NewTech Friday: Halal – Building a bank for all
Ibrahim Lukman, Founder & CEO of Halal, describes how he is expanding the frontiers of financial inclusion in Nigeria and Africa with a no-interest rate policy.
Ibrahim Lukman, Founder & CEO of Halal, describes how he is expanding the frontiers of financial inclusion in Nigeria and Africa with a no-interest rate policy.
What led to the creation of Halal?
Established as a result of growing dissatisfaction in the finance sector, ranging from high interest loans to unethical methods of debt recovery, Halal seeks to bring financial inclusion to MSMEs and individuals regardless of socio-economic status, religion or location. This is made possible by the introduction of the NO-interest rate policy.
At Halal, we believe that timely access to finance is critical to the sustainability of businesses.
The journey, however, started in the year 2020 when I personally faced a financial struggle while attempting to obtain a loan to meet an immediate financial need, and eventually missed the opportunity I needed the funding to execute. The issues I faced at the time gave birth to the solution HALAL (meaning Lawful & Permissible) and our primary objective is to make loans easily accessible to anyone at the time they need it.
Could you present Halal's offer?
With its specialized offerings, Halal is intending an all-inclusive digital bank to bank the unbanked and deliver seamless financial solutions for MSMEs, salary workers and cooperative organizations.
We are inventive in our services to implement revenue strategies that promote our sustainability, despite our loans being leveraged on a no-interest policy to increase financial inclusion among people of faith.
We offer the following unique products: Grow with Halal which allows businesses and individuals to learn about financial literacy to scale their businesses and access interest-free loans; Sell with Halal is for businesses to list their product items; Pay with Halal gives several ways of making payments; Raise with Halal allows vetted organizations to raise funds for different purposes such as medical emergencies, education etc; and Thrift with Halal brings Ajo/Esusu/Adashe (localized collective savings schemes) to a more secure environment, eradicating fraud which is most prevalent in the traditional process.
Instead of just offering the same services that banks and other fintechs do, we’re providing products that can accommodate everyone regardless of socio-economic status and improve their financial lifestyle.
What's coming next for Halal?
As a company with commitment to expanding the frontiers of financial inclusion, the Catapult 2022 Special Edition at Dubai which we were selected to attend opened my eyes to so many potentials and opportunities in driving financial inclusion, especially focusing on MSMEs.
Currently, as a brand, we’re looking to recognize and anticipate our clients’ current and future demands by taking time and effort to prioritize and understand their wants through experimentation of our product features. And also concentrate on a single important value proposition to establish credibility. However, as a start-up, “growth growth growth" is really important to us. So, the next thing for us is to attain product-market fit and also raise funds.
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