Latest news with #neobanking
bnok24
05-08-2025
- Business
- bnok24
Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator Opens Applications for Fifth Cohort, Welcomes 22 Startups to Fourth
Visa, a global leader in digital payments, announced that applications are open for the fifth cohort (Cohort 5) of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator, a 12-week intensive program designed to help startups fast-track their growth and impact. Fintechs with a minimum viable product (MVP) or a market-ready solution based in Africa are invited to apply before August 15 Visa also announced 22 participating startups for the fourth cohort (Cohort 4) of its program, spanning 12 countries. These startups aim is to tackle challenges in Africa's fintech sector and promote financial inclusion and digital growth. They provide solutions in Small and Medium Business (SMB) digitization, lending, cross-border payments, payroll, business-to-business (B2B) payments, AI-powered payments, social commerce, climate insurance, and neo-banking The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator offers Africa-focused startups mentorship, tailored training, networking, and access to funding and resources, helping them advance in the fintech sector. This initiative is part of Visa's continued commitment to advancing Africa's digital economy, and the company's pledge of $1 billion by 2027 to transform the payments ecosystem Since its inception in 2023, the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program has accelerated 64 fintechs across three cohorts, with an estimated cumulative portfolio value of $1.1 billion. In the first three cohorts, participation has spanned 17 countries with operational footprint in 31. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of the startups included women on their leadership teams. Collectively, these fintechs have added more than $3 million in revenue during the course of the training, and alumni have subsequently raised more than $55 million following completion of the program [VISA SPOKESPERSON] stated: 'Visa is committed to fostering innovation and promoting access and inclusion within Africa's financial ecosystem. As digital transformation accelerates across the continent, we are pleased to invite applications for Cohort 5 of the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator, in alignment with our mission to support emerging start-ups in advancing their innovative solutions. We are also proud to introduce the participants of Cohort 4, whose diverse initiatives are set to deliver meaningful benefits to individuals, merchants, and businesses The virtual Accelerator program will conclude with an in-person Demo Day, where startups will have the opportunity to pitch their innovations to key ecosystem players, funding partners, angel investors, and venture capitalists Startups shortlisted for Cohort 4 of the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator are • (Zimbabwe): BigDot is helping SMEs use less cash through digital transformation, seamless checkouts, and blockchain-powered financial inclusion • ChatCash (Zimbabwe): ChatCash enables African SMEs to sell and get paid through popular messaging apps using AI-powered, multilingual tools. The platform integrates payments, customer engagement, and business resources • Credify Africa (Uganda): Credify is bridging the trade finance gap for African importers by providing seamless access to capital, logistics, and cross-border payments • Flend (Egypt): Flend is a digital NBFI for SME finance, providing tech-enabled, data-driven solutions to close the financing gap for underserved businesses in North Africa • Hsabati (Morocco): Hsabati is a platform that helps businesses manage operations, enabling data collection and ecosystem scoring to facilitate financing through partner banks • IPT Africa (Mauritius): IPT Africa provides cross-border payments solutions, including payroll processing, real-time FX pricing, and same-day bulk payments • Lemonade Payments (Kenya): Lemonade's white-label digital payments solution empowers businesses with secure, blockchain-powered wallets, without compromising user data • Maishapay (Democratic Republic of Congo): Maishapay is an all-in-one B2B financial platform offering payroll solutions, digital payments, and POS terminals to help streamline transactions • MNZL (Egypt): MNZL is expanding access to credit through a digital platform for asset-backed financing by tapping into consumers home and car equity • Motito (Ghana): Motito is an asset financing marketplace that provides alternative payment options for customers to purchase essential assets • Muda (Kenya): Muda is a digital asset exchange and OTC platform focused on cross-border payments and stablecoin liquidity solutions for African businesses and fintech's • (Botswana): simplifies investing across African stock markets by providing a unified platform for trading all African stocks • OKO Finance Ltd (Ivory Coast): OKO distributes automated climate insurance, allowing farms to boost their climate resilience and banks to de-risk their investment in agricultural projects • PressPayNg (Nigeria): PressPayNg is an education-focused fintech platform that provides banking, financing, savings, and insurance solutions to help parents, guardians, youths, and students fund education • Sevi (Kenya): Sevi streamlines B2B payments within non-digital value chains. This optimizes efficiency in credit, payments and reconciliation for the supplier, and access to stock and stock financing for small