Smart addressing startup OkHi has launched its smart address verification product with Interswitch Group in Nigeria, with Quickteller, Interswitch’s payments and wallet service, becoming the first business in the country to use the OkHi address verification service.
Founded in Kenya in 2014, OkHi provides digital address verification to financial services, tackling a problem space that is holding back growth and stifling access to credit for millions of Nigerians. OkHi’s smart addressing technology makes it easy for financial services to verify their customer’s address through their smartphone, replacing the need for utility bills or physical visits.
Disrupt Africa reported last year the startup had raised a US$1.5 million funding round with Interswitch among the investors, and Interswitch has now also become OkHi’s first Nigerian customer as expansion in the country begins in earnest.
Following the launch, Interswitch will provide all of their customers an OkHi address, providing them access to larger wallets, faster loans and improved last-mile delivery through Quickteller’s Citimart and Global Mall. In addition, Quickteller customers with an OkHi address will be able to use it for personal purposes or with other delivery services – helping to make daily tasks easier.
The technology provides an alternative to existing KYC and paper-based processes, facilitating a more seamless digital service, helping to reduce onboarding times and lower operating costs. In a recent pilot with Stanbic IBTC, OkHi proved that it could increase the accuracy of address verification by 29 per cent, increase the speed by four times, and reduce the cost by 52 per cent.
“At OkHi, we have developed the first solution in the world that can collect an extremely accurate address and verify it through a smartphone. To have Interswitch launching us to millions of people, via Quickteller, gives us an incredible platform to tackle financial inclusion in Nigeria,” said Timbo Drayson, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of OkHi.
Chinyere Don-Okhuofu, Interswitch Group’s Divisional CEO for Industry Ecosystem, said his company took its customers and their evolving needs seriously.
“This partnership with OkHi is built on the need to digitise and simplify the existing address verification system thereby dealing with another significant barrier to financial services growth across Africa,” he said.
