Eversend is the financial hub made for Africa and its diaspora. With our multi-currency account, you can transfer money across borders for up to seven times cheaper than existing bank and wire transfer methods, directly from mobile to mobile.

Download on Google Play.

Users can add money to their Eversend wallet in UGX and KES using mobile money. Your mobile money phone number was automatically added during account verification.

Here’s a step by step guide to adding money with mobile money:

1. In your main wallet screen, scroll to your desired currency (i.e. UGX or KES).
2. Tap ‘Add money’
3. Enter the desired amount. The fees, if any are displayed underneath the amount entered.
4. Confirm the payment method is your mobile money number. If you want to top up with another number, tap the down arrow and you get the option to add a new number.
5. Tap Add money after entering the amount.
6. You will be asked to confirm the top up from your mobile money account using your mobile money PIN.
7. The transaction will be processed upon confirmation on your phone.
8. You will get a confirmation message and your Eversend account will be credited with the top up amount.

Done!

You can now send what’s stored on your Eversend wallet to another Eversend user or to other mobile money accounts in other countries — i.e. from Kenya to Uganda, on M-Pesa, MTN Uganda, Airtel, etc.

We’re always here to help.

Contact us with a message and our dedicated team will get back to you as soon as possible.

How to: add money to Eversend using mobile money was originally published in Everything at Eversend on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Surveys from Geopoll and Old Mutual Fund looked into the financial habits of this population. We gather 5 common mistakes observed and the advice to remedy them.

1. Saving rather than investing

Old Mutual found that in South Africa, 69% of millennials use formal saving products (i.e. depositing into their savings account), but only 44% use pension or provident funds.

This is problematic as saving accounts do not grow your wealth against the risk of inflation. You also lose compound interest in savings.

The Survey recommends putting part of those savings into equity-based investment vehicles instead.

Another thing to note is how your savings perform against currency fluctuations. A way to circumvent this without storing in crypto or other commodities, is to store finance for daily usage in a more stable currency on a multi-currency e-wallet. Eversend, a company started by a Ugandan millennial who worked in South Africa — is now live in USD, UGX, and KES with more currencies coming soon.

2. High indebtedness and poor interest management

64% of millennials survey had a personal loan, compared to 14% among older generations. Among South African millennials with debt, 35% of their income is used to pay debt interest (not the actual debt!).

Always pay off debt with the highest interest first. As a rule of thumb, don’t spend more than what you have.

3. Jumping on the Cryptocurrency bandwagon blindly

Climbing the price surge, many millennials have shown interest in investing in bitcoin. It’s also become an increasing popular way millennials rely on for income while employment prospects suffer.

However — Crypto could fluctuate a lot.

This poor chap lost over $900 within 2 hours.

Manage your risks, don’t go all in. As a rule, make sure you only invest what you can lose.

4. Being driven by social media and overspending

One characteristic of SSA millennials is how tech-savvy they are. Social media channels like Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter have become the primary source for news and information, outdoing TV, radio and newspapers.

This also means exposure to businesses, influencers and friends who are following trends and trying to sell a lifestyle fuelled by consumables.

As income increases, its popular to increase spending to satisfy expectations of friends, family and society.

Express and live by your own values, not others’.

5. Not diversifying your income stream.

Find a side hustle for extra income to cushion unpredictable employment shocks or post graduation debt repayment.

A survey by Geopoll found that agriculture has become the most popular side hustle among Subsaharan African youth. Some has even developed it into a main business.

ICT came in close second for Ugandan youth, while the rest of SSA go for food and beverage side jobs.

“Over 30% of the extra income going towards savings while 25% goes towards school fees and a further 20% going towards utility bills.”

Check out some side hustle ideas here.

Liked this article? Follow us on social media for more tips for international money, fintech and our company journey!

We started with one inspired young man fixing the perils of sending remittances to her grandma in Uganda. Now we’re building the financial octopus for Africa and beyond.

Download our android app here.

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Written by Theresa Yung

Millennial? Don’t make these 5 common financial mistakes. was originally published in Everything at Eversend on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Starting a new life abroad can be many things — exciting, nerve-wrecking, full of career opportunities.

One thing it shouldn’t be is wallet-wrecking.

Financial planning doesn’t stop when you move away. Some look to financial advisors, some try to find their own tips and tricks for moving abroad.

From 1–7: count how many financially savvy actions you’ve taken.

