Carbon, a Nigerian fintech startup, has expanded to Kenya, making its entry into East Africa’s biggest market.
Following the expansion, Kenyans can now access instant loans, using their National ID number and a selfie, as well as the phone number associated with their mobile wallet.
“This expansion presents an opportunity to bring some learnings from other African successful fintech markets to Kenya.
“It also enables us to explore what has made the Kenyan financial services industry so successful and how this success can be replicated in other markets.
“Our vision is to be a Pan-African digital bank for Africans and Africans in the diaspora.
“Taking our services to Kenya represents the first step in realising that vision and truly delivering financial services that Africans at home and abroad need to thrive and excel,” said Chijioke Dozie, CEO and co-founder of Carbon.
Carbon which was formerly known as Paylater said it has 1.8 million users and has been providing its customers with access to credit, simple payment solutions, high-yield investment opportunities and easy-to-use tools for personal financial management since 2016.
It is interesting that Carbon is expanding to Kenya because the digital finance market in the country is very competitive.
Kenya was ranked third on the continent after South Africa and Seychelles in terms of access to financial services. South Africa’s access stands at 90 percent while Seychelles stands at 95 percent.
The Kenya digital finance market is led by Safaricom’s M-Pesa. As of April 2019, M-Pesa had 25.57 million users.
Regardless, Carbon still has a financial loophole to fill in the country like it is currently doing in Nigeria.
In Kenya, only 14 percent of the population had bank accounts in 2006 when the survey was first carried out. The figure rose to 34.4 percent in 2016.
So, there are millions of both banked and unbanked customers Carbon could reach with its innovative financial products and services.
