge and tools to build successful tech initiatives, for what they do shall ultimately serve communities better’.

There was also a landmark moment in HiPipo’s entertainment programs, as the 10th HiPipo Music Awards were successfully held at Mestil Hotel on the 10th of December, 2021, further cementing those honours as one of the most auspicious and longest running on the continent.

We say thank you, and promise that there is more to come going forward.

Our ultimate hope is to guarantee that Africa reaps dividends from its young population, starting now and ultimately in the future.

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Commencement Of The We Will Win Initiative

HiPipo and the Ideation Corner, with great pleasure, announce the start of the We Will Win initiative, a project that is set to make extraordinary inroads into the development and growth of Uganda’s film industry.

The We Will Win initiative is the brainchild of and a collaboration between a number of like-minded influential players in the finance and entertainment industry. Together, we are The Consortium, and include HiPipo itself, The Ideation Corner, NG Films, MET Images, Koncepts & Sakyas, and Decent Africa.

Innocent Kawooya, the HiPipo CEO, is serving as the President, Technical Services, and Damali Ssali, the Ideation Corner Founder, is serving as President, Financial Services: they are the powerhouse duo spearheading the project.

We Will Win is a revolutionary and multi-pronged approach to steer to audiences and markets alike a high volume of quality films, all conceptualised, directed, and produced in Uganda, and all telling our stories our way. We Will Win is to offer technical and financial support at all levels of these productions, from the script to the shoot to the editing room, and then go even further to secure market for these visual stories.

This approach should see Uganda’s film industry move forward in leaps and bounds, not only by improving quality both in front of and behind the camera, but also by introducing Ugandan film to vast new interest and markets, both internally and externally, thus letting the industry emerge as the creative and empowering force it doubtless has the potential to be. HiPipo will call on its extensive experience in the same, having been the first Ugandan enterprise to produce and then place a local production onto an international streaming platform and the Ideation Corner will leverage its vast experience in social impact funding.

Be it action, drama, comedy or horror, be it mind-bending science-fiction or slapstick animation, experimental film or mythological fantasy, Uganda is a place of countless stories yet to be told and multitudes of voices ready to unfold and enthrall the world. Through our music and culture, we have shown we can hold the world’s attention. We Will Win is the springboard on which to make this vast creative leap forward, going even further in our storytelling and our entertaining. Yes, the time has come for us to stop looking for versions of our stories in those already told by others, but to finally go all out and tell our very own, and in our own way.

The wider picture of the We Will Win initiative speaks to how the creative industries are critical to the Sustainable Development agenda. They are the bedrock of innovation, and are an important factor in the ever evolving services sector. They support entrepreneurship and contribute to job creation, cultural diversity and gender diversity. As such the United National General Assembly declared 2021 the International Year of the Creative Economy of Sustainable Development.

#WeWillWin #IdeationCorner!

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#LevelOneProject: 2021 #WomenInFinTech Hackathon concludes Day Two with Call for Value Addition.

Day Two of the #WomenInFinTech #LevelOneProject Hackathon was successfully concluded with discussions centred on how participants can improve their projects in order to serve their target audiences better.

Day two mentor, Doreen Lukandwa, the Beyonic/MFS Africa vice president (global enterprises) and winner of the 2020 Women in FinTech Award urged participants to use latest technologies such as Mojaloop Open Source Software in order to add value to their products as this will give them a better entry in to the financial technology ecosystem.

 “Be intentional about your projects. Give your products value and be confident in what you are doing,” she said, noting that developers must also be price sensitive as this is one of the key factors that determine a good innovation.

“When you are selling your product, introduce yourself in a manner that the mass market will understand. This gives your innovation identity and simplifies the value of the product because not everyone you are trying to engage knows the technical terminologies,” she said.

The week-long Hackathon, organized by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, Modusbox, Mojaloop and Level One Project, will culminate into the Women in FinTech summit on Friday, October 15th, 2021 where the three top teams will be announced and get to share USD5,000 in prizes in addition to being part of a 90-day Business Incubator Program.

