Nickle proof of market

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Globally, 2 billion adults, half the world’s adult population, lack access to formal financialservices. Moreover, the financial products available are inadequate and deficient in addressingthe needs of lower income segments.Therefore, millions of people have to recur to informal ways of saving and borrowing, themost common being Lending Circles used by 1.5 billion people according to the World Bank.Lending Circles today operate with several inefficiencies: No data collection (lack of credithistory), Cash handling (insecurity), Geographical limitations, Cost of travel, (closingbusiness) Ardous bookkeeping.We addressed all these inefficiencies by modernising lending circles in the form of an appand, therefore, also addressed the need for a financial product specifically designed formicrolending/microsaving. To put it simply, we developed the “Whatsapp” for savings.A trial version of the app was developed, the objectives of our Proof-of-Market project are to:Research and identify communities and ethnic groups in the UK most likely to use the app;Further develop our relationship with the FCA. Nickle was accepted and aided by theInnovation Hub in its early stages and we will participate in the upcoming regulatory sandboxinitiative.Bring this tool to end users to test the application and give us feedback so that we can thenincorporate any amendments and additional features until we find market fit (i.e. we haveadequately addressed the need).This market assessment study will help us to optimise Nickle and define the requirements ofits back-end systems to meet the needs of micro-lenders/savers in the UK (where 9 millionpeople are currently underbanked) and developing countries primarily Mexico and Indiawhere smartphone penetration is high. If successful this will open a potential global massmarket of 700m unbanked people only in those 2 countries and the possibility to roll out theconcept in Latin American countries, USA Philippines and Africa.