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Earnipay Secures $4mn Seed Funding to Provide On-demand Salary To Employees In Africa

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3 years ago

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Earnipay, a financial technology solution that provides flexible and on-demand salary access to income-earners, has closed a Seed round of $4million led by Canaan and with participation from XYZ Ventures, Village Global, Musha Ventures, Ventures Platform, Voltron Capital and Paystack CEO Shola Akinlade. Targeting employees across Africa, Earnipay officially launched its operations in January 2022, having been in development and beta testing since September 2021. 

Founded by Nonso Onwuzulike to improve the financial well-being of employees, Earnipay uses its technology to offer employees the opportunity to access their earned salaries into their accounts flexibly, in real-time and interest-free. Earnipay partners with employers and seamlessly integrates with their payroll systems to offer its services to employees, who can then track and withdraw their accrued salaries via the app.

Businesses are able to have complete oversight and set limits for the percentage of salaries employees can withdraw each month. Since operating in beta, Earnipay has served over 20 businesses, outsourcing firms and HR solution providers in Nigeria including Eden Life and Thrive Agric, whose employees have used the app to access their salary over 1,000 times, indicating a strong demand for the solution. 

With the Seed funding, Earnipay will accelerate the development of its technology platform to serve large enterprise employers. By doing so, Earnipay will provide employees with the tools they need to make better financial decisions and improve their quality of life. The company plans to offer its on-demand salary solution to 200,000 employees by the end of 2022. 

Speaking on the funding round and the recent launch of Earnipay, CEO Nonso Onwuzulike, says, “Financial worries are the leading cause of distractions in the workplace. The monthly pay cycle means employees are often unable to afford daily expenses, cover emergencies or take advantage of immediate financial opportunities. As a result, they become exposed to predatory payday loans and get stuck in unending debt cycles with unrealistic payback periods and expensive interest rates.

Earnipay exists to address this problem and offer an ethical alternative to instant salary access while helping employers improve employee engagement and retention at zero cost to their business. The future of salary is on-demand, and we’re excited to be pioneering this amazing solution in Africa. I’m delighted to be collaborating with a group of highly respected investors who understand the need for a platform such as Earnipay to drive better access to salaries, and, importantly, to improve the financial well-being of income-earners in Africa.”  

“We’ve seen earned wage access grow rapidly in many markets and believe it’s a natural fit in Africa,” said Brendan Dickinson, partner at Canaan. “Earnipay has quickly established itself with a product built specifically for the payroll behaviours of this region, and early employer uptake is very strong. Nonso has built one of the strongest teams that we’ve met on the entire continent, and we’re thrilled for the opportunity to partner with them.”

On-demand salary access is a huge opportunity in Africa, with over 70% of Africa’s workforce (500 million people) paid every 30 days and are living paycheck to paycheck. The 30-days pay cycle has led to 40% of the workforce living in an unending debt cycle as they struggle to match their income to their daily expenses, emergencies and opportunities. African businesses struggle to provide scalable solutions for employees to access their daily salaries as they work for it due to legacy payroll process, lack of available cash flow and internal salary advance that remains to be a tedious and manual affair. 

Earnipay charges employees a small processing fee of NGN250 or NGN500 for this access. There is no payback and no interest charge because employees are accessing what they have worked for, It’s their money. With Earnipay, employers offer more financial well-being support to their employees, which in turn enables them to attract and retain top talent in an increasingly competitive employment market. In addition to on-demand salary, Earnipay provides financial education for employees to improve their financial literacy with a goal to enable them to make better financial decisions. 

Onwuzulike concludes: “For five months, we have been working collaboratively with employers to deliver a workplace benefit that solves the biggest source of stress and distraction in the workplace: employee money issues. By doing so, employers are improving employee engagement and productivity, as well as positioning themselves as a better place to work. We are systematically addressing the inefficiencies in how the African workforce interacts with salaries and will continue to build products and services with both employers and employees in mind.”

Employers can sign up to Earnipay via the web platform to gain access to the employer dashboard and add their employees in a simple process. Employees will receive an invitation and have immediate access to all financial tools available on the employee mobile [via Playstore or App store] or the web app.

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Justice Okamgba is journalist at Grassroots.ng

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Samsung Unveils Galaxy A06 – Galaxy Wey Sabi

By Sandra Ani

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1 month ago

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October 12, 2024

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Galaxy A06 WeySabi
From left to right: Stephen Okwara, product manager, Mobile Experience West Africa; Oge Maduagu, head of Marketing West Africa; Joy Tim-Ayoola, group head, Mobile experience West Africa, and Nathan Lee, business manager, Mobile experience, all of Samsung West Africa, during the unveiling of Galaxy A06 at Ikeja City Mall, Lagos

Samsung Electronics has officially unveiled the latest addition to the popular Galaxy A series smartphones – the Samsung Galaxy A06.

