Leading South African MFB, Barko Financial Services launches mobile app to drive financial inclusion

Wale Ameen
Online Editor

Leading South African Micro Finance Bank, Barko Financial Services has launched its digital app in a bid to expand financial banking inclusion for South Africans.

With the app powered by Temenos technology, the Micro Finance bank will enable over 1.5 million South Africans access finance fast and in less than 4½ minutes without visiting a branch. The platform was completed within a record space of 12 weeks with customer trials and tests and the final product launched just three months after.

The Microfinance Bank says it is currently in the process of applying for a banking license and has ambitions to go beyond microfinance with a range of banking services aimed at the underserved and unbanked with out-of-the-box banking solutions.

Speaking on the launch, the Chief Executive Oficer, Barko Financial Services, said “While the pandemic has increased our service demand, it has impacted our physical operations and customer access to our branches. With Temenos Infinity, we can offer a personalized and digital lending service that gives our customers instant access to the funds they need when they need them without visiting a branch. Our ambition is to provide more banking products. With Temenos SaaS, we will be able to launch new capabilities faster and provide innovative products which are simple to use and tailored to add value to our target customers.”

For Jean-Paul Mergeai, President – APAC and MEA, he said of the partnership: “Temenos is proud to partner with Barko Financial Services to make banking better for everyday South Africans. Our SaaS and cloud-native technology enable BFS to increase dramatically the speed, efficiency, and agility of its banking operations. This end-to-end platform modernization with Temenos will help BFS elevate customers’ experience and grow its business sustainably. Temenos is the world number one banking software company. With a strong presence in South Africa, we have been able to ensure a smooth implementation as well as provide valued expertise to support BFS in their journey to expand their banking proposition.”

Established in 1996, Barko Financial Services offers ethical and innovative credit solutions to formally employed South Africans with a mission to develop innovative financial solutions tailored to meet the financial needs of its clients. These are mostly made up of millions of modest income earning, formally employed South Africans, government employee’s, mining industry employee’s and private sector employee’s.