Kenya-based Equity Group has spun off its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Finserve as an independent FinTech company.
Finserve Africa, which runs Equitel, will operate as an autonomous commercial enterprise providing solutions not just for Equity Group, but to other organisations.
Finserve, which has been active under the name Equitel, will now operate as an autonomous commercial enterprise, delivering solutions not just for Equity Group, but to other organisations.
“Thanks to Finserve, 97 percent of all Equity transactions are now outside the branch,” said James Mwangi, Finserve, Equity Group CEO and managing director.
“In the spirit of shared prosperity, and having seen the revolutionary impact that FinTech capabilities have brought to the Bank, we have taken a deliberate strategy to make Finserve an independent commercial subsidiary that will focus its efforts in delivering solutions to propel the African economy. Equity Group now becomes one of Finserve’s clients for technology solutions.”
Finserve has also unveiled two FinTech solutions, the Jenga Payment Gateway and Jenga APIs.
The Jenga Payment Gateway is a product created to support businesses in processing payments in the crowded East African payment space. It consolidates all payments to the Jenga platform and presents one integration platform to businesses. To date, Finserve has offered solutions to businesses in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
“On the settlement side, Jenga Payment Gateway allows cash-out by merchants to any bank in the world and to all mobile wallets in any of the seven countries,” said Finserve managing director, Jack Ngare.
Jenga APIs provide a platform for businesses to send money, buy, pay, manage their accounts, manage credit, withdraw and conduct know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) querying. It offers 64 FinTech, RegTech and InsurTech APIs.
Finserve has already integrated with a number global FinTechs like Ali Pay and Wechat. By integrating with remittance partners across the world such as Wave, PayPal, Equity Direct, Western Union and Money Gram, the Bank has become the leading channel for diaspora remittances.
“We now control 60 percent market share in merchant banking and payments because our universal POS converges mobile wallets, cards and digital payments meaning that merchants require only one POS. We have also experienced rapid growth in diaspora banking, where we are now leading in diaspora remittances and in agency banking,” Mwangi added.
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