Joining a fan favorite series and combining powerful performance with a sleek design, the Galaxy A06 offers customers and loyal A series fans unique features and premium experience at an affordable price.

The stylish Galaxy A06 is set to redefine what users expect from entry-level smartphones, offering cutting-edge technology without compromise.

Aptly, tagged “Galaxy Wey Sabi”, the Galaxy A06 stands out in the competitive category as it aims to resolve the customers’ needs in a smartphone with focus on durability, functionality, security, camera, and entertainment.

Users can enjoy capturing high-resolution photos with the 50MP rear camera, now equipped with Nightography for capturing the essence of every detail especially in low-light conditions. The 8MP front and 2MP (depth) cameras also provide crystal-clear selfies with advanced beautification features.

Spotting a slimmer design and comfortable grip, as well as a side fingerprint scanner, the new Galaxy A06 features a stunning 6.7” HD+ display, providing vivid colors and crisp clarity for an immersive viewing experience that delivers seamless visuals on the infinity-U display with enhanced brightness, especially for outdoor visibility. 

Galaxy A06 – Galaxy Wey Sabi is truly a device, which understands your needs, equipped with a 5000mAh long-lasting battery, you can enjoy more device usage without worrying about battery life. The 25W Super-Fast Charging feature ensures up to 50% battery charge in just 30mins, meaning you are back in action quickly.

“The Samsung assurance is a promise, a trustworthy reliability in our Knox Security on this device, which protects your personal information by isolating your passwords and other private data within a secure environment,” said Stephen Okwara, Head Product Management, Samsung Electronics West Africa. “What also awesome about this is our promise of continuous OS upgrades and up to 4 years security update on this device. Isn’t that impressive from a brand that understands the needs of its customers?”

Also speaking at the Galaxy A06 launch event in Lagos, Oge Maduagwu, Head of Marketing, Samsung Electronics West Africa said: “We are excited to introduce the Galaxy A06, which brings together powerful performance, an advanced camera, and long-lasting battery life, all in a stylish and affordable package,” She added: “Also customers can enjoy premium support for their device with a screen damage insurance cover of just N9000.

Available in four stunning colors – Black, Blue Green, Lime and Silver – The Samsung Galaxy A06 will be available in Nigeria at all authorized Samsung Stores from 11th October 2024, with pricing starting at N146,000.

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Anambra School Emerges Winner In National Girls In ICT Competition With Groundbreaking VR Technology

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7 months ago

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April 25, 2024

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St. John Vianney Science College, Igbariam, used their virtual reality project to conquer the National Girls in ICT Competition 2024, claiming the national championship title yesterday!

The National Girls in ICT Competition, organized by the Federal Ministry of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy, is a technology innovation competition for all girls in secondary schools across Nigeria.

Their innovative project, M-Tag VR, allows users to explore iconic landmarks like Zuma Rock and learn about fascinating cultural aspects of Nigerian tribes. The girls, Immaculate Ebube Ikegwuonu, Camilla Anyadike, and Nweke-Nonso Oluchi, mentored by their coach, John Onuigbo, triumphed over teams from all 36 states.

The girls’ talent shone brightly throughout the competition. They started at the state level where they aced the Anambra state competition, then proceeded to conquer the Southeastern regional championship, defeating teams from Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, and Enugu, to make it to the national finals.

Rivers and Lagos states secured the second and third-place positions, respectively.

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Google To Delete Billions Of Browser Records To Settle ‘Incognito’ Lawsuit

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8 months ago

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April 2, 2024

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CNN reported that Google will delete billions of data records as part of a settlement for a lawsuit that accused the tech giant of improperly tracking the web-browsing habits of users who thought they were browsing the internet privately.

The suit was originally filed in 2020 and accused Google of misrepresenting the kind of data it collects from users who browsed the internet via “Incognito” private browsing mode in Chrome. Google agreed to settle the suit late last year, but the terms of the settlement were first disclosed in a filing on Monday.

As part of the settlement, Google must delete “billions of data records” that reflect the private browsing activities of users in the class action suit, according to court documents filed Monday in San Francisco federal court.

Google will also update its disclosure to inform users about what data it collects each time a user initiates a private browsing session. Google has already started implementing these changes.

For the next five years, Google will also let private browsing users block third-party cookies as part of the settlement. Google also will no longer track people’s choices to browse the internet privately.

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