1. You budget.

Do you spend locally?

Maintaining eating habits from home may cost extra where you now work. Adjust by shopping for local groceries, frequent second-hand shops, and compare prices as you would at home.

Do you budget internationally?

Not just for your spendings — also the expected spending for your family at home. Cost of international travels can eat into your budget as well. Make sure to book your trips home early.

2. You save for the future. Automatically.

Do you set aside a sum every month for your savings account?

Don’t underestimate the power of habits formed from the start of your career. The younger you start, the more you benefit from compound interest. The accumulation of small sums through your working days will make a huge difference in retirement.

3. You save. In the right currency.

Does your local currency fluctuate? Save in a more stable currency to avoid losing fractions of your hard-earned money.

Some go after offshore bank accounts. Other new products such as multi-currency wallets can also be a solution. They allow you to load and store money in your local, home, and an international currency. i.e. On Eversend, you can convert and store your money in USD, and have separate amounts of KES and UGX for your day-to-day and sending remittances home in mobile money.

4. You know your local vs home currency exchange rate by heart.

Do you have an inflated perception of the real value of your money?

Money illusion research shows that people make monetary decisions on the nominal instead of the real value of money. This is easily applied when currency difference comes to play. You may feel like you have more money to spend or that products abroad are cheaper than they actually are.

When the face value of a McDonalds burger is only a small fraction of its cost in your home currency, it’s easy to think it’s cheap and overspend.

I.e. The same combo costing 665 Shillings in Kenya translates into 24579 Ugandan Shillings.

Tip: when creating an easy to calculate currency exchange for mental conversions, always remember a stricter rate.

I.e. 1 KES is worth 36.96 UGX. Don’t remember it as 1:35, be conservative and think 1:40.

5. You have a dependable, affordable forex platform

What does that mean? How you send money home.

Instant transfers for emergencies at home.

Bank transfers may take days to deliver, and only operate on working days. Wire transfers with Western Union and MoneyGram are reliable and quick, but charge much for this.

Aim for transparent total costs.

All agents and platforms maintain themselves by making money. Some boast zero commission or interbank exchange rates — but sneakily adjust the other to make a profit. The goal is to find services that are honest and give you a clear total cost for comparison.

Tip: With technological advances, it’s now extremely cheap and quick to send from P2P in the same country. New services challenge the idea that the addition of a border in between should change this.

Eversend works to make mobile money borderless, starting for sending from card/mobile money to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. (How does it work?)

6. You have the right insurance policies.

Do you have an insurance policy that covers you in the new country?

Especially health insurance when you’re alone abroad. It should cover medical repatriation assistance, medical and hospitalisation coverage, with an urgent hotline that works 24/7 all year-round.

Your 20s is an ideal time to invest in yourself and protection for your loved ones. Missed that? Start as soon as possible.

Younger and healthier applicants pose lower risks to insurance company, making the plan cheaper. You also cover any unforeseeable disruptions to your life plans.

If you travel frequently, make sure to get travel insurance as well. Eversend will be rolling out the function to purchase of insurance in-app. We are striving to streamline the process for all, so everyone gets the protection they need. Stay tuned!

7. You have checked the relevant international tax policies.

Do your home and host governments have a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA)?

In some countries, incomes are taxed both by the jurisdiction where it’s made, and where the income is received (i.e. your host and home countries). DTAs are bilateral agreements between countries that tries to eliminate the same income getting taxed twice. This helps to encourage mobility of talent.

Make sure your income isn’t taxed twice!

How many traits do you have?

The truth is, any one of these areas could hit your financial stability by surprise while you’re abroad.

If you didn’t get a 7/7, now is a good time to rethink your personal finance!

Found this useful? Download Eversend and share this with those who might benefit from it.

Eversend. Available now on Google Play.

Coming soon to Apple Store.

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Written by Theresa Yung

Working abroad? Test your financial savviness with these 7 traits. was originally published in Everything at Eversend on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

• Are you thinking of starting a small business?
• Does your current business require payments abroad, with recipients using mobile money?
• Do you need to get paid quickly and securely by your business partners?

This article is for you.

Here are 5 common problems faced by international small businesses. And how you can use Eversend to tackle them.

1. Meeting payment deadlines and liquidity

Instant. Money. Transfers.

No where is this more important than in small scale businesses. Where international money transfers may take days to actually be delivered.

