derrickbundi
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.
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.
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.
✓ 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.
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:
✓ We have launched our product into 6 African countries.
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:
- 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