Mobile technology has evolved into the leading financial platform in emerging markets

In a recent publication, “Innovation in financial inclusion — Revenue growth through financial inclusion”, Ernst and Young validates the $200b revenue opportunity that Pngme has identified by providing an all-inclusive banking service to financially excluded individuals as well as micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) using advanced mobile blockchain technology. These individuals and enterprises have remained largely ignored by traditional banks and FinTech companies due to the high cost of delivering financial services to the customer — thus rendering them an unprofitable target customer segment. This amounts to around 2.7b-3.5b individuals globally, of which 1.6b are fully unbanked. In addition, 200m MSMEs which have no access to banking services and are not financially included suffer from financially constrained growth.

Source: MSME: Finance expanding opportunities and creating jobs, World Bank

These individuals have had help from financial initiatives which have been delivered through non-profits and NGOs such as the Gates Foundation for Financial Services for the Poor, however reach and distribution is limited. As a result, the gap between high-income (top of the financial pyramid) and low-income individuals (bottom of the financial pyramid) has continued to widen, aided by large amounts of quantitative easing over the past 10 years. This quantitative easing has provided low interest liquidity to the top of the financial pyramid (banks and wealthy individuals) and not to those in low-income groups and MSMEs at the bottom of the financial pyramid.

What is financial inclusion? Financial inclusion is the provision of affordable, accessible and relevant financial products to individuals and businesses that had previously not been able to access these products.

Individuals and businesses are constrained in their financial growth and development and require an all-inclusive banking experience delivered by Pngme to:

1. Smooth income trends

2. Obtain financing to grow businesses

3. Protect against natural and man-made disasters

4. To save for life events (births, weddings, funerals, house ownership)

Individuals and businesses are financially excluded due to the following primary factors:

1. Inadequate financial education

2. Geographic challenges

3. Cost of traditional financial products are too expensive (i.e. mobile money services such as M-PESA)

4. No credit history

Pngme solves these problems with its advanced mobile blockchain technology by delivering an all-inclusive banking experience that features payments, savings, and a digital credit score — exactly the financial infrastructure needed by those at the bottom of the financial pyramid to transact, access credit to grow their business, and save for emergencies or the future. The technology developed by Pngme significantly reduces the cost of servicing these customers and opens up a significant growth opportunity by serving customers directly through our mobile application. Pngme also partners with existing technology companies to provide an enterprise white label solution to serve large existing communities of financially excluded customers.

Ernst and Young reports that driving greater financial inclusion will not only generate sizable economic benefits — boosting gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 14% in large developing economies such as India and 30% in frontier markets, such as Kenya — but could also increase FinTech and traditional banking revenues by US$200b by delivering microfinance to financially excluded individuals and MSMEs.

Institutions that act now to increase financial inclusion will be well-placed to dominate retail and MSME banking in EMs (Emerging Markets) for years to come — EY, Innovation in financial inclusion

However, improving financial inclusion will be easier in some markets than others which is why Pngme is taking a highly targeted approach in reaching its target customer segments as well as partnering with existing regional technology companies which have engaged communities and existing customer bases.

If you would like to learn more about Pngme, you can register for early access to our mobile application by clicking here.