There’s nothing much a business can do when the expected cash inflow isn’t met not because your customers haven’t sent the money, but because the sum simply hasn’t been delivered.

There’s a domino effect of late payments — both from the receiving and sending end.

Late payments on your end may strain relationships with your suppliers. Otherwise, if your incoming payments are late, the blow to your business liquidity may delay your other payment needs (e.g. mailing out your goods to another customer), halting the delivery of your services and goods to others.

Solution: Online payment systems

Example: Eversend gives you instant transfers.

It takes approximately 5 minutes to send international payments into a mobile money account (now available to Uganda and Kenya mobile money, expanding soon!). It’s even quicker for Eversend to Eversend wallet deliveries.

Get your customers to pay you using Eversend, or quickly pay your fees to a recipient abroad from your Eversend wallet.

Save your beneficiary details so you can send payments instantly and seamlessly next time!

2. Unpredictable exchange rates

Important when you trade in a foreign currency. Difficulty to forecast currency fluctuations flows over to uncertainty in your business financial projections.

Solution: Get a multi-currency e-wallet

With Eversend, load, convert immediately and store your money in your preferred target currency. Our USD, UGX and KES wallets are live, and we’re working to add more.

Lock down your money’s value so there are no surprises down the line. Send directly to a mobile money recipient when its due.

Even better, get your recipient to get an Eversend wallet and you can send to theirs for free.

How it works: (an infographic)

3. High cost of sending and receiving money from customers and partners

Payments form the backbone of every business.

Transactions range from B2B payments to your imports suppliers for goods to resell, to C2B sales payments from your customers.

For international businesses, the cost of sending and receiving money increases due to foreign exchange and service charges from traditional operators (i.e. banks and money wiring services).

This is bad news for small businesses. Smaller sums mean the cost of moving money across borders becomes relatively high — cutting into your potential profits. This gets harsher if the business’ profit margin is already low.

Solution: Low cost, transparent services

We believe your money should be spent on what matters, so we are working hard to bring you no-cost transfers.

Exchanging on Eversend costs 2–3.5%.

Top up method and delivery destination change the total cost of transfer. But we make sure to clearly show you the total cost in the app before you send your money so you know exactly what you’re paying.

(Our costs)

4. Maximise processing with little manpower / doing more with less

Are you running on solo? How big is your company?

Small businesses thrive on resourcefulness. There’s enough to deal with in a day (from marketing, logistics, customer relations, etc.), that if there’s a way to cut out costs for IT and financial processing, you’d do so in a heartbeat.

Instead of jumping on the most established, expensive online payment gateway systems, you scout out alternative and affordable solutions and adapt them to your needs.

All extra costs can be justified when you’re at scale. All extra brainpower should be focused on the other things that matter.

Solution: Simple interface and in-app records

With Eversend, you can:

• Import and save your beneficiaries for quick transfers the next time
• Easily navigate and operate between your currencies
• See a list of all your payments from your phone
• Receive push notifications for all your international money activities from the app

All set up processes can be done on your phone. Simply register, verify your identity, and you’re good to go.

5. Coming soon: insurance for your work travels abroad

We will be rolling out travel insurance to be accessed from the app very soon, stay tuned!

Ready for cheap, secure, quick cross-border transfers? Make the switch today.

Eversend
The mobile-only banking alternative for Africa. Making mobile money borderless.

Available now on Google Play.

Coming soon to Apple Store.

Liked this article? Follow us on social media for more tips for international money, fintech and our company journey!

We started with one inspired young man fixing the perils of sending remittances to her grandma in Uganda. Now we’re building the financial octopus for Africa and beyond.

Written by Theresa Yung

https://www.eversend.co/
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The easy payment solution for your international small business was originally published in Everything at Eversend on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

First, I sit down with our Founder and CEO — Ugandan entrepreneur Stone Atwine to talk about his personal story. Specifically — who’s behind Eversend, why and how Financial Inclusion and access lie at the heart of our work.

All around the world, 1.7 billion adults lack access to formal financial services. We call them the “unbanked” — those without a bank account at a financial institution or through a mobile money provider. In a bid to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals, actors of the international community — from the United Nations, World Bank, governments to startups like Eversend — are joining forces to bring banking to everyone — through digitalisation.

“Tell the grandma story!” I always ask Stone when we meet people who want to know about our startup.

I joined knowing we were working on something meaningful, but it wasn’t until I heard of the back story that I felt compelled to work even harder.

