This archive report was first published on 11 September 2019.
Published on September 11, 2019, Kuda, Nigeria's digital-only bank, has made a significant stride in the financial sector by raising $1.6 million in funding to simplify money management, spending, and saving.
The pre-seed investment funding was raised from a pool of investors, including Startupbootcamp, Haresh Aswani of the Tolaram Group, Ragnar Meitern, and other angel investors.
According to Babs Ogundeyi, Kuda's founder and CEO, the funds will be used to launch the bank out of beta later this year, with immediate priorities on continuous product improvement and excellent customer support.
With the rebranding from Kudimoney to Kuda in June, the bank has become Nigeria's first free bank, fully licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
As a digital-only bank, Kuda operates predominantly on smartphones, eliminating the need for physical locations. For users without smartphones, the bank offers a USSD version.
By being digital-only, Kuda saves significantly on costs, allowing it to charge less or even offer free services to its customers. The bank does not charge card maintenance fees, account maintenance fees, or any other fees from its customers.
Kuda aims to simplify money management by providing users with clear insights on their spending and saving habits, allowing them to automatically save whenever they spend.
With its 'full stack' approach, Kuda has built its core systems from the ground up, using 21st-century technology to process enormous amounts of data in real-time and send actionable information and analytics to users.
