{"id":5597,"date":"2017-11-14T17:53:06","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T16:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insights.invyo.io\/africa\/?p=5597"},"modified":"2017-11-14T17:53:06","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T16:53:06","slug":"building-a-bank-for-africas-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insights.invyo.io\/africa\/fintech-africa\/building-a-bank-for-africas-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Building A Bank For Africa\u2019s Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Zambia-based FinTech Zazu has completed its first funding round and is going one step further to build its digital-only bank for Africa\u2019s future.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Across Africa, there are 350 Million people<\/strong> who do not use banks<\/strong>. Some are afraid to walk into a bank because they don\u2019t know what banks do<\/strong>\u00a0or because bank branches are too far<\/strong> from their home. More importantly, among those who have access to bank services, most of them agree that banking in Africa is too expensive<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Banking: Not Just For The Rich<\/h3>\n

Companies like Zazu<\/strong> <\/a>are developing new solutions to not only provide banking services<\/strong> to the unbanked but also make them enjoy their experience of paying or managing their savings<\/strong>. Africa is about to experience a huge digital revolution<\/strong>. Not only is Africa home to one of the youngest population in the world<\/strong>, but upward social mobility<\/strong> has been a rising trend every year and technology is being adopted at every level.<\/p>\n

Banks need to market better<\/strong> since they are seen as products for the rich<\/strong> while mobile wallets<\/strong> are seen as products for the poor<\/strong>. The end result is that again, 350 Million people are unbanked<\/strong>. People’s savings are likely to be in cash at home<\/strong> or in assets. If they borrow money<\/strong>, it is likely to be made from friends & family<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Banking For The New Generation<\/h3>\n

Imagine how the co-called “millenials”, the generation of young people who have never used landlines<\/strong> nore a fax, could possibly approach banking<\/strong> in such a restrictive environment<\/strong>. The existing banking model<\/strong> would expect them to spend 1 hour queuing in a branch<\/strong> to fill in some paper forms and wait 3 weeks to get a bank account<\/strong>. The current banking experience is counter intuitive<\/strong> for this new generation and simply does not meet with their expectations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In order to leverage on the continent\u2019s upward social mobility<\/strong> and if people are going to self-finance out of poverty, financial services need to be more accessible and transparent. There is also a huge need for financial literacy to educate people<\/strong> to what a bank is, what words like interest rate, savings or loans actually mean. At the same time, there is a need to simplify how ordinary people open a bank account<\/strong>, to make it easy for them to understand what is going on with their finances<\/strong> and more importantly, to use the power of advanced algorithms to simplify lending & borrowing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Zazu: A\u00a0Bank For Africa\u2019s Future<\/h3>\n

You wonder what it is like to build a digital bank for Africa? Imagine opening a bank account in 2 minutes<\/strong> from a phone. Making a deposit<\/strong> by visiting your nearest corner shop<\/strong> instead of going to a bank branch. Paying the water bill<\/strong> or any other expenses directly from your phone<\/strong>. Managing your savings<\/strong> easily. Imagine an account smart enough to automatically categorize<\/strong> your expenses or freezing \/ unfreezing your card<\/strong> via the app if you misplace it. This is what Zazu is building for African consumers.<\/p>\n

With the fresh funding round, the company will be able to move further towards its vision of building a bank for Africa\u2019s future<\/strong>. Banking more and more people will allow them to flourish. They will be able to save for the future<\/strong>, plan for a better tomorrow<\/strong> and have a healthier relationship<\/strong> with their money.<\/p>\n

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The Zambia-based FinTech Zazu has completed its first funding round and is going one step further to build its digital-only bank for Africa\u2019s future. Across Africa, there are 350 Million people who do not use banks. Some are afraid to walk into a bank because they don\u2019t know what banks do\u00a0or because bank branches are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[320,97,13,36],"tags":[235,489,412,302,396,271,274,487,401,485,332,251,239,254,488,374,317,270,486,257,255],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n