The 2021 #LevelOneProject #WomenInFinTech Hackathon has 17 women led teams and over 70 participants altogether. The teams are coming up with financial inclusion solutions that address their community needs, aided by Level One Project principles and latest technologies.

Empowering Innovators

HiPipo is proud to remain one of the continent’s premier advocates for the creation, dissemination and adoption of digital financial services, and we remain highly enthusiastic to provide the ways and means for our innovators to fully develop solutions that will collectively lead millions of our people to better lives and improved livelihoods.

The inaugural Women in FinTech initiative in 2020 exceeded expectations and left no doubt that women are ready to play a starring role in the digital financial services space and can fill the product gap the sector currently contends with.

All the 15 participating teams in 2020 presented excellent ideas, and HiPipo is more than pleased to reveal that it supported three (3) of them to grow into startups, each with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that’s ready for the market, which was a success to an extent that they went on to take part in the recently-concluded 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative.

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KaCyber In Partnership With Private Sector Foundation Uganda To Onboard Bus Operators On A New Ticketing App

Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) in partnership with MasterCard Foundation through the COVID-19 Economic Recovery and Resilience Response Program (CERRRP) have supported KaCyber Security Technologies Limited, a transportation and logistics technology company whose mission is “to make seamless mobility a reality in Africa” to pilot an electronic ticketing system together with bus operators that will close income leakages and enable passengers to pay for bus tickets online, in a safer and more convenient way.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way many businesses operate and KaCyber’s Electronic Ticketing solution brings unprecedented efficiency in Uganda’s transport sector.

While signing the agreement the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of KaCyber, Mr. Innocent Orikiiriza together with his team, emphasized that their digital solution will minimize income leakages, reduce operational costs while providing a safer and convenient ticket booking experience to their public transport users. He said the current data reveals that transport operators lose 30 to 40 per cent of their revenue when using manual booking systems.

Because of what the sector is going through, Private Sector Foundation Uganda and KaCyber are optimistic that this digital solution will add value to the transport sector by contributing towards national efforts on safety and business recovery and resilience in the face of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

He reiterated that the new Electronic Ticketing App would create convenience for passengers, who have had to endure the chaos to physically visit bus parks just to book a ticket for their trips.

The Private Sector Foundation Uganda is confident that this new technology is an opportunity for Uganda’s transport industry to transform and benefit both passengers and the business owners in the sector. Private Sector Foundation Uganda has offered UGX 35,134,500 (Thirty Five Millions One Hundred Thirty-Four Thousand Five Hundred Shillings Only) to this programme that will see KaCyber onboard new users on its Online ticketing App and also enable bus operators to pilot the new system and reap the benefits and efficiency provided by the system.

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Silicon Pay making payments easier and efficient

By Our writer  

While previous efforts to encourage Ugandan businesses to digitize were futile, the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic has created haste for enterprises, irrespective of size, to shift to online platforms. 

This has opened opportunities for Financial Technology Companies (FinTechs) to tap in with innovative solutions that are changing the way people pay for goods and services as well as receive payments.

Among these FinTechs is Silicon Savannah Limited, a technology company whose Silicon Pay solution is increasingly being used by businesses to ease payments.

According to the FinTech’s Chief Executive Officer Patrick Setuba, the firm offers a fully integrated suite of payments products including collection, bulk payments, utilities, bank transfers and crowd funding through its Application Programming Interface (API).

Setuba adds that the platform provides an API for mobile money and credit card services, which merchants, individuals and companies can leverage by integrating it into their websites and mobile application and start receiving payments in real time.

“COVID-19 has affected businesses but it has paved way for the growth of digital payments as businesses resorted to online tools because they could not do physical meet-up and collections. So we provide solutions to these businesses and merchants to receive e-value,” he says.

Women inclusion

Given that fewer women-owned businesses have online presence, Setuba notes that the Silicon Savannah set out to change this. It offers low-cost website development services to women entrepreneurs to enable them move their businesses online and reach a wider customer base.

These websites are then integrated with Silicon Pay payment options to enable them have a fully modern e-commerce store where they collect and control their funds in real time.

Additionally, Silicon Savannah integrated the Silicon Pay solution in several women Saccos to help them ease collection of money through the platform and enhance accountability.

