It's helping the continent plug into the global economy. Most importantly, though, it's emerging as a game-changer in the financial services industry, reaching millions of consumers that traditional channels can only dream of.

Twenty years ago, vast segments of the African population were either unbanked or had limited access to traditional financial services. However, the rapid spread of mobile networks has started changing that. By 2025, half of the sub-Saharan African population will subscribe to a mobile service.

The boom in mobile penetration, with an associated surge in smartphone use, has seen Africa's fintech sector grow exponentially in the past decade. As a result, for the first time, many people can access financial services from mobile payments to microinsurance — often from a small screen in their hands.

Why is this important?

For a start, it means financial services companies can reach their audiences without having to invest in:
  • call centres
  • physical branches
  • infrastructure, and
  • personnel.
Low overheads mean the products themselves are affordable.

But the fundamental shift in momentum and access has come through the ability to reach consumers where they are rather than making them come to us — including using the mobile channels they are familiar with.

Thanks to WhatsApp, it's never been easier for customers to:
  • communicate with businesses
  • upload and submit claims from their mobile phones, and
  • ultimately, be able to sign up for insurance and other financial services products.

The other significant benefit of WhatsApp is that it allows fintech to engage with its customers personally and interactively. So, for example, we can build intuitive buttons or picture-based journeys to make it easy for customers to understand customer processes.

We can send text messages, images and videos and even conduct surveys to gather customer feedback. This helps to understand customers' needs and tailor our products and services accordingly.

WhatsApp can also help improve the customer experience in the claims journey. With WhatsApp, customers can easily submit claims by sending a message or uploading a photo of their proof of loss.

This eliminates the need for customers to visit a physical branch or call a customer service number, which can be time-consuming and difficult for customers in remote areas. A quicker claims process and payout mean a better claims experience — and a better claims experience means a happy customer.

WhatsApp isn't just convenient, though. It's also intelligent. It's helping fintech fight fraud by providing an auditable trail of communication with the customer, which can be used to verify the identity of customers and establish the legitimacy of claims and transactions.

WhatsApp commerce is still in its infancy and won't stop at microinsurance. Right now, we happen to sell life and health cover. However, customers are rapidly transitioning to a world where financial services are easily accessible via mobile phones and transacted via apps and other channels. This is not just enabling financial services.

It's bringing millions of African people into the financial mainstream for the first time. Now that's a message we can blue-tick.

For more information, visit www.ayo-holdings.com.