For some time now, Finserve has been teasing a new product that went live earlier today. Dubbed mKey, the keyboard app is a one-of-a-kind product that integrates a number of features that we have not seen in any local fintech app.
According to Finserve’s Managing Director Jack Ngare, mKey was conceptualized to reduce the friction of users who have to switch apps in order to perform lifestyle, financial or social functions on their smart handhelds. The app is therefore built based on the mentioned three pillars and has integrated basic keyboard features so that users can get onboard without any hassles.
mKey is available for Android users, and if your device has Android 4.1 and up, then it will run just fine. However, we noticed app crashes on a couple of devices (my Xiaomi Redmi 6A doesn’t run it, nor do a couple of other Samsung devices in our office). However, this is an issue we are sure the talented folks at Finserve can fix in a short period.
iOS users are out of luck for the time being, but the app should be on the App Store by November 2018.
Weighing a modest 25 MB, mKey is packed to the brim with multiple financial services. To begin with, users can buy airtime for their lines (all five carriers are included, namely Faiba, Equitel, Telkom, Airtel and Safaricom), send cash to mobile services or another mKey user, request for loans (from as little as Kes 300 to Kes 1 million), buy goods and services as well as pay bills.
Regarding loans, mKey uses the data on your phone to curate a credit limit for you.
The mKey wallet can also be replenished via M-PESA, Equitel, Equity agent or Eazzy Banking.
What’s more, users can send cash to their social media friends (the same system can be seen on Finserve-built Eazzy Banking app).
There is a lifestyle option called ‘Jibambe’ that covers shopping, access to news, YouTube, fashion deals, gossip stories and sports news and so forth.
Collectively, the transactions done on the app are used to create an award system where active customers are rewarded with gifts base on how frequent they transact. The point system is progressive and can be visualized in the same manner as Candy Crush Saga levels.
mKey runs on Microsoft cloud (Azure we presume) and complies to global security requirements such as GDPR and so forth.
It also has a bunch of fun features, like stickers, emojis (Yetumoji) and themes.
Finserve also says that integrate cross-border remittances by leveraging Jenga APIs and the services of World Remit by September.
Clients who need to integrate plugins or wallets on mKey are also welcome to do so.
We will dive into the app and review it in the next couple of weeks.