Why did you build Eversend?

I’m from Mbarara, Uganda.

Like many other young professionals, I moved around Africa for job opportunities. A few years ago I worked in multiple African countries.

But I had a problem. Every month, I sent part of my salary home to my grandma who lives on a farm with 8 grandchildren.

First, Western Union took 15–20% as commission. Then my grandma needed to leave the grandchildren home and take a one-hour bus ride to collect the money. Then hog all that cash back home on a crowded bus.

So I thought: so many people around Africa were — are still — in my position. There has to be a better way to do this.

I can send money to my grandma’s MTN mobile money account when I’m in Uganda. Why can’t I send it to her mobile money when I’m abroad?

So that’s what I did.

Now, I send her money whenever I demo the Eversend app. She gets it immediately and knows that’s me showing the app and working hard.

What did you do before Eversend?

I studied computer science at Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda.

I worked for a payroll software company operating across Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa — eventually becoming Country Manager for Kenya. I later became a consultant for multiple banks and financial institutions, helping them improve operational efficiency using technology, specifically on loan collections.

With these experiences building financial service business across Africa, I’ve gotten to know the market and players well.

Prior to Eversend, I set up Yetu Credit Finance — supplying microfinance through USSD, and Useremit — accessible remittance payments.

I see a running theme of financial inclusion work here, why?

I think it really roots from my grandma. Imagine a super old lady, never had a proper ID, but needed to somehow access financial services.

Moving forward, I want our work to alleviate other types of economic marginalisation as well. My father was a doctor who worked in a refugee camp in western Uganda. I used to visit the camp. I want my work to be relevant to that as well. Gender equality in financial access is a big one too.

I want to build something that makes it easier, faster, secure for people to do things they want to do in their financial lives.

How did Emma (Cofounder and Chief Operating Officer) enter the picture?

When I looked for a co-founder, different people reached out to me through referrals from friends. Emma and I just clicked.

Common values.

Building a startup can be quite a journey. You have to believe in a few things that are important to you that keeps you going for tough situations down the road. We believe in the same things. Using business to change the world for the better. Be good, do good.

Her energy.

Emma loves people. And she’s like a tennis ball. She’ll jump on a plane to Silicon Valley, back to Berlin, then a day later be in Tel Aviv. That energy is fantastic.

Our synergy.

We work really well together, and feed off each other’s characteristics.

I’m driven and strategic, sitting back to think about the big picture, our market, the product. She’s more organised, people-facing, and brings the energy, making sure everything runs and connecting us with the world.

Who else is on the team?

We’re a very diverse team. With members from different professional fields and origins — our lead developer Ronald and customer service team Ritah, Victoria and Carmen, in Uganda, Kylie from the US, Parth and Ashish from India, and Theresa from Hong Kong.

We hire people who share our values —

1. Openness and integrity.
2. Continuous growth and improvement.
   For the company and individuals within
3. Social Impact.

These backgrounds and experiences, united by values, help us build something strong.

What traction have you had so far?

Within the past month…

We launched our Android app — that’s the coolest thing.

Emma’s been named a Forbes 30 under 30 for Tech and shared our work at their Global Women’s Summit.

We got on the Westerwelle Young Founders Program and Nasdaq Milestone Makers program.

And we’re working from Techstars Accelerator Program in Berlin with 9 other startups and the wonderful team of Techstars associates (Enda, Alex, Vera) and MD Jag Singh.

What is the Eversend brand?

Let me tell you what we’re not.

We are not just a money transfer company.

I like to refer to us as the financial services marketplace or octopus. Or the Amazon of financial services. We’re an app where you can easily go get something to make finance work for you.

Beyond sending money across borders securely, cheaply and immediately, Eversend makes it possible for customers to be able to save, buy insurance, pay bills, get credit — all easily accessible from their mobile phone.

What are you focusing on now?

We’ve just launched our Android app a few weeks ago. It’s live in Uganda and Kenya, and soon it will be in Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Ghana.

We’re working to get customer feedback, improve the app, customer service and acquire more users.

We’re having interesting conversations with potential partners. And working on expanding into new countries.

To end with, tell me about something exciting that happened at work this week.

Yesterday a customer surprised me — he said he wanted to ditch his bank and use Eversend exclusively.

Customers can convert between UGX, KES, USD anytime. So having Eversend is equivalent to having bank accounts in multiple currencies, all in one app.

