Hey, have you heard the news?
Fingo, a Kenyan fintech backed by Y Combinator, has launched its neobank!
This is a huge milestone for Fingo, as it is the first neobank of its kind in Kenya.
The neobank was developed in collaboration with Pan-African financial institution Ecobank Kenya, and was unveiled in an event attended by the country’s president, William Ruto.
Fingo was founded to provide financial services that appeal to the fast-growing African youthful population, which is the youngest globally but the most financially marginalized.
Opening a bank account can take several hours to days, with multiple in-person interactions and requirements to bring physical paper documents.
In addition, young adults in Africa have to deal with expensive fees to send money and maintain their accounts.
Fingo promises to deliver financial services like savings, insurance, and credit to its users, and currently offers cheaper transfer fees, subsidized rates at pay bills, cash-back rewards, payment links, and tailored savings plans.
After raising $200,000 in a pre-seed round, Fingo got into YC S21 and raised $4 million in seed funding toward the end of that year.
This is a huge deal, especially for an African startup.
HOF Capital led the round with participation from a number of other investors, including executives from Google, Facebook, and Paytm.
Fingo also signed a partnership with Ecobank, and began integrating its software with the bank toward launch while simultaneously waiting for regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Kenya, which finally came in Q1 this year.
Now that the partnership has been approved, the Fingo Africa app will offer its users a bank account “under 5 minutes,” paired with free peer-to-peer transactions and immediate access to multiple services such as savings, financial education, and smart spending analytics.
Fingo and Ecobank are planning a Pan-African rollout, with an imminent expansion to the rest of East Africa by the end of the year.
This is a huge step forward for Fingo, and a great example of how African startups can make a big impact with the right support and funding.
Source: Techcrunch
