Ecobank offers fintechs $10,000 for best new banking applications

March 6, 2020 in Finance, Financial Services, Technology & Telecoms by Editor

The 2020 Ecobank Fintech Challenge is offering financial technology firms the opportunity to potentially integrate with Ecobank’s existing digital offerings.

Ecobank, the transnational financial institution based in Lome Togo, is looking for firms that can offer innovative solutions that help improve lending to small medium enterprises (SMEs) across Africa and help solve problems around offline mobile-to-mobile payments (dead zones).

A prize of $10,000 is up for grabs while the runners up will get $7000 and $5000. April 12, 2020 is the deadline for all applications.

The 2020 Ecobank Fintech Challenge is offering financial technology firms the opportunity to potentially integrate with Ecobank’s existing digital offerings.

During the launch recently, Eddy Ogbogu, the bank’s Group Executive, Operations and Technology said, “As a banking group we continue to be amazed at the many ways in which fintechs are transforming banking across Africa. We look forward to the new innovations and partnership opportunities that will come with the 2020 edition.”

The Challenge is open to all fintechs in Africa, but applicants must come up with specific ideas that address a range of pain-points. These include enhancing the customer experience and greater digitization of the customer journey.

Ecobank is also interested in innovative solutions that improve ecosystem aggregation in areas of SME/merchants on-boarding on payment integration, niche merchant aggregation and those solutions that provide easy access to non-smart phone users.

Potential winners will be expected to suggest digital solutions that help improve performance of sales force as well as solutions that enable agents to offer more services.

In addition, the bank is willing to consider any other solution that fintechs believe will help revolutionize the banking sector in Africa.

Finalists will be selected to participate in the Ecobank Fintech Innovation Fair, while all finalists will be inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, which will provide fellows an opportunity to explore deals, integration and commercial partnership with the Ecobank Group.