I sometimes ask customers to go on direct messaging after reaching out for our customer service. You learn a lot of insights from them — what’s going well, what’s not, and how we can better serve them.

Are you an Eversend user?

We’d love to hear and feature your story of Eversend.

Who do you send money with Eversend to? What for? Have you saved time, money, effort with Eversend and how are you using what’s been saved?

Email me at theresa@eversend.co titled “Eversend Stories” and let’s set up a time to talk.

Not a user yet? Download Eversend here.

Eversend — the mobile-only banking alternative for Africa’s next generation.

Cheap, fast, secure money transfers to mobile money in Uganda, Kenya. Coming to other countries. Building our loan, insurance and bill payment functions.

Follow our journey!

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About the Author

Theresa Yung (@tjyung16)is our Growth Engineer from Hong Kong. She’s studying International Relations with a special focus on International Political Economy and Money at the London School of Economics.

Driven to generate social impact by innovative solutions, she joined our Eversend team and is enjoying working with people who share passion for change.

Financial Inclusion: Stone’s Story of Eversend was originally published in Everything at Eversend on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

While we work on that, the cost of international money transfers right now differs across countries and payment methods.

The transaction cost vary according to a number of factors.

How you load the money
Loading with mobile money, credit card, or debit cards

e.g. Different card issuers charge differently for payments you make from the card, as a standard procedure.

Foreign exchange
2–3.5%.

Where you send the money to
Mobile money or Eversend wallet

For example, the cost of sending to these countries would be slightly different.

1. Sending to Uganda mobile money.
2. Sending to Kenya mobile money.
3. Sending to Rwanda mobile money.
4. Sending to an Eversend wallet. (Completely free of charge!)

We make sure to clearly show you the total cost in the app before you send your money — when you enter your transaction details on the app.

How to understand the cost displayed

E.g. on the upper left.

To transfer -100,000 UGX to Kenya, the recipient gets 2589.80 KES.
The total charge is 2,300 UGX, displayed beneath the amount transferred.

Ready for cheap, secure, quick cross-border transfers? Download Eversend here.

Eversend:

the mobile-only banking alternative for Africa’s next generation.

We’re always here to help.

Contact us with a message and our dedicated team will get back to you as soon as possible.

How much does it cost to transfer money on Eversend? was originally published in Everything at Eversend on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Enjoy cheap, secure, convenient intra-Africa money transfers now.

Download Eversend here to send money between the world, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

After you’ve registered with Eversend, we’ll ask you to take:

1. A photo of your original government-issued photo ID
2. A quick selfie

Why do we need this information?

This is part of a financial regulation protocol known as Know Your Customer (KYC).

Before we can deliver great services to you, we must verify your identity to protect you from fraud, laundering and corruption.

4 steps for a fail-proof verification

1. Go somewhere bright
2. Turn off flash
3. Check 3 month validity and matching details on your ID
4. Take the photos and upload!

What happens to this information?

You’ll hear back from us in 10 minutes to 1 day.

Our policies and procedures are designed to protect both your confidentiality and the security of your information, including your personal information.

We store and process your personal information using servers located in secure data centres, that are protected by firewalls and have restricted access in compliance with applicable regulations. All data passed between Eversend mobile apps, our servers, and third parties are SSL encrypted.

We’re always here to help.

Contact us with a message and our dedicated team will get back to you as soon as possible.

Download Eversend here.

Eversend: the mobile banking alternative for Africa’s next generation.

Follow our journey!

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Pictured: Emma, Theresa, Stone at the Techstars Berlin Office.

How to get Verified on Eversend was originally published in Everything at Eversend on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How are technologies like ours changing the way we serve these communities?

The tragedy earlier this week involving the sickness of over 250 people serviced by the World Food Programme’s (WFP) operations in Karamoja has shone light on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Uganda.

Countless food assistance beneficiaries reported symptoms of food poisoning after eating Super Cereal, a fortified porridge aimed to tackle malnutrition of pregnant and breastfeeding women.

What is the Hunger crisis in Uganda? What is being done to alleviate the situation through technology? We offer four thoughts.

Uganda

As a heavily agricultural economy with abundant natural resources, Uganda actually suffers from intense food insecurity owing to drought.

Uganda also hosts more refugees than any other African countries. With 1.1 million refugees coming mostly from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. Many are women and children.

Together, refugees and locals alike face issues of poverty and hunger.

