Personal Finance App, SIKA, aims to innovate the banking world in Ghana with a low cost local and global money transfer service, directly from your mobile phone
The idea for SIKA began when one of the founders needed to urgently send money from the US to her mom in Ghana. The options were limited to unreasonable fees charged by money transfer services such as Western Union or an even worse and expensive option, the bank.
She had to resort to sending it through her cofounder who happened to be travelling to Ghana around that time. In this age of technology and smartphones, this outdated way of sending money is just preposterous.
Now, SIKA, which launches early next year, aims to become a global business that uses modern mobile and financial technology along with user experience design to replace banks. The company is beginning this journey by first disrupting the high-commission model associated with foreign currency exchange and local peer to peer money transfers that has long benefited banks and specialists in the market.
Based in both Silicon Valley, CA and Ghana, the company is the brainchild of 4 Ghanaians who have a collective and extensive experience in financial technology and software development at top US banks such as Chase, Wells Fargo, Discover and Chime.
“At SIKA, we want to make the world smaller by letting Ghanaians participate in global money transfers at a low cost. The banking world in Ghana is one of the industries that hasn’t been disrupted yet and that gives us a huge opportunity. Ghanaian consumers and small businesses have no other option than to rely on banks and their absurd fees to send money outside of Ghana. They also have to settle with inconveniences that come with telco mobile money services when sending money locally.” – Paul Miller, Founder of SIKA.
SIKA’s mission is simple: to move money from one place to another securely and instantly at your fingertips. As a user, all you need is an Internet enabled mobile phone or an email address and a debit card or bank account. Best part, you can send money to anyone who doesn’t even have a SIKA profile.
All transactions are reflected instantly and secured with modern bank-level security giving you the peace of mind you deserve. Upon SIKA’s launch, users will be able to transfer money locally and globally in Ghanaian Cedis, US Dollar, UK pounds or Euros at a minimal cost with more supported currencies planned in the near future.
The company is on track to launch early next year and currently has an exhaustive yet growing wait list of user signup from tech enthusiasts in the Ghanaian startup community, metropolitan Ghanaians abroad, expats, and increasingly, small to medium size business and NGOs.
Conversations with this group have all had one common theme; They are eager to use SIKA in order to avoid the red tape, expensive, less secure and inconveniences associated with local and global money transfers in Ghana today.
As such SIKA is offering free transactions to those who sign up at www.sikapp.com for a limited time only. If you’re in Accra on December 11th, check out their first meet up event to learn more about the company and get a chance to win some super cool and exclusive SIKA schwag!
About SIKA
SIKA is a personal finance app that replaces your bank with a smarter financial experience, directly from your mobile phone. The company is beginning this journey first with a global money transfer service that undercuts hefty bank fees or the need to wait in long lines at the bank or mobile money kiosk to transfer money to anyone. SIKA is making cash mobile without borders which gives metropolitan Ghanaians, expats and businesses a simple way to exchange or send money locally or globally in Ghanaian Cedis, UK Pounds, US Dollars or Euroes at a low cost.
The company was founded by 4 Ghanaians who all have an extensive background in financial technology and software development at prominent US banks such as Discover, Chase, Wells Fargo and Chime. They are set to launch early 2016. Sign up at www.sikaapp.com to get early access to the platform.