MyBucks: fintech and financial inclusion
MyBucks founded in 2011, is a Luxembourg-based fintech company primarily engaged in the consumer lending sector. Through its brands GetBucks, GetBanked and GetSure the company offers unsecured consumer loans, banking solutions as well as insurance products to customers.
The company has experienced an exponential growth since its inception and has completed major milestones to date including the listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with an initial public offering that raised EUR 15.5 M (approx. USD 16.5 M) in 2016.
The proceeds assisted the company to complete its Pan-African expansion strategy through the acquisition from Opportunity International (a US-based NGO) of 6 African microfinance organisations expanding its customer base from 150 000 to 1.5 million. The acquisition brings a range of micro/SME, education and agri lending into the group and provides a platform for the group to deploy its technological advances in these products also.
The company’s Pan-African footprint comprises of Tanzania, Mozambique, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It also has operations in two European countries, namely Poland and Spain.
Opportunity International Global CEO Vicki Escarra commented, “Fintech holds tremendous potential to increase financial inclusion and help Opportunity International reach more people in need faster with life-changing access to financial solutions, training and other services to help them break the cycle of poverty, transform their lives and strengthen their families and communities”.
As at December 2016, MyBucks’ total assets amounted to EUR 154 M and total loan book amounted to EUR 77 M