Mastercard has created an avenue for innovative startups to scale their businesses and maximize opportunities in their niche to attain global success.
This opportunity created by Mastercard for startups is poised at allowing emerging businesses to network and grow.
Out of all those who applied to join in the last batch of the Mastercard Start Path Program, 11 startups were selected to participate.
Among the 11 selected, two African startups made the list in the Mastercard’s Start Path program scheduled to last for six months. They are Karri from South Africa and Kwara from Kenya.
Here is a quick review of the two African fintech startups
Karri
Karri is a mobile fintech app that helps educational organizations receive payments from students and parents who wish to make payment for school fees or any other payment to the school.
It facilitates easy payment to schools and community groups, thereby, providing a convenient way to manage a child’s money.
With Karri, a parent or guardian can securely make payments to their child’s school, all from the comfort of their phones as powered by NED bank, South Africa’s largest bank, Karri mobile app enables quick payment for a child’s education or school events.
Also, members of different groups in South Africa can make payments for their group through the app. Currently, it has national coverage as its agents are spread all over the country.
With this app, you don’t need to send your children to school with envelopes containing cash as fast payments can be made from your mobile to the school’s account.
Karri’s mission is to make payments for schools fast, easy, safe, and convenient. Over the years, Karri has increased its rating by being South Africa’s most loved app.
It has helped a large number of schools and groups to collect monies from members and parents.
This is the only app in a school space that has the backing of a bank, this means that financial transactions using the app are secure.
Kwara
Kwara is a mobile app that aids SACCO( Savings and Credit Cooperative organization) gain credit or loans for their business.
Kwara is all about supporting those in the financial cooperative space. This fintech app is created to help those who are underbanked and unbanked to build wealth in an easy way.
With this, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Kenya are improved.
Kwara’s corporate headquarters is located in Kenya’s capital —Nairobi. Kenya is noted to have a large market for finance cooperatives in Africa.
Kwara was founded by Cynthia Wandia and David Hwan in 2018. It has leveraged technology to build a digital banking system that connects cooperatives with banks through an open API.
With Kwara’s platform, the plights and pains of cooperatives will be addressed.
Below are some features of the Kwara mobile app:
- Reacts promptly to members needs
- Helps automate savings or contributions
- Enhances repayment dates
- Helps makes deposit faster
- Reports and analytics are automated
The Kwara app has other features you need to know about. Here’s a list of them below:
- Signing up is easy
- Members of cooperatives who signed up with the Kwara app can apply for loans from anywhere using their mobile device
- Loan applications get approved within minutes
- Reports are automated and pulled out with ease
Finally, you can also access your SACCO account from other ATMs or agents around the country
Start Path’s objective is to help groom fintech startups to develop more competitive innovation that the world needs.
Kwara, Karri, and the other nine fintech companies selected by the Mastercard Start Path program will receive support and adequate opportunities to grow, improve their business models, innovate and scale their businesses.
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