Frankfurt listed fintech firm, MyBucks, which runs GetBucks in several markets across Africa has appointed Evans Munyuki, Barclays Africa’s Head of Digital as its new Chief Digital and Information Officer heading up the firm’s digital division in Africa.
With over 23-years business leadership, IT portfolio and digital experience to MyBucks, Munyuki will make use of credit technology supported by an in-house Artificial Intelligence (AI) team.“Bringing Evans on-board is a feather in the cap for MyBucks and we are truly pleased to have someone of his calibre and experience on the team.
We look forward to working with him, leveraging digital technology and bringing financial inclusion to the unbanked and underbanked in emerging markets – most specifically in Africa,” says MyBucks CEO, Dave van Niekerk.
To date, Munyuki has successfully delivered over 300 projects in three major listed companies, in the USA, EMEA, AP and South Africa. He is also the recipient of the Top Thought Leader Award at the 2011 CIO Summit and holds an Associates Degree in Applied Science in Electronics Engineering from Western Carolina University (USA).
Recently, GetBucks Kenya, launched Haraka app, to allow users to borrow nano-loans, and thereafter build up a credit history that will unlock access to higher loans with longer terms and fees further down the line.
The app is aimed at Kenyans who have largely been ignored by traditional banks, as well as those in remote rural areas who have, to date, no access to traditional financial services.
Like other apps, Haraka uses advanced AI technology to dig into a client’s M-Pesa transaction history to calculate affordability, while the data from their Facebook platform is used to evaluate fraud and credit risk. Going forward, this will allow MyBucks to start targeting millions of Kenyan customers with a nano-loans of between EUR 4 to 40.
By bridging the gap between the virtual and traditional worlds of banking and leveraging social networking to assist with financial inclusion’s penetration, MyBucks is able to provide faster, more efficient and less expensive access to financial services to clients, in Kenya and beyond.
Haraka is set to be launched in MyBucks operating markets, addressing the informally employed and self-employed in a unique using technology.