Mastercard Launches Kionect for Nairobi’s Smallest Shopkeepers
December 06 2017 - 1:00AM
Business Wire
Mobile ordering and payments solution
enables kiosk owners to access micro-loans
Mastercard today unveiled Kionect, a digital ordering system
that empowers small kiosk owners in Nairobi to order and pay for
products from wholesalers via SMS. Orders submitted via a feature
phone helps create a digital record for kiosk owners to get access
to micro-loans to stock inventory and grow their business.
Kionect is currently being piloted with over 1,000
micro-businesses in three of Nairobi’s informal settlements –
Kibera, Kawangware and Kariobangi – in partnership with Kaskazi, a
for-profit wholesaler and distributor. Diamond Trust Bank
(DTB), a financial institution with
operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi, is facilitating
digital payments between the kiosk owners and the wholesaler, and
is also acting as a re-seller of the platform to its wholesale
business clients.
Kionect, technology from Mastercard, provides a digital log of
transaction data that qualifies these micro-retailers for loans to
stock inventory from Musoni, a regional micro-finance provider.
With every loan that is paid on time, the kiosk owner has the
opportunity to take out a larger loan for a longer term and further
contribute to the growth of their business.
“Kiosk owners are the heartbeat of their communities – they
source the supplies needed to get by,” said Michael Elliott, vice
president Mastercard Labs for Financial Inclusion in Nairobi. “We
have worked hand-in-hand with micro-merchants to truly understand
their daily hurdles. Learning that product sourcing, tracking
inventory and access to flexible, short-term credit are major pain
points, we set out to develop Kionect. This Mastercard technology
opens up a new avenue for micro-retailers to grow their business,
increase consumer demand and ultimately contribute to economic
development in Africa.”
For the nearly 100,000 kiosk owners in Kenya, there is no way to
qualify for traditional, financial products such as loans and lines
of credit offered by banks and financial institutions. This is
largely due to the fact that these businesses run on cash, which
means they have no financial track record. In addition, there is no
mechanism for kiosk owners to place stock orders directly with the
wholesaler, which makes it challenging to stock fast-moving
inventory.
Kionect is one of several broad-based collaborations Mastercard
has launched with public and private sector entities to bring the
benefits and security of electronic payments to Africa and around
the globe. It developed from a direct collaboration with Mastercard
Labs for Financial Inclusion and
micro-businesses in Kenya. After the initial pilot, Mastercard will
embed the most successful services and features of Kionect into
solutions designed for scale in partnerships with global Fast
Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies in emerging markets.
Partner Quote Sheet:
“For kiosk owners, access to basic financial services holds the
potential to expand their business and contribute to the vibrancy
of their communities,” said Juliet Ongwae, Chief Innovation
Officer, Musoni Kenya. “This product heavily relies on the
micro-entrepreneurs’ transactional data for credit assessment
therefore making it accessible to micro-entrepreneurs who lack
conventional collateral to secure their loans.”
“We are seeing an increased need for supply-chain financing in
the micro-merchant and small and medium enterprise space,” Farouk
Khimji, Head of Products & Innovations, DTB. “If wholesalers
can provide financial help to their merchants, it can help bring
income stability, grow their business, create new employment
opportunities and contribute to economic growth for Africa.
About Mastercard
Mastercard (NYSE:MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology
company in the global payments industry. We operate the world’s
fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers,
financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in
more than 210 countries and territories. Mastercard products and
solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping,
traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more
secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter
@MastercardNews, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction
Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement
Bureau.
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Mastercard CommunicationsChaiti Sen, +1
914-263-6542chaiti.sen@mastercard.comorGeraldine Grealey, +27 (11)
7803981geraldine.grealey@mastercard.comorSara Mandel, +1
914-249-1370sara.mandel@mastercard.com
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