Airfox August engineering update
Taking the AirToken microloan platform to the next stage in development
July has been a critical month in development for the Airfox development team. It is only the beginning of what is to come, and is the culmination of many late nights and a great deal of hard work. We would also like to thank the community for your support! Without further adieu, let’s get right into the engineering update.
Microloan monumental milestone
As I’m sure you are aware, we have reached a monumental milestone for the platform, as we were successful in our release of the first iteration of Airfox microloans. This is a very important milestone, and I would like to take the time to thank my development team for working tirelessly on this foundational feature for the Airfox app.
In version 2.0, Airfox released microloans to our users and issued our first loans. This is a huge milestone for Airfox involving all company units and tons of moving pieces. To apply, users can submit their information, identity documents, apply for loans, and have our loan team review to approve (or deny) them. Users can then pay back the loans when they are due.
In addition to rolling out the micro loans, we increased the limited scope of loans to include all Airfox app users in Brazil. Upon the first release, we limited the amount of people who could initiate loans so that we could monitor for any security or technical flaws. When dealing with funds, we wanted to be absolutely sure that the system would work on a larger scale before opening loan availability to all users. Version 2.0.1 was released shortly after that to fix some bugs, and we are now allowing all Airfox app users within Brazil to apply for loans of up to 150 BRL (that’s about $40 in USD).
As of early August, the micro loans are being applied for daily, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Remember, the lending platform is still in beta, so this release has a specific purpose as we look to develop, refine and build upon our algorithms. As users begin to pay back loans, we will be one step closer to implementing peer-to-peer loans. We will have more information to release concerning this in the coming months.
Additional updates to the app
With all the work we accomplished with loans, it’s impressive our team was also able to get out a a few more additional features:
- The ability to recharge Bilhete Único public transit card in São Paulo
- Additional notifications to users via email and push notifications, such as during boleto deposit to improve communication
- More ways to get fiat (BRL) into the app at 400,000+ locations throughout the country by working with fastcash
- And, as always numerous bug fixes, security, and back-end improvements
One of the reasons we were able to get so much done was because, as we mentioned earlier, we added we added a new engineering team member in Boston. Welcome Luke!
As we look to grow and expand, we need your help. If you haven’t done so already, kindly head over to the Google Play Store and rate our app! We are looking to establish ourselves in the financial services sector in emerging markets, so help us build our reputation.
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James Seibel is CTO at Airfox — a blockchain-based fintech startup bringing financial services to the unbanked and financially underserved in emerging markets.
James is formerly a Software Architect at Lola Travel (founded by Kayak co-founder), Head of Engineering at Apperian (acquired by Arxan Technologies), MS and BA in Computer Science from Boston University. James has architected and developed a range of technologies, including mobile app hardening using algorithms to rewrite compiled application binaries to automatically add crypto for US and German governments. James is a blockchain engineer and Ethereum contract author.