According to the World Food Programme:

• Half of all Ugandans consume less calories than they need daily.
• 1 out of 3 children go without food during the school day.
• Stunting, impaired growth and development, is suffered by 40% of children in Uganda.
• This is felt most heavily by refugees, 90% of whom feel the effects of food insecurity and malnutrition

Funding challenges to crisis relief efforts

With an increase in large scale crisis, there’s a drastic increase in the number of people that are targeted to receive aid. This hasn’t been matched with similar increases in funding.

E.g. The World Food Programme operates in Uganda to combat local food and health challenges, with heavy emphasis on Sustainable Development Goal #2 Zero Hunger .

As of January 2019, WFP Uganda sees a funding gap of $1.6 million USD , urgently needed to continue its Mother-and-Children Health and Nutrition program in Karamoja, or have it halted in March 2019.

As such, the search is on for solutions to do more with less.

Uses of digital solutions to maximise effective empowerment

1. Greater Resilience via Financial Inclusion

Financial Inclusion refers to the access to formal financial services, often excluded from particular socio-economic groups due to proximity and lack of formal identification.

e.g. Financial Services for Smallholder farmers

Uganda is hugely agricultural.

70% of the population is employed in agriculture, which supplies a significant portion of Uganda’s foreign exchange earnings. Refugees hosted by Uganda are given plots of land to help them become self-sufficient.

However, the increase in refugee count has decreased average size of plot given. The country also suffers from drought.

To get more from less land, solutions and financial tools need to be employed to grow productivity and value.

Better access to financial tools — such as loans and insurance — empowers people to diversify into riskier but high-return cash crops, invest in machinery, protect from seasonal shocks, and yield more value.

These services can be accessed on mobile phones through digital marketplaces provided by financial technology (fintech) startups, such as that of Eversend, a Ugandan-founded service.

Eversend is working to be accessible even on common USSD devices (feature phones, most commonly referred to as old-school Nokias, as compared to smartphones).

Meaningful partnerships can be struck to better serve communities going through agricultural self-empowerment.

This helps combat food insecurity, environmental degradation (through desperate farming practices), and the prevalence of children skipping education to help farm at home.

(More on financial inclusion here.)

2. Sustainable and affordable remittance mechanism

The African diaspora is noted for its strong ties with their home communities. Remittances are sent from abroad to support families that live in a different country.

Refugee populations hosted by Uganda, for example, get extra financial support from families in Canada who send them money. The ability to access overseas funds quickly and conveniently helps families purchase basic necessities and build financial stability.

However, high remittance costs through traditional international money transfer methods take up a large sum of the money from already vulnerable populations.

E.g. Western Union and MoneyGram may take up to 15–20% in commission. Bank transfers take multiple charges from currency exchange to administration.

Built by Ugandan native Stone Atwine who has experienced the pains of sending remittances to his grandmother and wider family from Kenya, France and South Africa, new financial technologies like Eversend are bridging international payment systems like debit cards and domestic mobile money networks.

This provides much more affordable alternatives to exorbitant transfer services.

• Families abroad load money onto their Eversend account in USD/KES with their card or MPESA/mobile money.
• Send money in Uganda Shillings to mobile money accounts held by recipients
• Recipients can make payments from their mobile money or withdraw in cash at the nearest mobile money vendor.

(Overall, less than 1km from registered users at Ugandan refugee settlements, with the exception of the Koboko area)

3. Biometric Verification in assistance delivery

Uganda is undergoing the most ambitious refugee biometric verification exercise in the history of WFP operation.

Refugees receive assistance in the form of cash or in-kind food .

In the past, workers flipped through papers to manually verify the identity of beneficiaries. The current reform registers and verifies beneficiaries using their biometric data.

E.g. An aid worker scans Maria’s ration card, iris, and fingerprints. And she receives what she’s entitled to within minutes.

“When my eyes and card are scanned, my photo comes up on the screen. I know it’s fair because WFP will give food to the right person,” explains Maria.

Combined with the implementation of universal ration sizes and electronic weighing, the new reforms ensure that aid is given to the right person, at the right amount.

This streamlined process has massively ruled out fraud, corruption, and helps all parties involved to save time to do more of what matters.

4. Digitalised cash-based transfers (CBT)

Aid organisations are transitioning to deliver assistance from in-kind food to unconditional, unrestricted cash . Also known as Cash-based intervention.

