Tanzanian startup ClickPesa has launched ClickPesa MFI, a financial platform aimed at microfinance institutions (MFIs) that helps to better service small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and women-owned businesses.
Launched in 2016 by Richard Lema and Rick Groothuizen, ClickPesa provides a set of digital payment services for businesses, with a focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The company, which received its Payment Service Provider license from the Bank of Tanzania last year, already offers a payment gateway facilitating payment collection and bulk payouts. It is now adding a dedicated service for MFIs to address their operational challenges and financing needs, enabling them to better support their customers.
ClickPesa MFI facilitates digital loan disbursements, online and offline collection of repayments, and real-time reconciliation, automating payment workflows to reduce manual errors and enhance data accuracy. Additionally, it integrates with widely-used loan management and accounting software to streamline operations further.
In addition to technological solutions, ClickPesa MFI provides access to funding, enabling MFIs to expand their loan portfolios. This approach helps MFIs increase structure, scale their services, and as a result reach more customers.
“Our journey into this space was driven by a commitment to supporting SMEs and women-owned businesses,” said Richard Lema, COO of ClickPesa. “Over the course of 1.5 years, we interviewed more than 500 MFIs to understand their challenges and identify what drives their success in scaling operations and creating meaningful impact. Through discussions with established MFIs, we pinpointed three critical factors – maintaining immediate cash flow, leveraging powerful payment digitalization tools, and implementing seamless data automation.”
The new ClickPesa MFI financial platform focuses on addressing the unique needs of medium-sized MFIs, which often face challenges scaling due to resource constraints. By tackling this, the service enables MFIs to better support their customers.
