How a Michigan Alum is using Cryptocurrencies to Fight Poverty: Interview with Samer Saab (COO, Wala)

Part 1

Aaron Ngo

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Published in

Michigan FinTech

5 min readMar 16, 2018

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Background

2 Billion people don’t have access to financial services. Why does this matter? Well, low income households need access to financial tools to help manage and grow their money. Access to financial services leads to increased spending, which then stimulates the economy by creating more jobs and increasing income.

Image taken from Development Asia (link below)

Financial inclusion- when individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs (transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance) delivered in a responsible and sustainable way — Worldbank

Nonprofits, microfinance institutions, and startups are working to expand financial inclusion. Notable ones include: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grameen Bank, and Wala.

I was lucky enough to speak with Samer Saab, COO of Wala, about his work eliminating the barriers to banking. I’m splitting the interview into two parts. In the first part I’m going to discuss Wala, Samer’s journey, his experience working with emerging markets, and his advice for non-technical students looking to get involved in this space. The second part will explain the steps Samer and the Wala team took for their recent ICO (initial coin offering) as well as shed some light on cryptocurrencies.

Who is Samer Saab?

Samer Saab (Michigan Alum) — BSE in IOE (2007) and MSE in IOE (2008)

Samer, a proud Michigan alum, has always been interested in being an entrepreneur. While in school, he participated in the Engineering Global Leadership Program. He graduated in 2008 and began working in consulting. The entrepreneurial bug crept up on Samer though, and soon he decided to start his own company. After this, Samer transitioned to co-found Wala and still serves as their Chief Operations Officer today.

Wala/ Dala — breaking down barriers to banking

Wala’s (company) and Dala’s (cryptocurrency) logo — photo taken from Wala’s Medium Blog

Wala, located in Cape Town, South Africa, is a company focused on eliminating the barriers to banking and emerging market consumers. To accomplish this, they’ve created a crypto token called Dala to bridge the gap between consumers and traditional banking.

Why Emerging Markets?

Emerging markets are ripe for a financial revolution. Rapid growth is supported by young populations, low banking engagement, and high mobile penetration. According to Tricia Martinez (CEO of Wala), “consumers are actively looking for an economical solution to financial services, a solution that is not cost prohibitively priced”.

Consumers are actively looking for an economical solution to financial services, a solution that is not cost prohibitively priced

Increased access to financial services can change lives. Parents can better save for children’s education. Women are empowered to manage their own finances. Entrepreneurs can take out loans to grow their businesses. Financial inclusion can transform how a society operates.

Approach

The Dala token combines behavioral economics with technology in order to better serve the unbanked. Emerging markets require that transactions are instantaneous and low-cost. Mobile money is a popular solution, with over $269 Billion processed last year in transactions. However, there are still transaction fees associated with mobile banking. These fees are tiered, so that the % fees you pay increase based on how much money is sent. This pricing model further complicates the process and consumers’ understanding. Furthermore, transactions across borders are even more complex.

Crypto may present a solution to this problem. Blockchain allows transaction costs to be reduced, and incentives can be introduced for saving and sending money. The Dala token aims to enable both of these things in emerging markets.

Specifically, Wala will reward users in Dala tokens for completing basic activities. These tokens will be able to be redeemed for value-added services or fiat currency. Users will also be able to send it to other Wala members, making remittances (when family members abroad send money back home) easier.

Benefits to a Career in Emerging Markets

When asked about his work in emerging markets, Samer’s eyes lit up. He listed a plethora of reasons he enjoys his work. I’ve simplified the list to 3, for the sake of this article.

Opportunity- Samer cited the potential that this area has for innovation and growth as one of the reasons he’s so excited to work in this space. It’s not the same continent that is typically shown by the media. There are real opportunities to create sustainable solutions and businesses — it’s not just a place for charity.
Travel / Exploration- on top of that, Samer gets to travel and work abroad. Many students in college fawn over the idea of going abroad for a semester. Samer’s taken that a step further. He’s able to travel and experience the beautiful continent of Africa.
Make a difference- Samer clearly enjoys his work. He’s on a mission to expand financial services, transforming their ability to provide for themselves. Having that type of impact and drive is enviable.

Advice for non-technical students

As a non-technical student, who is interested in fields related to tech, it’s difficult to see how I can provide value. How can I be a part of a tech company if I can’t code? I asked Samer what his advice for non-technical students was, since he’s also not a coder by nature. His answer was simple — get REALLY good at everything else. He suggested mastering other fields such as business development, marketing, customer discovery, and economics.