This type of assistance is distributed as physical bank notes, mobile money, debit cards, or value vouchers that can be cashed at the market.

Cash-based transfers now make up 35% of WFP’s assistance portfolio , and is adopted when the local market system functions but goods are financially inaccessible due to cost.

This switch:

Increases flexibility and empowers families to make their own choices.

They can buy diverse food products that increase nutritional intake, mirror diets of their home countries, increasing wellbeing and food security. This also prevents negative coping strategies , e.g. selling off valuable productive assets to buy food for immediate needs.

Boosts the local economy.

The multiplier effect of cash assistance: according to a Uganda-based study, per $1 USD given to a refugee, $2 USD goes into the local economy. Beneficiaries purchase from local farmers, who then expand their business efficiency and lead to a long term reduction in cost. Win-win.

is Convenient.

Instead of carrying a heavy sack of grain to last a month, recipients buy when and as they need from the local market.

Digitalisation of these transfers boosts these benefits.

Cash can be electronically credited to mobile money wallets of people’s phones where there is connectivity.

This allows for -

Speedy distribution of aid, especially in emergencies.

Financial service providers can roll out delivery quickly to registered recipients in matters of days, as compared to weeks. E.g. MTN and Airtel Uganda, the two main telecommunications operators in Uganda, have strong partnerships with WFP in its “CBT Ready” campaigns.

Saving.

Recipients of aid are able to only cash out what they need, and save the rest on their phone balance, enabling long term savings and resilience for future emergencies.

Safety.

Compared to hogging and storing cash.

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Pictured: Emma, Theresa, Stone at the Techstars Berlin Office.

About the Author

Theresa Yung is our Growth Intern studying International Relations with a special focus on International Political Economy and Money at the London School of Economics. Driven to generate social impact by innovative solutions, she joined our Eversend team at Techstars Berlin and is enjoying working with people who share the same passion for change.

How can we improve humanitarian crisis relief with technology? was originally published in Everything at Eversend on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It puzzles potential investors, makes partners stroke their chin, and mentors cringe.

“If you could be based anywhere, why France?”

We’ve gotten this question too many times to count.

“Go to the US, UK”, advisors tell us, “Starting a business in France doesn’t make any sense.”

Actually, it does.

Governmental Support

The Government has set up La French Tech — a heavily-backed organisation dedicated to promoting France as a tech business destination.

In 2017, our project, Eversend was selected as one of 70 companies that the French government selected to join the subsidiary French Tech Ticket program.

It is a one year program set up by the French government to attract international individuals to establish and grow their startups in France.

Those selected get funding, a fast-track resident permit, incubation, acceleration program, and office space at the heart of France.

Within one month, we secured our ‘Passport Talent’ visas with our families and made the move from Kampala, Uganda to found the company in Paris.

France has made an effort to make the visa and residence permit application efforts seamless both for founders, employees and their families.

We got our residence permits a few weeks after arriving in France. The French Ticket Program gave us a contact person that made sure our dealings with the government were smooth. We were also helped to register for social security and health insurance.

In 2019, France announced a complete overhaul of its French Tech Visa for startup employees. The big changes were:

* Instead of an exclusive 100 companies to benefit from French Tech Visa, there are now 10,000. The program is now 100x more inclusive.

* Startup employees no longer need to have a masters degree.

Macron’s Vow to make France a “Startup Nation”

The French government’s push to make the country the next tech startup ecosystem in Europe makes sense.

French President Emmanuel Macron is among the greatest cheerleaders for this shift. As economy minister, he aggressively promoted creating a friendlier environment for tech companies. His endorsement of the French Tech Ticket shows he understands the barriers faced by Paris in tech advancement.

For one, the nation is feeling the increasing pressure of high youth unemployment.

Strong labour laws mean that it’s hard to dismiss workers, and businesses are reluctant to hire new workers. For young people who actually get employed, the bureaucracy of big businesses hinder their ability to progress upwards in their career.

Startups on the other hand, strive on hiring young people. Though many have relocated abroad. The new policies to bolster support for startups encourages established entrepreneurs to relocate home and young people to strike out on their own.

France’s efforts to attract the brightest tech entrepreneurs will pay off in massive ways by increasing innovation, building world-class companies and creating employment. Building good companies in France also helps the nation to attract foreign investment.

For example, our initial investment in Eversend is from a US investor.

