Author: Akin Naphtal

A number of efforts are underway to get businesses across the United States, in sectors such as food and beverage (F&B) and transport, to adopt digital payment systems. The US may be home to some of the largest technology companies in the world, but its payment systems can seem somewhat antiquated for visitors to the country. However, obstacles remain due to factors such as the lack of knowledge in implementing such systems, along with fears that they are vulnerable to hacks. RELUCTANT TO ADOPT TECH Eateries such as Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao dim sum restaurant use cloud-based technology to…

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Britain’s financial watchdog, has announced the need to fine the UK subsidiary of Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust (GT) Bank £7.6 million ($9.3 million) for “further failures in its anti-money laundering systems and controls.” Between October 2014 and July 2019, the watchdog discovered “serious weaknesses” in anti-money laundering systems. READ ALSO: Foresight Group Raises £60m for Scotland SME Fund Enza Group Launches new Product for African Payments Industry Former ICASA Exec Joins MultiChoice Africa According to the FCA, GT Bank failed to conduct adequate customer risk assessments, frequently failing to assess or document the money laundering risks…

Investor Foresight Group has secured over £60m from British Business Investments and the Strathclyde Pension Fund for its fund for Scottish SMEs. Businesses will receive £1m-£5m debt or equity investments from the group’s second Scotland SME fund. Foresight Group will also increase the headcount of its Scottish team. Matt Smith, partner, Foresight Group, said: “The fund reflects our commitment to the Scottish market, where we believe there is a funding gap for the provision of capital and expertise to smaller companies. “We look forward to strengthening our ties with the local business community and further building our local team.” READ…

MTN Uganda has announced a five-year strategic partnership with Huawei Technologies, a global ICT solutions provider, to transform and modernize its network towards a Cloud-native 5G-Capable Core network. This partnership dubbed MUNA project is part of the greater MTN Group MUNIC strategy that will see MTN Uganda’s network evolve into an All-Cloud Core network. True to its strategic intent of ensuring that everyone enjoys the benefits of a modern connected world, this initiative shall allow MTN Uganda to have a future-oriented network with greater service agility, innovation for both consumer and industrial verticals, differentiation, improved operation efficiency and better customer…

A team of highly experienced payments industry professionals have launched the enza group (enza), a payments company focused on servicing the growing needs of banks, FinTechs, and MNOs across the African continent. The African consumer payments landscape remains dominated by cash, with global management consulting firm McKinsey estimating that only 5% to 7% of all payment transactions in Africa are made via electronic or digital channels. As a result, McKinsey anticipates that between 2020 and 2025, the electronic payments market in Africa will grow by around 150%. READ ALSO: Former ICASA Exec Joins MultiChoice Africa Report Shows Fintech is the…

London-based climate risk analytics provider Climate X has appointed former Monzo, Amazon and Facebook staffer Andrew Ellam as vice president of technology. Ellam joins from Monzo, where he was chief of staff to the digital bank’s CTO and head of technical program management. He has also worked at Big Tech players Facebook and Amazon, as well as startups, and recently served on UK Finance’s digital, technology and cyber security products and services board. READ ALSO: Kenyan Fintech Startup Kwara Acquires Software Company IRNET Coop Kenya Former ICASA Exec Joins MultiChoice Africa Report Shows Fintech is the Most Vibrant Sector in…

Kenyan fintech startup Kwara has agreed to wholly acquire IRNET Coop Kenya, a software company which is a subsidiary of the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (KUSCC), in a deal that will see it offer its banking software solutions and mobile banking channels to rapidly increase growth and profitability of SACCOs in Kenya. Founded in 2018 by Cynthia Wandia and David Hwan, Kwara has built a digital banking platform designed to help unbanked and underbanked individuals to build wealth together in a frictionless way. It offers a management platform to drive efficiency and automation at the cooperative staff…

Aligning to RBI’s initiative to drive credit growth on UPI, Innoviti Technologies (formerly, Innoviti Payment Solutions), India’s largest collaborative commerce platform, has enabled credit card transactions on Unified Payments Interface (UPI), making it India’s first SaaS omnichannel platform to power credit transactions for offline and online UPI payments. In an industry first move, bringing benefits to both customers and merchants, Innoviti has enabled this feature to benefit all end users. Credit card on UPI will now aid customers claim all the benefits of buying on credit including ease of pay later to fulfil all their aspirational purchases as well as…

What do you feel is the biggest strength of Huawei Kenya right now? Our biggest strength is the deep local roots we have built in Kenya over a period of 21 years. We have hundreds of local staff, many in senior positions, who have been with us for over a decade. We have tens of local sub-contractors and hundreds of partners for providing training, service and integrated solutions. Our relationships with local customers are also strong, based on our track record of high quality, leading innovation, and exceptional commitment to customer service. These local roots stand us in good stead.…

Ripjar, the trusted provider for tackling financial crime, has announced the appointment of Joe Whitfield-Seed as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). As CTO, Whitfield-Seed will be responsible for the vision, strategy, and delivery of solutions across Ripjar’s technology stack. He will lead the engineering team, implementing new artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities to drive growth and give customers the upper hand in the fight against terrorism, cyber-crime, money laundering and corruption. Whitfield-Seed has been an integral part of Ripjar since its inception in 2013. He worked in national security for five years before joining Ripjar as a founding…