Headed by Collins Kathuli, Kyanda Africa is a fintech startup offering digital financial services for business to customer (B2C) and business to business (B2B).
With only a start-up capital of Ksh 15,000, the company’s customers base has now hit over 5 million transactions, according to the Standard.
Recently, the fintech launched a new product dubbed, Kyanda Fast Load, an all-in-one airtime solution for all networks.
WoK held an exclusive interview with Kathuli on the new product, and here is what we discussed about the same.
Background
Kathuli noted that they came up with the product in a bid to ease the process of buying voucher for different networks.
“The inspiration behind the product is to provide a more convenient and cost-effective way for people to stay connected by combining five different vouchers into one package,” he stated.
The product offers four different vouchers, including a Ksh 20 voucher for quick calls or texts and a Ksh 50 voucher for browsing social media or sending longer messages.
It also offers a Ksh 100 voucher for longer phone calls or data usage, and a non-denominational voucher that can be allocated any value between Ksh 20 and Ksh 10,000.
“Users can purchase Fast Load vouchers from any authorized vendor countrywide, scratch off the protective layer to reveal the voucher code, and dial *868# VoucherCode# on their phone to instantly top up their airtime,” Kathuli explained.
Further, the non-denominational vouchers are customizable for vendors, and they can earn up to 13% in commissions by selling them.
“The key features and functionalities of Fast Load are its versatility, flexibility, and ease of use,” he added.
Kathuli added that the product means more convenience to customers as they only need a single voucher for all networks.
He also noted that the non-denomination vouchers are customizable, allowing vendors to meet the needs and budgets of their customers
“Users will save time and money by only having to purchase one voucher instead of multiple ones. Anyone in Kenya is eligible to use Fast Load
“The service is currently limited to Kenyan telcos only and loading amounts outside this range will not be accepted,” he added.
Kyanda Fast Load allows customers to load amounts between Ksh 20 and Ksh 10,000 at a time for Kenyan telcos.
“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with users eagerly anticipating the opportunity to acquire the vouchers. We have also received an abundance of requests from potential vendors and inquiries about the rollout,” Kathuli told WoK.
Finally, Kathuli noted that they are hoping to make airtime payments more faster and easier in future with the product.
“Our goal is to transform payments in Africa and beyond, and we’re excited to share updates with you as we continue to grow. Follow us for the latest news on Fastload, including new features, partnerships, and expansion plans that will help us improve the user experience,” he concluded.
Collins Kathuli
Collins Kathuli was interested in technology from a young age and he harboured dreams of becoming a news anchor and would use his mother’s phone to record himself reading news.
He edited the videos and in the process of learnt how to edit and his next focus was on how he would upload his content.
This led him to build his first website from where he could upload his videos and sparked a new interest in the Information Technology (IT) field.
While in Lukenya high school he pursued computer studies which nurtured his talent in programming, enabling him to come up with innovative ideas that left schoolmates and teachers in awe.
After completing his secondary studies in 2019, he upgraded the idea to what has brought him alot of attention-Kyanda Africa.
“Ideally, I started Kyanda in my last year in high school, as part of my computer projects. The app was meant to process only airtime purchases. Once I was done with high school in November 2019, it took me only three months to fully develop a working mobile app
“With Ksh 15,000 pocket money I had saved, I managed to fully deploy Kyanda to the market and rolled out in February 2022,” the 21 year old told Business Daily.
Kyanda Africa offers various services including individual mobile platform, mobile agency networks and application programming interface (API) gateway.
Under the individual mobile platform is an app that is available on Google Play store and offers essential financial services such as bills payments (electricity, airtime, water), peer to peer (P2P) money transfer, C2B, B2B and B2C payments.
Kathuli founded Kyanda Africa alongside Emmanuel Manani.