retailers • Shiga Digital Inc (Nigeria): Shiga Digital provides simplified access to decentralized financial solutions for the African market with a purpose-built Defi account • ShopOkoa (Kenya): ShopOkoa provides AI-driven credit and payment solutions to small- and micro-enterprises in Africa. It operates as a membership-based system combining daily savings, revenue-based financing, and automated cashflow tracking • Startbutton (Nigeria): Startbutton is a merchant of record helping businesses expand across Africa by paying and receiving local currency payments from their customers in a tax efficient and compliant manner, and without the need to setup local offices • Twiva (Kenya): Twiva is a social commerce platform where businesses market and resell their products and services through social media influencers • Vittas (Nigeria): Vittas empowers healthcare providers with access to tailored financing, digital tools, and payment solutions, enabling them to improve patient care • Woliz (Morocco): Woliz is a fintech ecosystem transforming nano-stores into digital hubs with loyalty rewards, payments, and AI-driven operations • Zazu (South Africa): Zazu is a neobank for African small and medium-sized businesses, providing digital business accounts, expense management, invoicing, and bookkeeping tools in one platform Google News تابعونا على تابعونا على تطبيق نبض
Finextra
04-08-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Top Neobanking Features Banks Must Offer in 2025: By Nikunj Gundaniya
Your customers don't want to wait anymore. They want all payments to be instant and quick. They just want to tap, pay, and move on. So, if your banking experience feels slow, cluttered, or outdated, they'll leave. By 2026, over 500 million users are expected to use neobanking platforms worldwide' says Plaid. And that number is only rising. The message is clear. You must offer more than just digital access; you need smart, seamless, and personalized banking. And the most important part is that your competitors are already offering it. Are you? To stay ahead, you need to deliver features that your customers expect not tomorrow, but today. And that's why in today's blog post, let's look at the top neobanking features you must offer in 2025 to lead the digital payment software. Let's dive right in. Intuitive, all-in-one digital banking experience Your customers don't want multiple apps or scattered dashboards. They want one smooth journey. A platform through which they can finish all kinds of transactions smoothly. So here's what you need to provide them: Unified dashboard for multiple services You must offer your customers a single dashboard that handles everything: wallets, savings, transfers, bill payments, and cards. This gives your customers full control. It also reduces friction and improves user retention. Moreover, when you provide a central hub, your customers spend more time using your app. That directly impacts engagement and transaction volume. Seamless onboarding and KYC verification A simple yet can't be ignored fact: 'First impressions matter.' And for digital banks, onboarding is your first shot. You should aim to complete onboarding in under 3 minutes or even less, with automated document uploads, face verification, and instant approval. According to industry reports, banks using eKYC and video KYC have reduced onboarding time by up to 70%. That's the kind of agility you need. Real-time payment infrastructure Your customers don't want to wait for minutes for the payment processing. They expect instant payments with zero friction. You must build a system that moves your customers' money fast without any delays or confusion. Let's start with P2P and P2M, the new neobanking trends. Instant P2P and P2M payments with full transparency Your customers want to transfer money instantly, whether it's to a friend or a merchant. If you can't support real-time P2P and P2M payments, you risk losing them. Additionally, you should also display full transaction transparency, like charges, exchange rates, and delivery timelines, transparently. That builds trust and reduces disputes. Interoperability across banks, wallets, and payment gateways Your customers are not really concerned about the network connectivity or server-related things. They just want their money to move, hassle-free. To cater to this need, you must build an interoperable system that connects smoothly with other banks, wallets, and PSPs. By using a platform that supports ISO 20022 and national standards, you ensure smoother, faster, and wider coverage. That gives your customers freedom. And you, higher volumes. Hyper-personalized user experience Customers expect services that match their goals and habits. And -size-fits-all no longer works. Let's start with smart insights. AI-driven financial insights and expense management According to McKinsey, AI-based personalization increases user engagement by up to 35%. You need to provide real-time insights into spending habits, budgets, and savings suggestions. And small nudges, like warning users about overspending, build stickiness among your customers. They also position you as a smart financial partner, not just a service provider. Customized savings, investment, and credit products Your customers want more than a wallet. They want to grow their money, too. To help them, you can offer savings plans, micro-investments, and credit options tailored to each user's behavior. By using behavioral data and transaction history, you can offer relevant products at the right time. This