Ecobank launches Fingo Africa App in efforts to bring financial inclusion to Africa's youth

Nairobi, Friday, May 5, 2023

K.N.A by Joseph Ng’ang’a

Ecobank Kenya, part of Ecobank Group, has launched the Fingo Africa app which is set to revolutionize financial inclusion for young people in Kenya and across Africa.

The app was developed in close collaboration between Fingo Africa, a Kenyan Fintech company and Ecobank.

A statement to newsrooms indicated that the launch of the App in Kenya would be followed by a roll out across Ecobank’s Pan-African footprint.   

 Accessing financial services can be a major challenge for young people in Africa today. Opening a bank account can be a lengthy process taking anywhere from two days to two weeks in some countries.

Moreover, it may require multiple face-to-face interactions and the submission of physical paper documents. Often, consumers also face a steep fee when sending money to friends, loved ones, or businesses, in addition to other charges just to keep their account active.

Commenting at the app launch, Jeremy Awori, CEO, Ecobank Group, said: “We are proud to support the deployment of the Fingo App, a game-changer in digital finance in Africa that brings many young people into the mainstream financial sector and caters to their needs and preferences.

By simplifying access to finance, it overcomes the entrenched issues that have often acted as barriers to entry for young Africans. I want to thank our partner, Fingo, for driving such innovation that is aligned with one of our core missions to drive financial inclusion across the continent.”

The Fingo Africa app empowers Africa’s youth by enabling them to open a bank account via their mobile phone in less than four minutes, buy airtime, send money to other Fingo users for free and to M-Pesa users and pay bills via till numbers at subsidized rates. Users therefore get instantly rewarded whenever they use the App for their day-to-day transactions.

Kiiru Muhoya, CEO and Co-Founder, Fingo Africa, stated: “We are delighted that our Fingo Africa app will accelerate financial inclusion for Kenya’s youth and empower them just by using their mobile phones.

We are looking forward to rolling-out the app’s availability throughout Ecobank’s 33-country footprint, which will deliver on our vision of empowering Africa’s youth to create wealth in a way that is simple, fun and educative.”

The App also enables users to save money easily for set goals and set recurring transfers to the set goals to create a frictionless savings habit, easily create and send payment links with full payment details to ease receiving payments from those who owe you, receive funds using QR Code and earn a cash reward by completing a few simple actions after self-onboarding among other functions.

Josephine Anan-Ankomah, Managing Director, Ecobank Kenya and Regional Executive, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, commented: “The youth are a key pillar for any business and are an invaluable segment for Ecobank as the average age in Africa is 19 and it is forecast that by 2030 young Africans will be 42% of global youth.

As a Bank, it is crucial that we provide products that have appeal and are user friendly to the young population who have an immense appetite for digital engagement. The Fingo Africa App seeks to do exactly that, as we seek to deepen financial inclusivity among the youth in Kenya and beyond.”

The Fingo Africa app is currently available in Kenya, prior to a wider roll-out across Ecobank’s entire 33-country sub-Saharan African footprint.

Courtesy K.N.A