Banking services are becoming increasingly digitized. Many banking services such as loans, savings, and even investments are easy to carry out online these days. Thanks to the dynamism of FinTechs, these banking services have been decoupled and few companies have made each area their core competency.
However, despite the innovations of digital banking services, a relatively large portion of the population is still “underserved”. The underserved population includes the unbanked (consumers without a transaction account) and the underbanked (those without access to incremental credit). In Nigeria, the underserved banking population is over 54 million.
Meanwhile, traditional financial institutions are not moving swiftly enough to address the concerns of the underserved market. But thankfully, a few FinTech startups have stepped in to provide relief. One of them is QuickCheck.
What is QuickCheck?
Launched in July 2016, QuickCheck is a new player in the Nigerian financial industry. It is a micro-lending and airtime top-up platform based in Lagos.
Short of cash this weekend? Apply for a quick loan now! Click https://t.co/0tnvofmFlG to get started. #moneywhenyouneedit #weekend pic.twitter.com/Gr9wDxLtaO
— QuickCheck Nigeria (@quickcheckNG) August 19, 2017
Alongside the likes of PayLater and PiggyBank, QuickCheck has been helping to decouple the Nigerian financial system and address the immediate needs of the niche underserved market.
QuickCheck uses machine learning algorithms to determine just how much loan a customer can get. The system uses thousands of data points from a customer’s device to determine their credit worthiness. Once determined, the fully-automated system can give loans within seconds.
No traditional bank has been able to develop such a system yet!
Recharging your phone has never been so easy. With the QuickCheck app, you can purchase airtime in just one click. Recharge your phone with the QuickCheck app today! pic.twitter.com/c7b79372TV
— QuickCheck Nigeria (@quickcheckNG) December 11, 2017
“Our ultimate goal is to be a digital bank in the customer’s pocket where they can get very cheap loans, save, take advantage of the power of group buying, and perform basic banking needs,” Bola Martins-Kuye, the startup’s co-founder, and the Chief Executive Officer said in August 2017.
The company provides loans up to N30,000 with interest rates as low as 1% per day for a maximum of 30 days. It typically evaluates and approves loan requests in less than 24 hours.
QuickCheck Achieved Traction in 6 Months
Within 6 months of its existence, the FinTech gained traction quickly. It disbursed over 3,000 loans during that period–an impressive feat.
Since then, the company has received over 90,000 loan applications and granted loan application to 11,000 of these requests. And by August 2017, the company announced its revenues had exceeded $100,000.
A sneak peek of Tuesday's bootcamp. Who's going to be the winner of #SSWNG? Join us tomorrow to find out! https://t.co/OzbW7wKpuk pic.twitter.com/DgMpyEIwof
— Seedspace Nigeria (@SeedspaceNG) August 24, 2017
The company is backed by the famous Seedstars Nigeria tech hub and has an office space at the tech hub in Lagos.
Currently limited to Nigeria, QuickCheck aims to take its innovation international. It plans to expand into other emerging markets like Egypt and Ivory Coast over the next coming months.
With a large population of Nigerians currently underserved, QuickCheck has certainly found itself in an advantageous position. And beyond Paylater, its only real threat are microfinance banks. But due to their poor use of technology, the only strength of microfinance banks is their physical presenceediijhgf.
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