Mukuru, the leading next-generation financial services platform headquartered in Cape Town, has announced a partnership with online learning platform Digemy to provide financial literacy education for its users. Mukuru CSI Manager Deidré Vrede says the fintech business, which connects with underserved and unbanked users across the continent and walks them along a digital financial journey, has invested in financial literacy as a means to support meaningful financial inclusion.
According to the World Bank, financial inclusion is a key enabler to reducing poverty and boosting prosperity, it means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs which are delivered in a responsible and sustainable way. Beyond this, Goal 10 of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals speaks to reducing inequality between and within countries, and to “leave no one behind”.
Vrede says that as much as technology does bridge the gap, as Mukuru has proven with millions of customers across various products, financial education is a crucial cog in the wheel of meaningful financial inclusion that leaves no one behind.
“As we journey with our customers up the financial ladder from pure cash-based transactions to ever more sophisticated digital products, we want to provide them with the tools needed to make positive financial decisions,” says Vrede.
The partnership with online learning platform Digemy has enabled Mukuru to offer financial literacy training to its customers and the broader public at no cost, giving people access to an education platform called Mukuru Money Matters. “The goal of our education platform is to equip our customers with the knowledge they need to make sound financial decisions as they walk a digital journey with us,” says Vrede.
Vrede said it was important that the education platform followed the same strategy that has driven Mukuru’s success to date: that customers be engaged on the platforms they enjoy engaging on and at the times they choose. Money Matters is currently accessed via WhatsApp with plans to launch on the Mukuru website and app in the near future.
The platform will cover four fundamental themes; essential money and wealth concepts, the importance of saving, budgeting as a skill and how to use credit and debt effectively.
“The partnership with Digemy is important as the two businesses are aligned on the importance of education broadly and financial literacy specifically. With their superb software and our large reach, we believe we can make a meaningful impact in the lives of our customers,” says Vrede.
Kobus Louw, Founder and Managing Director, of Digemy, concurs: “It is only natural that two businesses underpinned by technology, and which share the purpose of making a meaningful difference should collaborate. We are excited to partner with Mukuru to make a tangible difference in the lives of financially underserved communities as they embark on their financial journeys.”
