Financial technology, also known as Fintech, is an emerging industry that uses technology to improve financial activities and aims at competing with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services.
With an annual steady growth rate of 25%, Fintechs are expected to hit US$309.98 billion, a US$181.32 billion addition to 2018’s US$127.66 billion. It is on the back of this global digitization agenda that fintech start-up, The Blu Penguin, was born.
Founded in 2017 by Tenu Awoonor, the company currently offers several services including: Transaction Management Dashboard. This which allows banks to monitor, control and update the terminals within their network in real-time as well as identify and troubleshoot faulty terminals remotely.
Another service that the company offers is the Mobile Money on POS, a game-changing system that provides deposit mobilisation and bridges the gap between mobile money and traditional banking. Recently, the company has expanded aggressively, developing the BluPay app which allows any merchant to turn an Android phone into a POS, offering the same functions and benefits as a traditional POS.
Combining his expertise in systems, strategy, and technology from working in the US, Nigeria, and Ghana to create African-built tech solutions to the financial space, Tenu Awoonor designed the Inventory Management solution that dynamically manages inventory through the integrated BluPay app.
The BluPay app comes with an array of features including real-time inventory recording and management with stockout alerts; Dynamic SIMs, which enables digital devices to have continuous connection to the best network in a location, ensuring a seamless switch to the next best network if an end-user’s chosen network goes down.
This ensures 99.9% connectivity; and a Direct Debit System, which enables end-users to set recurring payments with a pre-determined frequency (daily, weekly) from mobile money wallets for loan repayment or funding investment accounts through a managed portal. The Blue Penguin has also created an acquisition team to onboard other clientele, to provide their e-payment tool to businesses outside of the banking ecosystem.
In addition, they have developed an electronic inventory management system that is seamlessly integrated into the BluPay app to help merchants track and reconcile their inventories dynamically. It is ideal for retailers and SMEs that cannot invest in a robust inventory management system comparative to those of large-scale retailers.
The Blu Penguin’s primary markets are the ECOWAS countries and the Sub-Sahara region. Some of its clients include Stanbic Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Atlantic Bank, Ecobank, GT Bank, Zenith Bank, Republic bank any many others. The Blu Penguin is also the official distributor of Verifone in West Africa operating across all the ECOWAS countries with a footprint in East Africa.
