By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A deal to facilitate financing for smartphones for customers of leading digital services provider in Bangladesh, Robi, has been entered into with YABX, a fintech company incubated by Comviva.
Within one year of launching 4.5G service, Robi has created the largest 4.5G network in Bangladesh and YABX, on the other hand, provides the technology to underwrite smartphone financing for customers in the emerging markets.
In doing so, the company builds customer profiles from tens of thousands of data points, using data from the mobile network. This, in turn, enables the customers to purchase their first smartphone. Therefore, it is believed that this partnership will make a significant difference in promoting digital lifestyle in the country.
In addition to this, YABX’s state-of-the-art device impairment technology enables financial institutions to launch EMI plans while Yabx manages the complete customer journey through digital channels which includes acquisition, disbursals, collections etc.
It was gathered that at the Mobile World Congress 2019, in Barcelona, Robi’s Managing Director and CEO, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed and YABX’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Rajat Dayal, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for both firms.
Witnessing the ceremony were Robi’s Chief Digital Services Officer, Shihab Ahmad, Chief Technology and Digital Services Officer, Medhat El-Husseiny, Executive Vice President, Digital Services, Ahmed Armaan Siddiqui, Executive Vice President, Technology Operations, Sarker Sohel Ahmed, Vice President, IoT & Product Innovation, Md. Showkat Kader Chowdhury, Vice President, Public Affairs, Raz Sharif Shah Jamal and Comviva’s Vice President for Global Market Units, Remus Teodorescu and Chief Marketing Officer, Suryadeep Verma.
Commenting on the partnership, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Robi Axiata Limited said, “Average smartphone price, as percentage of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita for Bangladesh, is one of the highest in the region. This is a key challenge to smartphone penetration, which currently is one of the lowest in the region.
“We are confident that through this partnership with YABX, the high entry-cost barrier will be eliminated, which will help in driving smartphone adoption and reduce inequality in Bangladesh as per SDG goal. Moreover, this will add another feather to the Big Data analytics and Fin-tech initiatives of Robi.”
On his part, Rajat Dayal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, YABX said, “Our collaboration with Robi is a part of the company’s long-term strategy to enable digital micro-loans services in Bangladesh.
“Our partnership would facilitate the vision of affordable and convenient handset financing in Bangladesh.
“The main economic and social objectives of our partnership is to help the population of Bangladesh gain instant access to smartphones in an affordable and convenient manner, thus enhancing financial inclusion through digital inclusion.”
