Crowdfunding for Adversity
BezoMoney Joins AHK and Nonprofits in COVID-19 Assistance.
MEST’s Head of Marketing, Veronica Mulhall, interviewed BezoMoney’s Co-Founder and CEO, Mubarak Sumaila about their fintech COVID-19 efforts.
Veronica:
How is the BezoMoney team handling the COVID-19 crisis?
Mubarak:
We are doing very well. We are working remotely, and we have found a rhythm.
Veronica:
Good! What efforts have BezoMoney made to help the community and to do something in response to the pandemic?
Mubarak:
We are working on two main things. The first is a crowdfunding initiative to raise $10,000 to support informal sector workers who have been affected the most by the global pandemic. Additionally, we are working directly with supermarkets to procure and supply market women with inventory for their business and also food stamps to fend for their families.
The second thing we are building is a localized crowdfunding platform where campaigns can be created to raise funds to provide further support (like PPEs and working capital) to informal sector businesses and families such as market women, farmers, etc. We are working on this together with the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana (AHK Ghana) and other non-governmental agencies. Our crowdfunding initiatives represent the social aspect of our business. It is not intended to make us profits. The donations we receive go towards helping underprivileged, underserved and marginalized populations, comprising people at the base of the pyramid who live on less than $1 a day.
Veronica:
How would the crowdfunding platform evolve to meet the needs of your audience after this pandemic is over?
Mubarak:
We will repurpose it into a regular crowdfunding platform for social causes. It will be used to receive donations for social projects like raising school fees for kids, soliciting grants and loans for the informal sector, funding facilities in rural communities, etc. Prospective donors can sign up to receive notifications of causes and they can donate anything from $1 with just a click. There has been a rise in crowdfunding initiatives and we see people on social media inviting others to support one cause or the other. We aim to put more structure to all such efforts by ensuring that all campaigns listed on our platform are verified and genuine and easy to distribute via multiple social media channels.
Veronica:
How do these solutions differ from the regular products and activities offered by your company?
Mubarak:
BezoMoney’s main offering is a digital savings and lending platform. Informal sector workers are our target customers and make up the majority of our users. The economic effects of COVID-19 created a deep impression on them of the need to secure themselves against uncertainties. Now more than before, they are seeing the importance of savings, and we have seized the opportunity to include this in our marketing messages. We have updated our USSD and strengthened our KYC (Know Your Customer) process to ensure proper verification.
Previously, one could sign up using the USSD code only, but we moved it to the web address app.bezomoney.com, which is still under development. We are testing this new feature with different customer segments; namely, students, market women, and so on, and receiving feedback that will be implemented. Our goal is to have a working product by the end of June 2020 and make it available to the masses.
Veronica:
What are some of the positive impacts you are hoping can come from these new non-profit products?
Mubarak:
We have seen people raise money through social media for all kinds of humanitarian causes; from purchasing PPEs and other essentials for healthcare workers, to donating food items for the needy in the slums. Platforms like GoFundMe, Patreon, etc. are not tailored to users in Africa, however, our platform is. We support payments through Mobile Money wallets, and also through Card and Bank account payments. Our aim is to help people mobilize the resources they need, centralize their efforts, and bring more visibility to their campaigns.
Veronica:
It is fantastic that you’re working with non-governmental agencies and supermarkets. How could larger corporates collaborate with you in a way that adds value?
Mubarak:
A lot of corporate bodies are donating to the government; this is remarkable. However, there is a growing concern among the informal sector about the funds not trickling down to them as they are required to present documentation to access the funding which they mostly do not have. If an organization were interested in donating directly to people who are in dire need of support, then our crowdfunding platform is worth considering as it provides the verification processes, convenience, and access to make such donations. Crowdfunding is a great way to leverage public support and meet the needs of underprivileged and underserved populations, especially during these times.
Veronica:
What takeaways do you think the Ghana FinTech industry is having from COVID-19?
Mubarak:
One of the greatest takeaways is the fact that almost every essential service is now moving online including financial transactions, as we have seen a hike in the number of people who are using certain online platforms like banking and e-commerce solutions. The Government of Ghana has intensified its efforts to digitize the economy and the advent of COVID-19 saw them increasing the limit of the number of accounts that Mobile Money providers are allowed to create and the amount of money that Mobile Money accounts can hold. Online transactions are the current trend, so it makes a really good case for us to distribute digital savings and lending products.
Veronica:
How do you think the FinTech industry will change post-COVID-19?
Mubarak:
There has been a lot of interest among people, both in the formal and informal sectors, regarding savings and insurance. People are becoming increasingly concerned about securing themselves against any future unforeseen circumstances that could adversely affect their socio-economic lives. These concerns are even greater in the informal sector as they have been the most affected population — many of them were faced with the challenge of providing for themselves and their families and also faced the risk of being pushed into extreme poverty.
This presents an opportunity for FinTech companies to create products that will leverage this demand during this period and also in the post-COVID-19 world.
If you would like to learn more about BezoMoney or their COVID-19 crowdfunding initiative, please reach out to Mubarak Sumaila at mubarak@bezomoney.com.
