Leaf Global FinTech – A virtual bank for refugees and vulnerable populations
According to the UNHCR, as of 2019 there were 79.5 million people who were forcibly displaced worldwide, which includes 26 million refugees. 85% of these individuals are hosted in developing countries and will often end up in refugee camps with poor infrastructure and a lack of access to services. Given the reasons for displacement, which could include war, natural disaster, and persecution, refugees often have to leave their homes quickly, and may not have the opportunity to settle their affairs, including withdrawing or transferring their savings. This can make it difficult to access their funds after fleeing and could result in individuals losing their life savings. Furthermore, even if they are able to flee with some money, safely storing and transporting it can be extremely difficult when in transit.
Leaf Global Fintech hopes to address this issue by providing a virtual banking system usable by individuals regardless of where they are. According to the website of Leaf Global Fintech:
For the nearly 80 million forcibly displaced people in the world today and the 100 million people who could become refugees tomorrow, access to financial services is crucial. Personal savings and access to friends and family willing to help is often the only lifeline in a traumatic time. Knowing money is safe and accessible across borders leads to financial security, peace of mind, and a greater chance of success in a new country.
Leaf was launched in Rwanda and currently operates in Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya, who are collectively home to roughly two million refugees. East Africa has struggled greatly with the refugee crisis, and several East African countries including South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, and Eritrea are key source countries for individuals fleeing violence.
How it works
Leaf is accessible to anyone with a basic phone and allows you to store money and send it to friends and family safely and without banking fees, while allowing users to cash in and out using mobile money. It also enables individuals to send money in one currency, and to be received in another. This is key, as family and friends may be separated when fleeing and could end up in different countries using different currencies.
Users are able to create an account on any mobile phone, and can deposit cash at a local money agent, which includes all major mobile money providers in the countries they’ve launched in. Once the mobile money is in a user’s Leaf wallet, it is easily accessible abroad, and family and friends can even contribute to it. This allows for a much simpler way of storing, sending, receiving, and accessing cash than has traditionally been available.
Unlike most virtual banking platforms, which need users to have a smartphone, Leaf only requires you to have a basic phone, and is the only cross-border wallet currently available on USSD. This is key as, according to Leaf, there are currently 2.4 billion people around the world still using basic phones. This demonstrates the case for Leaf beyond only displaced individuals, but for anyone who doesn’t have access to legacy financial services in the countries in which they live.
In short, “USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) is a session-based text communication protocol available on every GSM-enabled mobile device”. Most telecom services make use of USSD today, which allows for the exchange of messages between the mobile phone and an application that lives on the network, meaning that users don’t have to install an app to make use of this service. An example of a time when you may have used USSD is when you “top up” your mobile balance or send a message to check the balance of your phone.
Due to the accessibility of the USSD technology, no special equipment or mobile apps are needed to make use of Leaf, including when paying merchants via Leaf, and even if an individual were to lose their phone, their stored value remains safe on Leaf. In short, “Leaf’s platform offers a secure, affordable, convenient way to safeguard and transfer money across borders that ultimately leads to an economic identity.”
Leaf makes use of the Stellar distributed ledger blockchain for the storing of transaction data, which helps with keeping costs low, while offering a high level of security, transparency, and near instantaneous transactions.
In summary, Leaf addresses an urgent need being faced by millions around the world: being able to safely store and access cash while fleeing terrible situations. Beyond this, Leaf can also act as a broader solution for traditionally unbanked individuals, all without needing access to a smartphone, which most mobile banking platforms require. Leaf is a real winner that has the potential to impact billions of vulnerable people around the world.
What do you think about the potential for Leaf’s innovative platform? What other use cases could this technology be applied to? Tweet us at @Crypto_Altruism, we’d love to hear from you!
