By Omolabake Fasogbon
A micro- lending mobile platform, QuickCheck, has struck a new deal with Jumia and PayAttitude, as part of efforts to enhance Nigerians access to credit facility.
Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Fabiano Di Tomaso, stated that the move was important to address inclusion gap in the country as more customers now tend to embrace digital financial services.
He listed the benefits of the QuickCheck app as solving conventional challenges associated with obtaining loans, amongst others.
“I believe that the increasing importance of financial inclusion as a catalyst for economic growth and development cannot be overemphasised. Internet is on the rise and according to NCC, Nigeria had 123 million GSM internet subscribers in September this year, up from 19 million last year.
“More and more digital consumers are going online to carry out their transactions. Increased e-commerce transactions and smartphone penetration are indicative of a population segment seeking for a higher quality of living, it typically corresponds to the underbanked, which we currently serve.”
Furthermore, he said: “For over six months, QuickCheck has been the only credit provider for Jumia customers who subscribed to the JumiaOne app. QuickCheck takes it one step further by partnering with Jumia to provide its customers with access to loans, through its own credit scoring algorithm used for the underwriting of borrowers.
Our affiliation with the retail platform means that customers will have access to loans on a mobile app they are already actively using”.
He added that people who have been financially excluded will now have multiple avenues to take loans from and on platforms they are already using.
“These digital partnerships support the rapid emergence of new cross-industry business models as everything becomes connected and digital.
“We are also collaborating with PayAttitude – payment scheme, a key player in the fin-tech industry. It is the first and only multi-bank USSD and mobile app for POS, Web payments, ATM cash withdrawal, and person-to-person transactions using just a phone number”, he stressed.
Commenting on the deal, Chief Executive Officer of PayAttitude, Babatunde Okeniyi, stated that the partnership was a testimony to the company’s commitment to democratising access to financial/payment services.
“The future is mobile and we are driving inclusion through mobile in a way never before done. This partnership will therefore provide convenient platform for QuickCheck to make loans available to hundreds of thousands of customers,” he said.
