There are 2 billion people worldwide who have jobs but do not have bank account, according to Han van Dijk, Chief Marketing Officer of Dopay International. In an interview with Daily News Egypt, Van Dijk talked about the company’s financial inclusion system, ways for unbanked people to access banking facilities, and details about Dopay’s mobile app.
Tell us more about your business in Egypt?
We started our business in Egypt a couple of years ago, where we provided easy payment for unbanked people, as there are 2 billion people worldwide who have jobs but don’t have a bank account, and they are trapped in a cash economy. This means they are cut off from even the most basic financial services. Therefore, we help unbanked people break the cash cycle through a payroll and cash management service for companies, and a full mobile-banking experience for employees. Our mission is to become the day-to-day financial services provider in markets with largely unbanked and financially underserved population.
There are more than 6 billion mobile subscribers, and about 4-5 billion subscribers in the regional market. Dopay helps employees manage their own financials with the Dopay mobile app. The app gives users instant and real-time access to their balance. It also lets them prepaid through mobile and send money, anywhere anytime. Dopay provides cards to unbanked, which replaces cash. There are a huge number of initiatives to bank unbanked. Governments have this issue on their agenda, as it is good for companies and obviously good for country to include people in the bank system, which benefits the economies.
How do you convince people to be banked?
First, the problem is how you let people work with banks, and these people deal with cash in their life, so the cash is the norm, so we need to get them away from cash, through convincing them that through the bank account you can’t be tricked. Of the countries who tend towards financial inclusion, for example, India was not one of the financial inclusion countries but in one day, Indian bank received 15 million people requesting bank accounts, 5 million of them as independent individuals.
How many unbanked people in Egypt?
I think around 90% of Egyptians have no bank account.
Do you have business in other Arab countries?
Not yet, Egypt is the first country we are launching in, and we are going to launch our business in West Africa in Ghana in a couple of months. We have four offices, the headquarters in London, and offices in Amsterdam, Ghana and one in Egypt.
Why did you select Egypt?
Egypt is the first Arab and African country we started with, besides two of the Dopay funders are Egyptians. Egypt has the potential to launch our services in this market, as we have connections with banks and with the government. In addition, we are going to launch businesses in other countries besides, Egypt and Ghana, which will be in the Gulf countries next year. Then we will expand our business in Africa.
(DNE Photo)
Who are your partners in Egypt?
The banking partner in Egypt is Barclays Bank. We are not seeking individuals to give them cards on which to put their money, but seeking employers and corporates through providing them big calculations for their payments electronically. There is a lot of hassle in paying employees cash, there is a security risk to bring the money from the banks to pay them cash, preparation of envelopes and it takes manpower. Through the payroll, we give the employees prepaid cards and the employer deposits the money through his payroll into Barclays Bank and we distribute this over the cards, then the employees get their salaries through these cards. They also can use the mobile app to see their balance and transactions. These cards can be used in any ATM and any shops, and they can use CIB machines and other banks.
How many Dopay mobile app users are there in Egypt?
We are now in the testing phase of the app in Egypt. So far, we have about 200 users. We target companies and give them software and give their employees who have smart phones the mobile app, besides the Dopay card.
How many companies in Egypt do you have business with?
So far, there are four or five companies, and we target more. The company is targeting 20 companies by the end of the year. In addition to this, we are very interested in SMEs [small- and medium-sized enterprises], as they are very important for us.
Does President Al-Sisi’s initiative on financial inclusion help you in doing business in Egypt?
We offer an alternative for bank accounts, as people who don’t have a bank account can be prepaid via Dopay cards. This is first step to be banked, and they can manage their finance via mobile. Therefore, I think the drive by the government to get people banked is a good step in raising the awareness of the issue, and this goes in our mind, but we don’t profit from the government initiative.
In general, do you think that the financial inclusion system needs banks to offer new products?
Absolutely they have to, but Dopay forces the employees to get their salaries through our cards. We banked the people who are not interested in banks or new products, and moreover, they see that banks are too expensive for them and are for another class of people.
Does the company plan to target Upper Egypt?
Yes, we are planning to target this area after Cairo, in addition to expanding in other areas of Egypt.
How do you see the Egyptian market?
It is a challenge. Financially speaking, the Egyptian market is not very advanced and there are some things that need to change. The Suez Canal Project is a sign of progress and sign proving that things are changing.
