Qatar-based financial technology startup, Cwallet Services, has successfully secured more than USD$500K in grants and funding in its first year, having created Cwallet, Qatar’s first and only mobile application (app) to facilitate banking via blockchain technology.
Banking the unbanked
Targeting the low-income, high-volume market such as migrant and domestic workers, as well as micro-entrepreneurs, and small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), cwallet enables access to financial services such as payroll and payments.
Speaking at the Qatar Science and Technology Product Development fund signing ceremony, cwallet founder, Michael Javier, said, “Our goal is to financially empower those who are unbanked by providing a cheaper, more inclusive and cashless solution.”
Thanks to the new technology, individuals and businesses will be able to perform local and international financial transactions online, including paying and receiving wages and sending remittances to their home countries.
As one of the few local platforms available in 9 different languages, it also succeeds in overcoming the communication challenges often faced by customers in the targeted markets.
First in Qatar
The brainchild of Mr Javier and his six Qatari partners, the innovative cwallet app was brought to life under the guidance of the Digital Incubation Center (DIC), an initiative by the Ministry of Transport and Communications’to boost ICT innovation in Qatar, particularly among young people in technology-related businesses.
As Qatar’s first and only mobile application running on blockchain technology, it has been licensed by the Qatar Financial Center (QFC) as C Wallet International, and is now available at both the App Store and Google PlayStore with the ‘Payment’ function.
Mr Javier confirms that cwallet 2.0 will be launched by Q3 2020 to enable users to directly buy and pay online using their cwallet account. ‘Payroll’ and ‘Remittance’ services will be added thereafter.
Planning for global growth
Beyond 2020, the innovative startup is looking even further ahead, as it plans for growth and expansion well beyond Qatar’s borders.
The establishment of C Wallet International aims to pursue opportunities in micro-financing and lending, white labelling its cwallet blockchain technology, and seeking out affiliate partnerships, ensuring that this homegrown technology takes financial freedom and digital empowerment to underserved markets around the world.
