Future lending

Mohammed El-Shabrawy El-Feky, CEO of Egyptian fintech valU, backed by EFG-Hermes Finance and supported by JMR Infotech, reveals more details about the company and its plans

Give us more details about valU. What led you to launch it? Egypt’s cash-based society is still facing a rough road towards adoption of new technologies that allow financial inclusion. Consumer finance is primarily paper-based, and customers have a card- limit while purchasing goods or services, with limited options for installments.

ValU is seeking to revolutionise the consumer finance segment by offering instant, paperless and more convenient installment options.

The platform offers contextual and real-time engagement with options for the customer to buy online and offline. It combines home-grown algorithms with JMR’s dynamic digital platform, that supports e-commerce and lending. Together, they focus on customer lifestyle options with an affordable payment model.

How does it work for vendors and banks?

It offers a disruptive business model for SMEs by connecting customers, banks, and vendors on a unified digital platform. The digital marketplace model enables valU to offer other lifestyle goods and services for customers; allows vendors to on-board and manage their listing and inventory; and facilitates e-commerce with instant lending options for customers.

Based on the analytics of the credit behaviour, the associated banks can set dynamic limits and provide instant credit at the Point of Sale (PoS) to the end customer, whenever and wherever needed. This enables SMEs to sell smarter, attain better operational efficiency, improve their margins, and boost their business growth. ValU acts as an effective growth engine for SME businesses across diverse sectors like automobile, real estate, white goods, manufacturing, education, as well as travel and tourism, in turn contributing to the growth story of the national economy.

How is the platform different from other e-commerce sites?

ValU is a lifestyle enabling solution based on a B2C model that offers customers an ultra-fast loan approval process and focuses on customer-centric sectors.

The instant purchasing power it offers and the option of allowing consumers to purchase online or at a PoS is a key differentiator.

How have your partners – such as JMR Infotech – supported you?

JMR Infotech played a vital role in the journey of valU and has provided complete support in this endeavour, with end-to-end design and implementation of the platform.

While there were challenges during the implementation, these were efficiently handled by the team at JMR, who ensured that the project was completed to our satisfaction, within reasonable timelines.

VALU IS SEEKING TO REVOLUTIONISE THE CONSUMER FINANCE SEGMENT BY OFFERING INSTANT, PAPERLESS INSTALLMENT OPTIONS