BFC Bulletins Monthly News Digest
Tags Artificial Intelligence Credit Scoring Online Lending Startups
There is a large unbanked population in Africa that does not use formal banks or semiformal microfinance institutions. This has provided an opportunity for MyBucks to step in and fill a void, helping provide banking services to 1.5 million previously unbanked clients in Africa. To accomplish this, MyBucks places a strong focus on innovation and leveraging new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to operate and scale more efficiently. For example, by making use of state-of-the-art AI algorithms, MyBucks is able to include those individuals into the financial system with no traditional credit record. They accomplish this by using alternative data obtained from various sources (such as cellular phones) to perform credit scoring. More efficient operating costs through digital automation also make certain products (such as fully-automated nano-loans) financially feasible – which in turn contributes to greater financial inclusion. The company has also developed an in-house, text-based virtual assistant that is capable of interpreting both text and speech input to answer business support questions. They have also developed an AI system capable of predicting the repayment behavior of clients several weeks in advance.
The success of MyBucks in Africa has the company considering expanding its services to the unbanked in Asia Pacific, Europe and potentially the United States.
