The Moroccan Fintech MoneyIn is on the rise, to the point of starting to pave the way to becoming a true African unicorn. While waiting to obtain the approval of Bank Al-Maghrib, the all-in-one digital banking payment community platform, welcomed “Laleli Milanello Investments South Africa”. One more alliance for its Moroccan founder Arif Esa, elected as one of the most influential CEOs of 2022 by the magazine “Indian Business Touch”. Esa is a businessman specializing in various sectors, including infrastructure, digital transformation, Blockchain and financial services that meet urgent socio-economic needs. And startup MoneyIn (www.lematin.ma) is a Fintech that wants to provide underserved SMEs around the world with an all-in-one business, education and banking platform and networks. Objective: To help its users make better business decisions and improve their financial health.
Questions to Arif Esa, founder of MoneyIn
“We have judged MoneyIn across the African continent and then globally”
The morning : Regarding Moroccan regulations, what is your current status with Bank Al-Maghrib and what are the next steps?
Arif Esa: The request has been submitted and we are working on the regulations to guarantee the bodies in charge that our platform complies with all the laws and the various regulatory texts that apply to our activity. It takes time, because the process is complex, but we aim to launch this year.
When will you launch your operations in Morocco?
Our goal is to launch in Morocco in November 2022, subject of course to Bank Al-Maghrib’s approval.
We have already started working on concepts for education centers to help train citizens. These centers allow them to better understand the digital market, learn to use our digital platform, manage their budget and build up savings.
MoneyIn Platform is more than just a digital wallet, it’s an educational tool that will not only make life easier for its users, but also teach them better money management. It’s like a personal coach who can help you achieve your financial goals, learn how to make money, and help businesses be more efficient.
Which African countries are the most interesting for your company? Why ?
In addition to Morocco and South Africa, we would have judged MoneyIn throughout the African continent and then the world. Our users, using our Blockchain ecosystem could make instant cross-border payments to help their loved ones while others will use this system to send money home instantly and expand their business activities without the high fees. We believe that Africa should be One. Our next conquests, after South Africa, would be Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, India and Europe. We are already in discussion for these destinations, at an early stage. We are looking for new investments to make our Moroccan startup one of the fastest growing companies in Africa and potentially in the world.
MoneyIn is driven to make Morocco and Africa the world’s leading digital fintech hub.
Do you think that mobile phone companies could help your development in Africa and Morocco, do you already have contact with them (ideally, who, in Africa and Morocco), who are your consumers?
Yes, Mobile Phone Companies play a key role in our business. MoneyIn has developed its own USSD menus (two-way text messages) and we use the latest technologies available. We also use artificial intelligence to learn from our users and make improvements to our system to make it easier to use every day.
For USSD, some think that this technology is obsolete, but it works very well and is fully accepted by users, we have especially improved it a lot. Above all, this system allows you to always have access to your money, even without an Internet connection or smartphone.
But this can only be achieved if the mobile phone companies allow us to have our own unique dial code which allows our users to access our USSD menu without the need for internet, which would be more economical for them.
We are in talks with some telecommunications companies across Africa and Morocco, but due to confidentiality agreements we cannot present their names. We will communicate on this proposed subject.
Knowing the bank fees for debit card payments in Morocco, how much % should a merchant save with your payment app?
Our platform would reduce the cost of payments for the consumer and the merchant. Our goal is to keep the cost as low as possible and on occasion we can even offer up to 100% savings to our users across all industries. The key for us is to make sure people had access to their money and weren’t charged high fees. Everyone should have the right to save as much as possible and pay as few fees as possible.
Our app not only helps merchants but also consumers to save money. We also plan to make them earn money with a system of rewards that will be announced.
