Innovative FinTech app for Nigeria

Task:

The client approached to develop a mobile application and website for financial transactions in Nigeria.

Project:

  • A mobile app and web site were created for the project. It also used Django framework and its API component Django Rest Framework.
  • Frontend was written with TypeScript and django 
  • A turnkey design project was developed.

The ItFox launched a Fintex IT product that is focused on the Nigerian market, with plans to promote it to the US market later. Before I tell you about it, I would like to clarify the conditions in the Nigerian financial market. 

The first and, of course, an important factor is the minimal availability of ATMs, which is why PoS (point of sale) agents are common there. 

The second is that despite the desire for a cashless society by mobile banking apps, digital banks and other industry players, Nigeria’s economy remains predominantly cash-based. 

ATMs are there, of course, but they are either empty or with “Out of Service” on their screens. All financial activity in the country is regulated at the state level.

The customer’s needs were as follows:

1) Introduce a new product to the Nigerian market that facilitates the activities of PoS agents.

2) Simplify the system of interaction with PoS-agents.

3) Ensure the security of financial relationships.

 

Was also important:

  • Make cache withdrawals easy and secure.
  • To make the application profitable and comfortable to use for both a PoS agent and a customer.

The client had a goal but no requirements specification, only a general idea without a specific plan, that is why the ItFox team was instructed to perform a full study, prototyping and analysis. Through this work, an initial terms of reference was developed, which was already being refined during implementation.

 

Implementation:

Project implementation involved: project manager, designer, 2 backend developers, 2 frontend developers, tester, 1 team leader.
The following features were implemented in the process of work:

  • Map with navigation and PoS agent search.
  • PoS Agent card with the ability to add information (address, general information, working hours and photo gallery)
  • Integration of Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay payment systems.
  • Secure financial transactions through the use of Stellar, a proven real-time electronic payment platform.
  • The functionality of creating a goal by the user, in which he generates a QR code, writes basic information about why he needed money and has the opportunity to send this code to other users of the application.
  • The functionality of Qr-code generation by the user, within which he can withdraw cash through thePoS-agent. The PoS agent scans the code and gives out the necessary amount of money.
  • Functionality of internal transfers carried out by sending QR codes via personal messages to other users. 
  • The functionality of generation of a QR code during the registration of the user, where the user can show this code to any user of the application and the latter can scan it with the help of the phone camera and send the desired amount of money 

From the interesting “features”:

  • The administrator of the application can create votes in which users participate.  The results of these votes are publicly available and can affect, among other things, the ratings of PoS-agents. 
  • Users can instantly generate a QR-code for withdrawing or depositing cash to the card in Naira and USD.
  • Profile can be confirmed through Instagram. 
  • Chat between clients.
  • The ability to filter payments by four categories (date, amount, incoming, outgoing).

Right now, the ItFox team is continuing to work on this project, since the client has a lot of new ideas which he wants to implement.

 

If you are planning to create a similar product, we will be happy to advise you, just leave a request!

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