To stay on top on their game, Setuba says Silicon Pay integrated new products and services to meet its clients’ evolving financial needs. It for instance integrated mobile wallets to cater for customers who receive money in different currencies across Africa.

It also forged partnerships with key service providers such as e-commerce platform players, to provide more services to its clients.

To make it easy for businesses to onboard, Setuba says that the company uses the tiered Know-Your-Customer (KYC) principle, which he says also, helps them guard against fraud.

“To understand who we are dealing with, we incorporated KYC standards to better understand the customer we are dealing with. We thus take extra steps by asking them to prove their identity, nature of business to make sure the source of a customer’s funds are legitimate,” Setuba notes.

He adds that their systems enables users to monitor their funds on their dashboard in real time and can withdraw through mobile money instantly whenever they need it.

Additionally, the platform enables users to transfer funds instantly to their preferred bank accounts on request and receive the funds in a few hours depending on the time the request is made.

40-Days 40-FinTechs

Silicon Savannah is among the firms taking part in the ongoing second edition of the 40-Days 40-Fintechs initiative, which Setuba says has provided a platform for industry players to showcase their innovations that were less known to the public.

He alludes that Uganda’s FinTech industry is still virgin and thus offers a multitude of opportunities for growth, especially now that businesses are steadily picking interest in digital payments and e-commerce as they seek to reach a wider customer base.

Setuba, however, appeals to industry players to ensure real time funds transfer and same day settlement, noting that this will attract more Ugandans to use Fintech solutions.

The 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative is organized by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation. The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya also notes that FinTechs need to be prepared with appropriate products and have appropriate real time payment systems in place to support an inclusive, interoperable digital marketplace that is both thriving and safe.

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SoftPay is aiding business management transformation

By Our writer

Businesses are increasingly adopting emerging technologies across all functions, owing to the ability to improve operational efficiency, deliver better customer experiences and improve profitability.

Among the providers of these emerging technologies are Financial Technology Companies (FinTechs) like NewLife Technologies Sarl, a Cameroon-based mobile application and website development company, whose SoftPay is empowering businesses with a variety of financial solutions across the different functions to improve efficiency.

Using a mobile application for smartphone users and a Point of Sale (POS) option, the SoftPay Business platform offers solutions including inventory, sales, human resources, ticketing and booking and events management.

The solutions help firms collect payments, manage inventory, payrolls, sales, ticketing and event, among others.

According to the NewLife Technologies co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ngala Cyprian Mufor, the SoftPay Business platform seeks to help firms manage their interactions with both current and prospecting customers better.

“The system acts as a record of interactions across all business customer-facing touch points; organising, automating and synchronising them to enable you as a business service all your existing customers and respond quickly to issues and new business,” Mufor says.

He adds: “Businesses can manage their inventory, create invoices and distribute them to their clients and collect payments. They can also sell tickets while event organizers can create an event, sell it out, manage check-in and collect payments.”

How the systems work

The SoftPay Business’ Inventory and Service Management solution, for instance, enables businesses take advantage of a multitude of tools to improve efficiency by ensuring that their inventory and sales are in tandem while the Sales Management system enables businesses to manage every sale they make and receive payments through standard payment methods such as mobile money, Visa and Master card.

Its Human Resource Management system, on the other hand, enables a business to link its business account to other SoftPay users and pay them easily while the Ticketing and Bookings Management solution helps businesses sell tickets on multiple channels while reducing check-in-time at entry to the business site.

The PayForms Management solution allows a business to sell products, services and tickets online without having to build an e-commerce website. They simply share with potential clients a link generated on the platform for the product or service offered, using an SMS or social media.

“We are focused on serving and changing lives through technology. We are struggling to create a system that will support the financial inclusion for Africa.  That is why when you look at our platform, our on-boarding time is very short. Within a few seconds after downloading the Mobile App, the user is ready to use it because the on-boarding procedure has been reduced,” he says, adding that the procedure takes less than 15 minutes for those using SoftPay Business.

Using the MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money APIs, users can easily load their SoftPay accounts from any of these service providers as well as withdraw funds from their SoftPay accounts using their mobile network service provider.

