COVID-19 continues to spread across the United Arab Emirates with now 43,364 confirmed cases, including 295 deaths, according to the latest data from the Johns Hopkins University.
But besides the human cost, the impact of COVID-19 is also being felt by all business around the world. In Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a staggering 70% of businesses expect to close their doors within the next six months, a survey by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce revealed in late May.
Amid these wild, uncertain times, the Fintech News Network has committed to covering each week a promising fintech startup from the UAE as a way to supporting the fintech startup community and give these young companies a much deserved spotlight.
For this week, we look at Jingle Pay, an upcoming neobank targeting the millennial generation as well as the unbanked populations.
Jingle Pay: a “new revolutionary social super app for the new age”
Jingle Pay is a forthcoming neobank that aims to provide responsive banking services, including remote onboarding, multi-currency accounts, an accompanying payment card, as well as micro/nano financing, with low transfer fees, transparency and no balance/income restrictions to the Middle East’s digital-savvy and financially underserved populations.
Jingle Pay’s digital banking offering will be provided via a so-called “new revolutionary social super app for the new age” with a social payment system that caters to both enterprise and individual customers.
The platform will offer financial as well as non-financial services, the company says, and will be using bank grade security systems and proprietary algorithms to protect users’ personal identity and account.
Founder and CEO Amir Fardghassemi, an ex-hedge fund manager and fintech startup founder, says Jingle Pay will not only be an alternative banking solution as the startup also aspires to become the Middle East’s “first super app neobank.”
Some its promised features and functionalities include paperless account opening in a process that takes less than two minutes, accessibility to an aggregate of core financial services including a multi-currency account and card, peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, cheaper and transparent remittance/exchange services, micro/nano financing, and more services within its social mobile application.
For seamless digital onboarding, Jingle Pay has partnered with leading provider of real time global regulatory compliance W2.
Leveraging W2’s technology, Jingle Pay is able to digitize the onboarding process and customer due diligence to cover 7,600+ government IDs in 160 countries. Acceptable identification include passports, residency permits, Emirates ID and UAE driver licenses.
The accelerated onboarding process involves a live selfie, document verification and thorough digitized anti-money laundering (AML) checks with local and global authorities.
Jingle Pay says it targets both the digitally-native Gen Z and millennial audiences that are dissatisfied with conventional banking, as well as the unbanked and low-income populations in the Arab world that are demanding convenient, cost-effective and safe alternative to a traditional banks.
Based in Dubai, Jingle Pay says it is currently in the process of getting licensed in the UAE, Indonesia, the Philippines and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets. It is expected to move to full-fledged operations in the UAE in the latter half of 2020.
Digital banking in the UAE
In the UAE, digital banking is a field largely dominated by traditional lenders which have launched their own digital banking outfits, such as E20 and Liv, both by Emirates NBD, Mashreq Neo by Mashreq Bank, and SmartBanking by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.
Only a few other banking alternatives like Jingle Pay exist. One is Xpence, a neobank targeting freelancers, solo entrepreneurs and startups that combines bookkeeping and banking in an app.
The Abu Dhabi Global Market, a free zone in the capital city of the UAE, rolled out new digital banking licenses in the summer of 2019, allowing nonbank financial companies to provide banking services for the first time.
