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Vince Tallent - Chairman and CEO, fastacash
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Fastacash logo
fastacash™, an innovative, new online, social money transfer service focusing on the UK-Kenya corridor, recently launched in the UK market. We caught up with Chairman & CEO - Vince Tallent to find out more about the service and his plans for the UK.
What makes fastacash™ different from the other money transfer services currently available?
We took a lot of time to understand our audience and their current money transfer behaviour. What stood out was how transactional money transfers were. We also found that our audience were using social and messaging platforms to keep in touch with their friends and family back home. We saw an opportunity - with fastacash™, people can now send money through their favorite social platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook, Skype. Along with money they can also send photos, videos, text and voice messages. Our service is available through a browser as well as through Android and iOS apps.
We have also addressed some of the other ‘pain points’, where users no longer have to wait in long queues, fill in forms or present ID each time they want to make a transfer! In terms of pricing, we offer competitive rates. With the flexibility of being able to access the service through a mobile phone, one can literally send money anytime one wants to - whether at home or on the move!
Tell us about the social aspect of the service? How tech savvy does a person need to be to use this service?
So, in addition to understanding the transfer market, we also took into account the popularity of social media networks like Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype and Twitter, which our target audience uses to connect with friends and family all over the world.
Social is at the core of our service - Users can register for the fastacash™ service using their Facebook credentials or email address to send their money transfer using a secure “fastalink”. The fastalink can be securely shared with the receiver across any social platform be it Twitter, Facebook, or any other platform.
We’ve also added the social and emotional sentiment to the money transfer in the form of being able to also send photos, audio, videos, and messages.
It is a highly original service and delivers a secure, simple, mobile, quick and social experience of sending more than just money to loved ones. The interface is extremely user friendly and intuitive - one doesn't need to learn anything new or be tech savvy to use this service.
How secure is the service?
Security is one of our primary concerns, as we know it will be our users’ main concern. Our team at fastacash™ has created a fully secure system and we follow all the security standards expected of such a service.
fastacash™ has developed a unique patent pending link generation technology, which combines the ease and efficiency of e-payment technology with the usage of social networks. The "fastalink" comes with multiple layers of security which make it possible to share across any social or messaging platform.
Do the people you are sending money to in Kenya have to have a bank account – this is often challenging in the more rural areas?
No they don’t – again by taking time to consider our customers' needs, we made it a priority for users to be able to send money to both bank accounts in Kenya as well as to leading mobile money service accounts like M-Pesa.
Why did you pick Kenya as the country to send money to?
There are over 200,000 Kenyans currently registered in the UK, and the numbers are growing. We also know that it is a community with a strong sense of responsibility and duty to send money home, but one that does it out of love and sentiment rather than obligation – so the perfect audience to introduce a service that gives you the opportunity to personalise your transfers with a picture, a video or even an audio message! This is also a community that is comfortable with mobile money solutions and will be comfortable adopting our service.
What are your plans for the future?
For now our focus is to build a relationship with the Kenyan community and show them how easy it is to use the fastacash™ service. We may consider adding more countries in the future.