How a high school project gave birth to a fintech company

By KEVIN ROTICH
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Summary

• Collins Kathuli’s love for technology began in high school where he studied computer science. The studies allowed him to come up with innovative ideas that appealed to classmates and teachers.
• One of the innovations was a system that allowed customers using networks such as Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom to purchase airtime digitally, reducing the hassle of visiting physical stores from time to time.
• After graduating in 2019, he took the idea further by launching Kyanda, an online financial technology company that provides digital financial services for business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B).

Collins Kathuli’s love for technology began in high school where he studied computer science. The studies allowed him to come up with innovative ideas that appealed to classmates and teachers.

One of the innovations was a system that allowed customers using networks such as Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom to purchase airtime digitally, reducing the hassle of visiting physical stores from time to time.

After graduating in 2019, he took the idea further by launching Kyanda, an online financial technology company that provides digital financial services for business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B).

“Ideally, I started Kyanda in my last year of high school, as part of my IT projects. The app was intended to process airtime purchases only, ”he says.

“After I finished high school in November 2019, it only took me three months to fully develop a working mobile application. With 15,000 Sh of pocket money that I had saved, I managed to fully deploy Kyanda on the market and I rolled it out in February 2020, “the 20-year-old said.

Some of the services offered by the platform include an individual mobile platform, mobile agency networks and an application programming interface (API) gateway.

Under the individual mobile platform, available on Google Play Store, the platform offers essential financial services such as bill payment (airtime, TV, electricity and water), peer-to money transfer -peer (P2P), (C2B, B2B, and B2C payments) as well as withdrawals / withdrawals from any of their agents nationwide.

Through its network of mobile agents, he says, Kyanda gains access to unbanked and underbanked mobile point of sale (POS) technology. Agents can collect payments across all mobile networks through card transactions and remit them to their vendors, employees, and others.

Currently, they are in partnership with various Chinese banks, utility companies and manufacturers.

“With the API Gateway, businesses can integrate into their systems and access utility selling, payment collection and disbursement to / from mobile wallets and banks. For the first time, Kyanda offers a Open API that allows real-time disbursement of funds to all 42 banks in Kenya, ”he said.

The company’s customer base has grown to over 300,000, from the 20 it started with. Over the past two years, it has processed over 1.3 million transactions.

“In addition, merchants access our services through our Android point-of-sale technology. They can collect real-time payments from customers and disbursements to their suppliers and employees. All they need to do is register with Kyanda, undergo KYC checks and go to our point of sale (s), ”says the sophomore software engineering student at KCA University.

Some of the challenges it faces are insufficient funds for expansion, regulatory changes in the fintech space, and accessing untapped areas nationwide.

Another big challenge is the fierce competition from established brands such as M-Pesa and M-banking platforms.

“The M-Pesa and M-banking offerings can be classified as an essential service that solves mobile payment problems. However, the difference is: how easily can subscribers and platform collaborators log into the platform? ” he put.

“We will make a smart difference from our competition; cover all the gaps that may be left uncovered in the race for a large market share. The financial success of our clients will define our success. “

The tech start-up plans to expand to South Africa early next year in partnership with the Kenya South African Chamber of Commerce (KESACB), an organization that seeks to promote business opportunities between the two countries.

“This will help us improve the way business is conducted between the two countries. We will expand to East Africa and Southern Africa later by the end of this year.”

He says the adoption of digital payment solutions has been boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic as more people shop online and are cashless.