improves cross-sell rates and lifetime value. Embedded finance & API-first architecture In 2025, flexibility is everything. You need a system that integrates, expands, and adapts quickly. So you must: Open banking APIs for third-party integration You must be ready to connect with other apps, services, and ecosystems. That's where open banking APIs come in. They allow you to offer features like UPI, BNPL, tax filing, or even investment platforms, all inside your banking app. This further keeps customers engaged and gives you more opportunities to earn. Plug-and-play modules for easy expansion You can't rebuild your entire stack every time you want to launch something new, right? Instead, use a modular setup. This also lets you add features like agent banking, loyalty points, or insurance, without downtime. This gives you speed and scalability. And in fintech, that's your edge. Advanced security & compliance framework Your users share sensitive data with you. They expect visible, foolproof protection every time they log in or transact. Let's look at how authentication supports this. Biometric and multi-factor authentication To protect your customers from fraud, passwords aren't just enough. You must offer them biometric logins like face and fingerprint ID, along with multi-factor authentication (OTP, PIN, or token-based login). And as per the reports, over 60% of users say biometric security makes them trust digital platforms more. This reduces fraud risks and reassures users. Real-time fraud detection and risk scoring You must be able to catch suspicious activity before it becomes a problem. That means using AI to track unusual patterns in real-time. Also, you can apply dynamic risk scoring based on location, transaction size, and device ID. This helps you stop fraud while keeping genuine transactions smooth. Conclusion Neo banks aren't just a trend, but they are the new standard for the digital payment industry. If you want to stay relevant in 2025, you must offer real-time payments, personalized services, embedded finance, and bulletproof security. Your customers won't settle for less, and neither should you. The future belongs to platforms that are smart, secure, and scalable. Whether you're building from scratch or upgrading your current system, choose a solution that helps you deliver everything users expect and more. Stay ahead. Choose smarter technology that simplifies growth and sets you apart in the digital banking race.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oportun Harnesses Advanced Technology: Could This Be a Turning Point?
Oportun Financial OPRT has been leveraging technology to boost its underwriting standards and offer personalized customer service. The company uses artificial intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning (ML), to use alternative datasets to assess the credit profiles of its clients. This enables it to provide a score to roughly all its clients, including those who have little to no credit the company has been leveraging data from the recent inflationary period to enhance the V12 credit model to align with conservative credit standards through granular decision-making. OPRT acquired Hello Digit, Inc. in 2021, a neobanking platform offering automated savings, investing, and banking tools. This enables enhanced underwriting, leading to lower default risks, and ensures consistent revenue growth while mitigating costs. As a result, OPRT's annualized net charge-off (NCO) rate declined in 2024 to 12% from 12.2% in 2023. The NCO rate rose to 12.2% during the first quarter of 2025 due to lower average daily principal balance as the company sought to reduce back-book loan the lending database allows OPRT to scale up its operations efficiently with minimal infrastructure investment. Additionally, the company offers the Set & Save product, which helps its clients manage their money by analyzing their obligations and expense routines. Thus, the assimilation of sophisticated technology to address its customers' needs offers the company a competitive edge over its counterparts, which often rely on traditional datasets to provide credit scores. This enables it to grow its market share rapidly and achieve efficiency alongside solid underwriting. Oportun's peers like Enova International, Inc. ENVA and Regional Management Corp. RM have also been using robust technology to improve credit underwriting capabilities. Enova uses The Colossus Analytics Engine, a proprietary technology, to offer analytics and customer service capabilities to quickly evaluate, underwrite, and fund loans or provide financing. Roughly 90% of the models are ML-based for Regional Management has been improving its technological infrastructure to reduce its delinquency rates and source low-risk originations. Regional Management had a 7.1% delinquency rate during the first quarter of 2025. Shares of Oportun have surged 80.4% so far this year against the industry's decline of 6.3%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research From a valuation standpoint, OPRT trades at a price-to-book ratio of 0.72, well below the industry average. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Oportun's 2025 and 2026 earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 63.9% and 39.2%, respectively. Earnings estimates have been revised downward for both years over the past 30 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Oportun currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Regional Management Corp. (RM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Enova International, Inc. (ENVA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Oportun Financial Corporation (OPRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Entrepreneur
