Online Payment Was A Luxury in Ivory Coast Until YC-Backed Djamo Came Along
Online Payment Was A Luxury in Ivory Coast Until YC-Backed Djamo Came Along
According to financial inclusion research conducted by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, only 41% of Ivory Coast's 26.4 million people are financially included (CGAP). Among the 41%, 38% use mobile money, which is the primary driver of financial inclusion. Only 7% have bank accounts, while 3% use non-bank financial institutions such as savings and credit associations.
As of 2019, Ivory Coast's banking sector did not adequately serve the needs of its small percentage of customers. Hassan Bourgi, an Ivorian, explained that people had to visit banks and queue for hours to receive their debit cards or load them with money. The rigors of banking services prompted Bourgi to partner with Regis Bamba in 2019 to launch a startup that addresses the issues. Djamo is the name of the startup.
How Djamo Solved The Problem
Djamo makes it simple for Ivorians to create an account on its platform, order a visa card, and receive it within 48 hours. The entire process of signing up and ordering cards can be completed in less time than it takes to visit a banking hall via its mobile app.
When users stay within a certain limit, Djamo does not charge for top-ups, card payments, transfers to mobile money wallets, or Djamo accounts. It earns money by classifying services.
According to CEO Hassan Bourgi, "it was critical for us to offer a zero-fee card with no recurring fees up to a certain limit." Following that, you pay transaction fees on a per-transaction basis. There is a premium plan available for around $4 per month that allows users to transact at higher limits.”
Ivorians can use the card to pay for online services such as Netflix and Amazon subscriptions and make purchases on sites such as Alibaba, Wish, and other e-commerce platforms, without the complications associated with traditional banks.
Djamo has come a long way since its inception in 2019.
It was recently announced as one of Y Combinator's Winter 2021 batch companies. The complete list of African businesses can be found here. According to the company, it has approximately 90,000 registered users and processes over 50,000 transactions per month.
However, the operations are not without difficulties. Ivory Coast's payment infrastructure is not as developed as Nigeria's, home to Flutterwave, Mono, and PayStack.
Djamo uses a variety of payment infrastructure providers to facilitate its payments. Regis Bamba, the company's chief technology officer and co-founder, stated that the country has a few providers, but most are unreliable. As a result, the startup switches between them to find the best fit and provide the best experience for its customers.
However, Ivory Coast's peculiar challenges provide ample opportunity for disruption through innovation. Djamo is participating in Visa's Fintech Fast Track Program to maximize the capabilities and network of Visa for its users.
In June 2019, the startup raised $350,000 in a pre-seed round and another $125,000 from Y Combinator. With its recent funding and partnerships, the one-year-old startup is well-positioned to assist more Ivorians in utilizing digital financial services tools.
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