Introduction:
Sometimes, I feel the technology is man’s coolest invention. Digital bank is the newest rave of the now, which I find deeply convenient. While it curbs the excesses of traditional banks, it solves one of the biggest problems we all have a grouse with; long queues at banking halls. Let me dive into why I am simply excited with digital banking, my next paragraph explains how fantastic it can be using flutter wave as my case study.
What is Flutter Wave
FlutterWave is an online platform that allows merchants to make and receive payments online. Or we can simply say, it is an integrated online platform where payments, payouts, management of funds happen. The flutterwave platform allows customers make payments, for instance, they can pay for any service offered, while a merchant receives and manages his/her funds there too. Generally, the flutterwave is a bank but a mobile bank without the complexities of the traditional banking; it is a digital bank that enables transactions while on the go.
How it began?
The story of Flutterwave began with a tech nerd, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, who also co-founded Andela . His experience with sending money to Africa while he was at Andela, birthed the ‘Flutterwave’ idea.. So basically, the idea around Flutterwave was to make payment processing in Africa easier. With a presence in 38 African countries, and over 68 payment getaways including mobile money, it is trying to solve the problems associated with sending money to Africa.
Products:
Rave by Flutterwave
Rave by Flutterwave is a payment getway permitting multiple users to receive payments with zero charges. Rave was created to make it easier for businesses to accept payment through a range of channels from their customers around the world. The channels which Rave make payments possible are; mobile money, credit and debit cards, cash tokens, USD, and ACH. Therefore, users can pay with a debit card, receive mobile money, or use a USD code.
Rave is customer-oriented; it is tailored in a way where merchants can understand their customers’ transaction habits when using their product. There is a fraud system that automatically detects any suspicious transactions, and ensures safe payments. Payment is also supported in multiple currencies; euro, British pound, Naira, US dollars.
Barter by Flutterwave
Barter is a finance management app by Flutterwave. It was designed to help users aggregate their funds on a platform; spend, send and borrow.
What you can do with Barter?
- Users can send money to their friends nearest to them. It is a peer-to-peer payment platform with a near me feature which locates your friends nearby, who you could send or ask for money from.
- It enables you to schedule your expenses, whether it is payment for data, airtime, or TV subscription.
- There are smart reminders too that send you notifications whenever your subscriptions on your Netflix expires.
- You can also manage your funds on the app too if you are saving for a project, or small business.
Achievements:
Currently, Flutterwave has about 50 bank partners with over $2.6bn payments processed in more than 100 m transactions. It has about 1200 developers building on it. In 2018, their customer base experienced 550% growth. Now, it has more than 26,000 existing customers. They still retain their enterprise customers; Uber, Arik Air, Booking.com and Flywire, while welcoming new customers like DusuPay(Uganda), BroadPay (Zambia) and PennySmart (Ghana). The barter by Flutterwave has over 30,000 customers on its platform.
In the same year (2018), they bagged a ‘best payment company’ award at Ghana ecommerce Awards ceremony.
Partnerships
Aside from having a wide vision to conquer the online payment sphere in Africa, Flutterwave has a global view too. To accelerate their core businesses, partnerships are a vital part of its growth.
The Alipay Partnership
The integration between Flutterwave and Alipay, will capture payments activity around an estimated $200 billion in China-Africa Trade. Alipay have been added as options as to cards, Barter, Mobile Money and other payment channel on the rave checkout modal.
Flywire Partnership
This partnership is targeted at Nigerian students, patients and businesses to be able to make payments for their foreign school fees and medical bills in Naira.
Shopify Partnership
By integrating Shopify on Flutterwave, businesses can scale their businesses globally with Rave. Selling online and shopping on shopify store
