Orange Money Group, the mobile financial services provider in the Middle East and Africa, has joined forces with banking-as-a-service financial technology provider JUMO to extend Orange Money’s services to include additional microcredit solutions for unbanked populations.
Through a partnership with JUMO, Orange Money Group plans to advance its financial inclusion strategy by introducing new microcredit services to its customer value proposition. The collaboration with JUMO leverages their data analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities, refined to optimise credit allocation, reduce the cost of risk for lending to under four per cent and grow sustainable portfolios.
This strategic alliance will enable the rollout of various credit products across multiple markets from a multitude of funders, creating a new microfinance marketplace for the unbanked in emerging markets, with an initial focus on Francophone Africa. Orange Money Group customers will be eligible to securely request credit through their mobile devices, without needing a bank account or collateral.
Andrew Watkins-Ball, founder and CEO of JUMO, said: “This collaboration, built on top of Orange Money Group’s mobile payments and money transfer platforms, will provide customers with great financial choices and allow our bank partners to grow in new markets.”
JUMO has developed a range of short-term and instalment loan products for consumers, merchants and distributors with limited access to these services. They use trained AI algorithms to assess credit risk and facilitate the immediate flow of capital through their partnerships with pan-African banks and development finance institutions.
JUMO’s AI-driven technology for banks and payments ecosystems will provide Orange Money Group with the opportunity to introduce real-time app-based and USSD lending to their African customers. The offering is multi-country, multi-product, and multi-funding, with plans to launch in Burkina Faso imminent, followed by Mali and Botswana.
The customer experience
This partnership delivers a streamlined user experience that combines financial inclusion with new technology.
The process sees users access the service via their Orange Money Group wallet, where they can request credit. JUMO’s AI technology then evaluates eligibility based on transactional data. If validated, the amount is immediately credited to the user’s wallet, with repayment made automatically according to agreed terms.
“After developing transfer and payment services used thousands of times every second, we now aim to support our customers in their personal projects, as well as help them manage everyday emergencies,” explained Aminata Kane, CEO of Orange Money Group.
“In recent years, Orange Money has expanded its portfolio with highly accessible small loan offers. By partnering with JUMO, we aim to accelerate this momentum, roll out these services across a wide range of countries, and combine our expertise with their technology to deliver support that is even faster, more transparent, and better tailored to the needs of all our customers.”
