Last week, we announced the launch of QuickCheck’s new loan app to our email community and talked about the strides the brand has taken to improve customer experience with every QuickCheck touchpoint: the website, the social pages, the app and so much more. We decided to discuss with the brains behind the refreshing of the brand, the CEO of QuickCheck Nigeria, Fabiano Di Tomaso and he shared the QuickCheck Journey with us:
How did Quickcheck begin?
In 2017, on a lovely weekend, Luis Rodrigues, CTO and Product at QuickCheck, built and published a mobile app. His aim was to validate whether such a solution of offering loans from a smartphone was viable in helping to solve the problem of access to credit in Nigeria. The response was overwhelming and we had to stop because handling all the requests manually was not possible. We then invested in building our own credit scoring technology. Today we have a team of 6 people working only on that, on what we believe is core for such a business.
With the rise of so many microloan and fintech apps in Nigeria, what’s so special about Quickcheck Nigeria?
In Nigeria, according to https://www.efina.org.ng/ only 4% of the adult population has access to credit through formal financial institutions. There are 3 credit bureaus but covering a marginal part of the population, in the country you pay fees like rent, doctor, upfront, and there are no credit cards. We are closing this gap! With the role of educating people about financial instruments and the risks related to credit.
Who is QuickCheck for?
QuickCheck is for the underserved Nigerian who deserves access credit. The majority of our customer base are millennials, either micro-entrepreneurs who want to buy inventory and grow their own business or employed who cannot reach the end of the month with their salary because of an emergency or extra fees such as school tuition, wedding, utility bill,… It is for the Nigerian adult with integrity, an android phone, and the QuickCheck app.
Tell us about QuickCheck right now. What have you achieved?
We bootstrapped, we have our own credit scoring technology based on artificial intelligence, a partially automated credit recovery process, which help create positive unit economics. In the last 4 months, we pushed down the accelerator, resulting in an average growth of 40% month-on-month basis. While experiencing this fast growth, our top priority is to keep the default rate under control, not just growth at all costs.
In terms of impact, how will you measure that of QuickCheck?
Paraphrasing a representative of CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) during a round-table a couple of months ago: digital lenders like QuickCheck are succeeding in a consumer segment where banks and microfinance institutions are still struggling – we have a competitive advantage given by technology, customers appreciate our speed and hassle-free access to credit → no paper, no queues, no collateral no guarantors, just your smartphone and QuickCheck app, which is often not the case with traditional financial institutions. So we are making great financial impact in Nigerian homes, one individual at a time.
What challenges do you face as a business and what does it take to address those challenges in the country?
Despite this phase of organic exponential growth, we are currently closing a couple of strategic partnerships, in order to get even closer to our customers. It is important to keep your focus on your core offering but we strongly believe in product innovation, therefore investing in the exploration of complementary products – stay tuned ; )
What is QuickCheck’s biggest strength?
In this type of business, there are 2 key points that drive your performance: how good you are at listening and selecting customers (credit scoring technology) and how good you are at recovery when customers do not manage to pay on time. We invested a lot in these 2 areas. There are a lot of hard skills involved but it is only thanks to the exceptional people we hire (we got quite a hard recruitment process) that we can be proud of what we have achieved so far.
How do you see the Quickcheck’s role in shaping a startup environment in Nigeria?
As a Seedstars investment, we believe in businesses that are economically sustainable and socially impactful at the same time – this is QuickCheck, aiming at a meaningful financial inclusion of Nigerians, by enabling consumers’ participation in the economy through our digital financial services.
What do I have to do to get a loan from Quickcheck?
If you live in Nigeria, need quick cash to settle emergencies and have an android device, all you have to do is
Step 1: Download the QuickCheck loan app for free
Step 2: Sign up to create an account
Step 3: Apply for a loan and instantly
Step 4: QuickCheck will run a credit scoring using its own algorithm. No collateral needed.
Step 5: If eligible, the cash loan will be disbursed to your account within minutes.
If you are not eligible, please wait 2 weeks and apply again
QuickCheck is not only bridging the financial inclusion gap in Nigeria, they are also educating people on financial literacy and the importance of great credit history on a global scale. Their strides are laudable. Visit QuickCheck’s website, Instagram, and Facebook to experience the new look. Most importantly, apply for a loan now.