12-06-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
AI Neobanking Meets Kirana
BranchX has already clocked INR 110 crore in annual revenue and is gearing up for the launch of its next flagship AI product You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Walk into any corner shop in India—the kind where the cashier is a one-man army juggling payments, inventory, and sometimes local gossip—and you'll get a glimpse of the country's economic engine in action. But look closer, and you'll also see a centuries-old system in need of an upgrade. That's where BranchX comes in, and they're not handing out patch fixes. They're rebuilding the machine with voice, AI, and a deep understanding of the street level chaos that defines India's small retail landscape. Founded by Sajid Jamal and Rajesh Johnny, BranchX is not your typical fintech darling chasing buzzwords. It's a battle hardened, AI-first neobanking platform aimed squarely at India's underserved small retailers. "We're building a future where small businesses access finance as simply as speaking their language and running their shop," says Jamal. At the heart of BranchX's offering is the Xenie Retail PoS, a multilingual, voice-led device that blends billing, collections, inventory, and payments into one seamless experience. Think Alexa meets UPI, but with more grit and a lot more rupees. It's not just a fancy machine—it's a nerve center for neighborhood stores, capable of offering personalized credit, real-time reconciliation, and cash flow analytics. And for the 300,000+ merchants already hooked into their 10xfi platform, that connectivity is proving transformative. The numbers speak loud and clear: over INR 6,000 crore in gross transaction value flows through the 10xfi platform. And more than 10,000 retailers are now digitized via Xenie Retail PoS. But BranchX isn't here to boast. It's here to level the playing field, especially for small businesses that have historically operated outside the reach of formal financial systems. By blending connected banking with vernacular, voice-enabled tech, the company has created what it calls "a digitally intelligent ecosystem" for India's micro-merchants. The goal? To turn digitally hesitant retailers into confident players in the new economy. "The real challenge isn't technology—it's trust," says Johnny. "While tech is scalable, enabling digital fluency among first-time banking users is not. We tackle this with voice-led interfaces, guided onboarding, and AI that learns from users to build confidence." That's not just user-friendly design, it's a moat, and a wide one at that. BranchX's approach isn't just smart; it's strategic. Its modular, cloud-first infrastructure is built to scale, and its R&D labs are experimenting with Agentic AI and GenAI to automate processes and deepen personalization. Features like voice-led business insights, inventory prompts, and AI-driven credit scoring are already live, reshaping how retail owners think about finance—not as a hassle, but as a partner. With such groundwork, the road to profitability doesn't look like a tightrope walk, it looks like a highway. BranchX has already clocked INR 110 crore in annual revenue and is gearing up for the launch of its next flagship product: Xenie, the AI assistant machine that will sit right on retail counters, dishing out voice-led insights and financial nudges in real time. The company expects this to unlock high-margin revenue via premium services and cross-sell opportunities. And they're not stopping at India's borders. While domestic expansion will see the number of Xenie Retail PoS devices leap from 10,000 to over 200,000, BranchX is also eyeing the Middle East. "We're entering select Middle East markets through strategic partnerships," says Jamal, hinting at a bold new frontier for the homegrown fintech. On the back end, the company is getting ready to open the floodgates to fintech innovation. BranchX is productizing its embedded finance APIs and will soon launch a developer ecosystem—essentially a sandbox for third-party builders to craft custom solutions atop BranchX's infrastructure. It's an open invitation for fintech creativity to thrive on a platform already wired for scale. To fuel this ambitious blueprint, BranchX has secured a $5 million capital commitment from existing investors. But instead of blowing through it in one go, they've structured it as a flexible capital call over 10 months. It's lean, it's calculated, and it gives them the breathing room to stay execution-focused. BranchX stands out for one reason: it talks like the shopkeepers it serves. And in doing so, it's not just bridging the digital divide—it's quietly laying down the rails for a retail revolution.
Globe and Mail
10-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
PEXX Launches Borderless USD Neo-Bank for the Global Generation
Borderless dollar banking—built different for people who live and work everywhere SINGAPORE, June 10, 2025 /CNW/ -- PEXX, the cross-border USD platform built for today's mobile workforce, has opened its full neo-banking suite to customers in more than 50 countries. The launch delivers four connected products that let users Bank Different, Pay Different, Send Different, and Earn Different —replacing legacy bank delays, paperwork, and hidden fees with real-time settlement and transparent pricing.
