Omnisient, the South African FinTech that uses advanced analytics to enable the rapid discovery and monetization of data for financial inclusion, has won the Most Innovative Financial Inclusion Technology of the Year at the Africa Bank 4.0 Awards 2023. The award ceremony, held in Nairobi, Kenya, recognizes companies and individuals that have made a significant impact on financial inclusion across Africa.
Omnisient’s platform has been recognized for its ability to enable banks to accelerate the discovery of alternative data for credit scoring of unbanked individuals, resulting in growing financial inclusion in Africa. According to the World Bank, 1.7 billion people lack access to formal financial services, making it difficult to access housing, education, healthcare, and even capital to start a business due to their lack of credit history.
Omnisient’s trust-by-design data collaboration environment is addressing this by enabling banks to evaluate and test the predictive power of 1st party consumer data from other non-related industries such as retail and telecommunications and use their customers spending patterns for credit scoring of “credit invisible” applicants. This is allowing banks to quickly extend credit to applicants who would have previously been declined.
“Billions of people around the world are “credit invisible” and unable to access funding for lack of credit history, many of these people are then forced to use alternative lenders that charge astronomical interest rates.” Our platform helps financial institutions rapidly onboard customers that would have previously been declined. Without access to formal credit, these individuals would otherwise be left with little hope for economic upliftment,” says Omnisient CEO Jon Jacobson. “I am incredibly excited about receiving this award as it gives us the validation and exposure within the financial services sector in Africa that will enable us to have an even greater impact and bring our financial inclusion solution to new markets.”
By providing a secure and privacy-compliant collaboration environment that protects consumer privacy and a company’s sensitive data, Omnisient has removed the risks and barriers for organisations to share and evaluate 1st party consumer data.
The platform has cut the time required to form data collaboration partnerships from up to 24 months down to as little as 3 months, driving innovation and growth in the financial services sector while ensuring responsible use of consumer data.
Omnisient’s innovative approach to financial inclusion and credit scoring is transforming the industry, making access to formal credit services possible for previously unbanked individuals in Africa.