The Pan African Bank, Ecobank is calling for applications for the Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2020. This is the third edition of the initiative, and it provides an opportunity for African Fintech to promote their solutions with access to the bank’s African market.
Basically, this challenge will enable Ecobank to partner with Fintech startups and continue to transform digital finance and banking across Africa.
Therefore, if you have a unique fintech innovation with the potential of enhancing banking in Africa, this opportunity is for you.
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About The Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2020
The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is open to all fintech startups in Africa. Generally, it identifies and partners with fintech companies that are ready to scale and provide them with support and access to Ecobank’s 33 African markets. This way, they can grow to become true Pan African Fintech success stories.
First, selected finalists will participate in the Ecobank Fintech Innovation Fair. The top 3 finalists stand a chance of winning cash prizes. Then, all finalists will be inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship and this will afford them the opportunity to explore deals, integration and commercial partnership with the bank.
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Benefits Of The Ecobank Fintech Challenge
When you become a finalist, you get inducted as an Ecobank Fintech Fellow. Also, you stand a chance to explore the following opportunities;
- Multinational Product Roll Out: Once in a lifetime opportunity to pursue integration with Ecobank and potentially launch products in Ecobank’s over 30 markets across Africa.
- Competition Cash Prizes: The top three winners at the challenge will be awarded $10,000, $7000 and $5000 cash prizes respectively.
- Service Provider Partnerships: Start-ups may be selected by Ecobank as local country-level partners in any of Ecobank’s 33 country ecosystem.
- Access To Ecobank’s Pan-African Banking Sandbox: Fellows will be given access to Ecobank’s APIs to test and improve their products for the Pan-African market.
- Mentoring and Networking Support: Founders will be inducted as Ecobank Fintech Fellows, thereby, granting them access to networking and mentoring opportunities within the Ecobank Group and its vast network of global and African partners.
- Integration With Existing Ecobank Digital Offerings: Fintechs can potentially integrate with Ecobank’s existing digital offerings. Also, Ecobank will like applicants to pitch how their solutions can add value to the bank’s existing digital offerings.
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Criteria – Pain Points Of What The Innovation should Center On
Ecobank is looking for the following qualities. The bank is looking for products that offer solutions and innovations in the following areas;
Customer Experience
- Digital customer onboarding (consumers, SME/Merchant, Investment Banking)
- Improve customer experience at branches
- Improve customer experience online
- Digitization of the customer journey
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Credit Scoring
Innovative solutions that help improve lending to SMEs. For example:
- 360o view on customers and prospects of financial activities
- Digital lending for SMEs
Ecosystem Aggregation
Innovators offering solutions in the following areas:
- SME/Merchants onboarding on payment integration
- Niche merchant aggregation
- Providing easy access to non-smart phone users
Internal Tools
- A digital solution to improve performance of salesforce
- Agency banking: solutions that enable agents to offer more services
Payments
The group also seek innovations that can solve problems around;
- Offline Mobile to Mobile payments (Dead Zones)
Any Other Relevant Product Categories
- Any other solution that will revolutionize the banking sector in Africa.
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How It Works
The step is to apply. If you’re successful, you will be shortlisted. Then, you follow up on the stages.
Interested Fintechs can apply by sending details of their product and demo. These products must address one or more of a specific set of pain points highlighted.
In the end, all finalists will be inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, which affords them the opportunity to explore deals, integration and commercial partnership with the Ecobank Group.
To read more and apply, click here
