MyBucks is a Frankfurt-listed financial technology (fintech) company, embracing technology as a means to provide financial products and services in predominantly high-growth emerging markets. Through its brands, Haraka, GetBucks, GetBanked, GetSure, Oportunity Bank and New Finance Bank, the organization offers consumer loans and banking solutions, including insurance products.
The MyBucks product offering enables its customers to manage their financial affairs easily and conveniently. Its products are simple and trustworthy in comparison to traditional, nontechnological methods – ultimately working towards enhancing efficiency and accessibility for the customer.
The aim of MyBucks is to enable a financial inclusion through technology by connecting the unbanked and financially excluded with finance opportunities, alongside regular consumers searching for fast, efficient financial services. As a virtual bank, the organization strives to continue its upward growth curve, strengthening into a globally recognized brand that is an innovator in the fintech industry.
A Massively Experienced Leader
With more than 21 years of experience, Dave Van Niekerk is one of the founding members and Executive Chairman. of MyBucks. He began his financial career in the creation and management of the one time South African financial giant, African Bank. An entrepreneur by nature, Dave opted to embark on his own, founding his own micro-finance business, Blue Financial Services, back in 2001. Later in 2006, he went on to list the company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa. As an African microfinance pioneer, Dave has witnessed Africa first-hand and its growth over the last 21 years, fueling his passion for pioneering the promotion of investment in many African countries, particularly in the financial and microfinance sector. He continues to create ground-breaking business models that make financial inclusion for people across the African continent a reality. (add something on establishing GetBucks 2012)
Empowering People by Providing Unique Services
MyBucks offers clients a number of unique services that eventually help drive financial inclusion. Among an increasing stable of innovative products, Haraka and Whatsapp lending are particularly interesting. MyBucks Haraka, which means “quickly” in Swahili, is a revolutionary app where borrowers begin with small loans that bridge short-term liquidity gaps, all the while building up a credit history. Haraka is offered in countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Swaziland.
Another unique offering by MyBucks is its Whatsapp lending, which was recently launched in South Africa. Whatsapp lending is a safe and convenient way to enquire about loans, apply for loans, sign electronic contracts, and request balances. Products from MyBucks are built around efficiency, ease, and accessibility.
MyBucks financially empowers those who do not have access to traditional financial services and who have been previously excluded. In Africa, this is of vital importance as far too many people with incredible ideas and vision simply have no access to finance. MyBucks bridges that financial gap and uses its technology to provide instant access to financial services through both its virtual and physical channel. According to the organization, with the fourth industrial revolution underway across all continents, customers’ lives are becoming more and more driven by technology. This is where MyBucks comes in to enable its customers achieve financial inclusion through virtual technology.
That’s not all, MyBucks always tries to educate its customers in making prudent lending decisions. With an eye on long term growth, MyBucks develops products to address specific needs including educational, agricultural, or SMME loans.
An Organization which is on the Edge of Digitization
MyBucks is currently on the leading edge of digitization. It is the first fintech business in Africa to make the use of credit technology that is supported by an in-house artificial intelligence team. In the microfinance industry, AI plays a great role specially in predicting whether or not someone can pay back a loan. MyBucks’ credit decision and scoring system continuously learns customer behavioral pattern from the loan history and is then able to very accurately predict a customer’s probability of default for a particular product at any given time. To serve best, MyBucks embraces a digital mindset in all aspects of the business. The organization’s holistic digital strategy focuses on engaging its customers with great experiences, radically improving operations for its employees, leveraging technology to deliver, and enabling attractive cost-to-income ratios.
MyBucks applies a transparent and responsible approach to providing funding that adheres to local regulation in the markets where it operates.
In addition, MyBucks aims to make a difference not just socially but economically. Its competitive advantage emanates from the organization’s extensive knowledge of the African financial landscape in particular; the continent’s challenges and opportunities within its regulatory environment; as well as an in-depth understanding of the socio-economic driving forces that motivate behavior within the region.
Tackling Uneven Roads and Preparing for the Future
Founded back in 2012, MyBucks has established itself as a market pioneer when it comes to modern financial services. The company has shown extraordinary growth since 2012 and has a global footprint of seven MFI operations, five banking operations, with operations in eleven African countries as well as operations in Europe and Australia offering credit, banking, and insurance products.
When it comes to the future, MyBucks has a number of key strategic initiatives in its pipeline. The organization wants to further expand its global fintech offering by collaborating with various local partners; either through the licensing of its technology or through partnering in new markets. The team of MyBucks is also exploring the use of biometric security systems to conveniently verify the identity of its customers without the use of traditional PINs, passwords, and tokens. Biometric security is well-suited for the financial services industry and offers advantages both for the financial services provider as well as consumers.
MyBucks hopes to work more with Peer-2-Peer (P2P) lending marketplace, wherein investors can participate in loans originated by non-bank loan originators. Additionally, traditional balance sheet lenders are able to connect to the P2P marketplace, thereby reaping the advantages of the lending model to fund their loans. It is also worth noting that the company is planning to ameliorate its suite of digital transfer products, which includes both mobile money and online money transfer. MyBuck’s digital transfer products ensure that its customers can transfer money in a fast, secure, convenient, and affordable manner.
Source :-The 20 Most Innovative FinTech Solution Providers 2018