Mufor, however, notes that Africa is still grappling with a number of challenges, including the dominance of cash as a means of business transaction, limited talent in the industry and lack of collaboration and support.

NewLife Technologies Sarl is among the FinTechs participating in the 40-days-40-FinTechs initiatives organised by HiPipo, in partnership with Crosslake Tech, ModusBox, and Mojaloop Foundation.

The initiative seeks to enable FinTechs to innovate solutions that facilitate cross-network financial transactions at minimal risks to enhance access to financial services.

The HiPipo Chief Executive Officer Innocent Kawooya, however, says that FinTech in Africa offers attractive opportunities and that investors are rightfully picking interest in the various startups that are offering a plethora of services, ranging from payments and lending, remittances, cross-border transfers and neobanks, among others.

He adds that FinTech is the launchpad on which the promise of full global financial inclusion will be fulfilled.

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Yo Uganda: The FinTech that pioneered Uganda’s digital payments journey

By Our writer

Cashless and contactless digital payments are increasingly playing a significant role in ensuring safety, speed, convenience, and seamlessness in business operations globally.

It is this that Yo Uganda Limited, a technology solutions company, is extending to businesses and farmers across Uganda to improve their efficiency.

Established in 2006, Yo Uganda entered the market offering low-cost international calls before venturing into mobile technology to provide Value-Added-Services.

Solutions including mobile money, SMS, Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) gateways, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), voice solutions, and custom-developed applications, were developed and tailored to customers’ needs.

This followed the launch of MTN mobile money in 2009 and Kenya’s M-Pesa, which had been launched two years before MTN’s mobile money services.

“When mobile money was first launched, the focus was person-to-person and the recipient would immediately go to a nearby agent to withdraw cash. So, we saw an opportunity to enable businesses and other organisations to take advantage of the mobile money service in a way that would enable them to reduce their costs and lower the risks of keeping cash at their premises,” the company’s Managing Director Gerald Begumisa says.

The company later ventured into the mobile payments space, with the launch of Uganda’s first online, publically available mobile payments gateway in 2010, to enable businesses to receive payments from their customers via mobile money as well as make mobile money payments to any mobile money account holder.

Since then, Begumisa says, Yo Uganda has enabled more than 50,000 small medium and large businesses and over 150,000 farmers integrate digital payments into their day-to-day operations and lives.

Begumisa explains that while mobile money was already popular by 2010, there was still a big gap especially in rural areas where farmers were skeptical about adopting digital finance but it has since converted many.

Its Digital Payment Acceptance solution facilitates businesses to transition and to accept digital payments for their goods and services while the Bulk Digital Payment Disbursement solution enables various players, both for-profit and non-profit, transition to digital disbursement of funds such as salaries and vendor payments.

Its Integrating Financial Institutions with Mobile Money Networks solution provides an integration service that allows seamless transfer of funds between financial institutions and Mobile Money Networks to enable a bank account holder to transfer funds from their bank account directly to their mobile phone and vice versa.

Though not yet where they would want the industry to be, Begumisa says Uganda’s Fintech story is taking a good shape with time, with a generally improved market place for work, continued advancement and innovation.

He notes that solutions have been developed by various players over the years, beyond the initial focus on payments to various verticals like Insurance and Agri-Tech solutions.

Additionally, he notes that more has been done to improve the general marketplace, especially given the enactment of the National Payments System Act, 2020, which does not only seek to protect the rights and privileges of payments systems and solutions users but also streamline the industry.

40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative

Yo Uganda is among the firms participating in the on-going second edition of the 40-days-40-FinTechs initiative, organized by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Tech, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation.

Begumisa says the 40-Days 40-FinTechs initiative provides the needed publicity about the available solutions and products, and offers an opportunity to reach out to more stakeholders in government and private sectors to come on board to push the digitization agenda.

The HiPipo CEO Innocent Kawooya says FinTech in Africa offers attractive opportunities and that investors are rightfully picking interest in the various start-ups that are offering a plethora of services, ranging from payments and lending, remittances, cross-border transfers and neobanks, among others.