Pretium Finance
SCF #26 Activation Award Payments $10,000 View in SCF
Revolutionizing African cross-border payments and integrating cryptocurrencies into the economic value chain.
Team

derrickbundi

Section

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Product & Architecture

Pretium Finance is a cryptocurrency-driven payment platform that empowers individuals and businesses to accept cross-border payments across Africa. Addiotionally, enables crypto holders to pay for utility services and settle their related bills using cryptocurrencies. Currently, operating in 6 African countries, we help merchants engaging in international trade and individuals who send remittances to family and friends with a cost-effective and instant payment alternative.

Africans contend with high transaction fees, delayed payments, and accessibility issues associated with existing payments systems. Businesses and individuals pay upto 15% of transaction fees of transaction value and sometimes have to wait upto 3 days when sending money home or making cross-border payments.

 

How does it work?

✓ Businesses / Merchants

For merchants to accept cross-border payments they create a unique paylink that specifies the amount to be paid. These links are shared to the intended payer using communication channels such as emails or whatsapp. Once the recipient clicks on the paylink, it directs them to the interface to make payment with a blockchain network of their choice and address to send stablecoins. Once a transaction is complete, the amount equivalent to stablecoins paid is deposited into paylink creator fiat wallet for withdrawal into mobile money or banks.

✓ Individuals / P2P remittances

To make payments, users deposit fiat from their mobile money or banks. Using account number to credit payments, amount paid is on-ramped into stablecoins and equivalent value is credited into specified account number wallet for withdrawal. Alternatively, users have the option of using a default paylink associated with their account. In this case, payers can utilize the paylink to deposit stablecoins, and the equivalent value will be credited to the paylink wallet.

✓ Utility payments and bill settlements

Users use their assets held in their wallet to pay for utility services or settle bills such as pay for electricity,  buy mobile airtime or data, pay for TV subscription etc.

Technical Architecture Doc

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVN6Nhk1c=/?share_link_id=375866705308

Project URL

https://pretium.africa

Code URL

Video URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Xp2ejrFhc

Pitch Deck URL

Project Categories

Project Type [If End-User Applications]

Other Chain Description

We’re currently supporting Celo, Optimism and Ethereum. And our commitment to user choice drives our expansion plans to include additional blockchain networks, offering a diverse range of options for our users.

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Requested Budget in USD ($)

10000

Total Expected Roadmap

The goal of applying for the activation award is to fund our integration to the Stellar ecosystem. We are currently seeking to close our first pre-seed round of investment of $100K in Q1-2024.

However, here are the next deliverables on our Roadmap to complete the development of the project: 

Product Development and Optimization ($40,000)

Integration of additional features and functionalities to meet market demands.

Ongoing optimization and bug fixes to maintain a high-quality product.

Security Audits and Compliance ($20,000)

Conducting thorough security audits to identify and address potential vulnerabilities.

Ensuring compliance with relevant regulatory standards and protocols.

Marketing and Community Outreach ($40,000)

Launching targeted marketing campaigns to promote awareness and user adoption.

Engaging in community outreach programs to build a strong user base.

Collaborating with influencers and key stakeholders to expand our market presence.

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Team bio

Derrick Bundi (CEO / CTO)

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-bundi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_derrickbundi

Discord: derrickbundi

Skills: Full Stack Developer | Node JS | Laravel | Vue | Elixir | Jquery | Bootstrap | Css & Html

Prior Experience

Derrick boosts over 4 years of experience in developing financial service tools that have fueled the growth of multiple financial startups. These tools have played a pivotal role in enhancing financial inclusion across sub-saharan Africa.

Faith Kinyua (Chief Financial Officer)

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faith-kinyua-0aa046190/

Skills: Financial Analyst | Legal Compliance | Risk Management

Prior Experience

Faith brings a wealth of experience in financial analysis and risk management boosting over 4 years of experience. With a keen eye for detail and a proactive approach, she excels in assessing creditworthiness, negotiating terms, and ensuring compliance. She has fuelled growth of multiple financial service companies in Kenya and beyond.

Chris Meme (Chief Product Officer)

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-m-a05a07134/

Skills: Product Management

Prior Experience

Chris is a well-versed professional with experience in product management. He has spearheaded digital financial service products from start to finish through the research & tool design, data reporting, risk management, budget formulation and expense tracking. He is leveraging the same skills in building Pretium Finance.

Why we are set for success

Deep understanding of local market

We have a profound understanding of the local market dynamics, the regulatory environment, and the specific needs of the local crypto community. This understanding allows us to tailor our solutions to suit the needs of our target customers

User-centric approach

We prioritize the needs of our users, ensuring that our platform is user-friendly, intuitive, and accessible to individuals with varying levels of crypto knowledge. We actively seek feedback and iterate on our products and platform to enhance the user experience continually.

Progress on Previous (Awarded) Submissions

✓ From the last submission our project is a common use case, and generally would require payment licenses to plug into legacy systems. To respond to this we are in the process of acquiring certification for legal compliance in Kenya, Uganda and Ghana and yet to begin acquisition of compliance documents in Tanzania, South Africa and Nigeria.

✓ From the last submission technical architecture was pretty light. To address this we have revised our technical architecture to include more  processes in our process flow.

✓ Additionally, on this application we have applied for a small grant as requested by the reviewer.

Existing, Significant and Active Userbase?

Yes.

✓ To date we have signed up 240,069 users with 20% to 30% using our product on a monthly basis.

✓ Since launch from September 2023:

  1. We have processed above $500,000 cross-border payments.
  2. Sold above $50,000 on-chain utility services.

✓ We have launched our product into 6 African countries.

Deliverables List

1. Design, develop and implement UI / UX

Description

- Design mockup layouts and flow of Stellar integration into existing web application

- Implement design into existing web application

- Perform internal review and collect feedback

How to measure completion

UI / UX interfaces updated with Stellar blockchain support.

Estimated date of completion

It will take 5 days

Budget

$2000

2. Core back-end development

Description

- Develop back-end APIs that enables:

  • uncheckedCreation of Stellar accounts
  • uncheckedSending and receiving XLM and USDC
  • uncheckedEstablishing trustline

- Link APIs to existing blockchain infrastructure payment systems to allow cross-border payment, utility services and bill settlements with Stellar assets.

How to measure completion

Users can create Stellar accounts, accept crypto assets, establish a trustline, accept cross-border payment, can pay for utility services and settle bills using Stellar assets.

Estimated date of completion

It will take 21 days

Budget

$7000

 

3. APIs internal audit

Description

- Perform internal audit to ensure maximum APIs protection and no risk of security vulnerabilities

- Integrate feedback from the audit into the development process

How to measure completion

A documented audit report with feedback and proposals

Estimated date of completion

It will take 7 days

Budget

$1000