Dynamic Ecosystem

Eversend, was welcomed to work at Bondinnov Incubator and at the world’s largest, most dynamic startup campus — Station F.

Both being part of the selected French Tech Visa partner incubators and accelerators, we were able to obtain visas and work permits for the rest of the team that was based in the United States, Uganda, and India.

Being able to bring in top talent makes it easy for us to build a world-class company while also accessing the top engineering talent that France has to offer.

Station F’s 34,000 sq m space spans the length of the Eiffel Tower lying down, and brings over 1000 startups, incubators, and venture capital funds under the same roof.

There’s a true sense of community here. With a diverse base of entrepreneurs and experts all seeing themselves as part of something bigger, there is always a helping hand a few desks down in the co-working space.

It’s set up by Xavier Niel, who also founded Ecole 24, the highly selective, free, coding school in Paris disrupting modern education.

Venture Funding

One other reason for our move to Paris is access to funding.

Paris is catching up in third place with Berlin and London in fundraising efforts. Investment in London has fallen by 29% in 2018, while the figure sees steady upward trajectories in the French and German capitals.

Brexit as a push factor

The once regular meetings between the British Prime Minister (see Cameron’s monthly breakfasts) with startups and venture houses are no more.

Under Theresa May’s administration, efforts are focused on Brexit and a broader economic crisis. Special treatment and access previously enjoyed by remain-supporting tech companies have been replaced with distance from the senior decision-making process.

Instead of visiting London, tech executives are skipping the country altogether to lobby continental Europe.

The best city for tech startups?

While a few things could still be improved for founders and other startup employees, a lot has been done to make France one of the best places to start a technology business.

With a base in Paris, an accelerators program at TechStars Berlin, Fast Track Malmo, Fintech Fusion (Geneva) and a background living in London — our Eversend team has been in all the top startup cities in Europe.

Paris is where we ended up in, and we’re pretty happy with that.

What’s the world’s best city for tech startups in your opinion?

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Reported by Theresa Yung.

Why Paris Is Becoming the Best City to Found a Tech Company was originally published in Everything at Eversend on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The most overheard water cooler conversation this week has got to be:

“How were your mentor madness sessions?”

“Mental!”

Eversend reporting from Techstars Berlin, Germany.

The Techstars Berlin Accelerator Program

Techstars hosts a 3-month mentor-driven accelerator program in various locations. It forms part of an impressive greater global network of startups, mentors, and corporate partners — an ever-expanding well of resource and advice — that abide by a #GiveFirst principle.

Stone (CEO), Emma (COO) and Theresa (Growth) are now stationed in Berlin for its program here, being whipped to shape and led by the wonderful and intrepid Managing Director Jag Singh.

We embarked on this journey with 9 other highly promising technology startups, selected from all around the world. For every 100 startups that apply to techstars, only around 1 gets in. That’s a lower acceptance rate than admission to Harvard, Oxbridge and other prestigious institutions.

Month 1 focuses on mentorship, month 2 on execution and month 3 on the pitch. This culminates at DEMO DAY — a grand energetic pitch day at the end of the program showcasing all the startups to an audience of investors.

Mentor Madness

As said, the program is mentor-driven. Mentors are matched with startups based on mutual liking and rating.

Here at the Berlin program, there’s a whopping 78 mentors with in-depth experience of their respective industries.

In the past two weeks, we met with every. single. one. of the 78, for 25 minutes each. That’s over 32 hours of exposure to an incredibly diverse range of expertise, external questioning, and intense introspection of our business.

Fundraising, business development, customer acquisition, KPI setting, communication, social impact, design, technology, marketing, the list goes on… You name it, and we will have met an expert in the field.

Here are a 5 core things we have tested and validated about our business.

Create meaningful partnerships

Listen to our customers to provide direction on what services to offer on our platform

Deliver practical solutions that our customers NEED

Prioritise the most valuable growth funnels

Root ourselves in our knowledge of the market and communication with customers

Starting next week, we will get our hands dirty in workshops and follow up on these new developments with mentors we matched with.

We cannot wait to grow, even more.

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About the Author

Theresa Yung is our Growth Intern studying International Relations with a special focus on International Political Economy and Money at the London School of Economics. Driven to generate social impact by innovative solutions, she joined our Eversend team and is enjoying working with people who share passion for change.

Our Startup Life at Techstars Berlin: Mentor Madness with Eversend was originally published in Everything at Eversend on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.