With a diverse background spanning telecom, mobile money, and banking, Gerald Musoke has been a driving force behind fintech innovation for the past seven years. His journey, marked by a commitment to make customer experiences better, is the typical example of how technology can be employed on a daily to transform financial services, especially in underserved parts of the country.
His path began at MTN Uganda, where he was motivated by a desire to address the frustrations of long queues and inefficient services. This experience led him to pivotal roles that combined customer service with technology, ultimately positioning him at the forefront of Uganda’s fintech landscape.
In a chat with him, Musoke shares his journey and insights into product development and user-centric design, which have played a crucial role in shaping digital financial solutions that resonate with consumers.
Can you share your journey into the fintech industry and what inspired you to pursue a career in this field?
Well, my journey dates back 7 years ago when I joined MTN Uganda. My major inspiration was to make a difference after being frustrated with long queues in service centers. I occupied several roles in Customer Service and Technology, where I developed applications related to customer service and Mobile Money. Now, when you blend Customer Service, Mobile Money, and Technology, the result is innovative digital financial solutions. At this point, I was already immersed in the intersection of people, technology, and finance, and curiosity and the promises of a new career were creeping in.
Fast forward to 2021, MTN Uganda spun off its Mobile Money business to form MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited and that’s how I ended up in fintech. I was among the pioneer employees of the new company, specifically, its product development and innovation team.
What key roles have you held in product development, and how have they shaped your perspective on fintech?
My perspective has been shaped by my personal experiences and other people’s experiences — and by my experience, I mean across the telecommunication and banking sectors.
While with MTN Mobile Money Limited, I was in charge of mapping out detailed user stories, creating product use cases, and ensuring that technology solutions met the product requirements. Oh, I also led the implementation of the UI to revamp of the current Mobile Money app to incorporate the company blue colors that you see today.
In my current role at Postbank Uganda Limited, one of my core responsibilities is ensuring that our systems and product solutions are resilient enough to support the delivery of an exciting digital experience to all our WENDI Mobile Wallet users, and be able to race up the bank to the forefront of mobile financial services, innovation and inclusion to grow and prosper all Ugandans, especially the rural populations not yet absorbed into the financial ecosystem.
See also: PostBank, MTN Uganda partner to digitize Parish Development Model (PDM) payments
Before I forget, I am a founding member of one fintech integrator whose details I prefer to keep in wraps for now and a consultant with another major event ticketing firm whose client portfolio includes government agencies and the Uganda Manufacturers Association.
Like all other business landscapes, fintech too has consumers and service providers. Beyond money transfers, payments, and loans, fintechs need to innovate further to be more inclusive for all. Transfers and payments are just a digital replacement of traditional money exchange means, and yes, they bring convenience, but the unbanked populations still need to feel the impact of fintech in their pockets. To achieve this, we must listen deeply to the needs of the masses and regulators will need to loosen up to let major players extend, for example, more credit to eligible borrowers.
Still, fintech can monetize many activities and innovations with calibrated integrations and digital financial exchanges among major players.
In short, fintech is booming, but it is a matter of time before it is disrupted by emerging technologies. We need to continue innovating and being inclusive, remembering that you can’t buy your way to the market with bad products.
How do you think your educational background has contributed to your success in technology and fintech?
My profession is Information Technology, and in between, I have studied the business process and IT re-engineering, marketing as well as product development and management from the University of Virginia. I am a skilled and passionate software developer, and I am very passionate about people. With IT, product development, and marketing skills, I can align the people’s needs and ensure the delivery of innovative financial products that meet the needs of these people.
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What are the most significant trends currently shaping the fintech landscape in Uganda?
One, Micro-lending is enabling massive consumption of microcredit with huge profit margins for major players.
InsurTech is another emerging but very promising division of fintech. It is often treated as an independent branch, but the underlying technology is fintech. Once consumer education is increased, a lot of middle-class users must be up for grabs by the players.
Group savings too is another trend that is enabling players to pool resources for growth and expansion while at the same time serving consumers.
Fintechs should also pay closer attention to international remittances. Major players are already doing this, but there is still a big gap requiring innovation. The revenue from inbound remittances is too much to ignore.
Payments have matured, but a lot of needs that are candidates for payment innovation are not yet met. For example, I should be able to cash out my work voucher for cash and give up a small percentage. The voucher can then go to the user who needs it.
Personalization is not yet being given enough attention by key players. It is being confused with credit scoring. Providers that will be able to tailor payments, loans, and money transfer products to demographics will have a greater edge. We should be looking to see what MTN’s Kirabo bundles were.
Lastly, Regulatory Technology (RegTech), is growing and will have a significant impact on fintech operations. The regulations are tight, and the providers want to cash in on fintech, so cost-effective technology that enables real fast consumer verification is going to take centre stage.
How do you see the role of technology evolving in financial services over the next five years?
Technology will continue to transform the way we interact and manage our finances. Service delivery channels will become more digitized and widespread. Many brick-and-mortar locations will continue to be phased out in favor of ATMS and banking agents accepting and dispensing cash.
What challenges do you believe fintech companies face today, particularly in developing markets?
One is a very tight regulatory landscape that can only be navigated by well-determined and serious players. The same too limits what even capable players can offer. For example, transfers and lendings are limited to very low amounts, leaving huge amounts to be expended only by traditional banking institutions.
Secondly, high poverty levels especially in rural areas. This leaves smartphones mostly in the hands of a few consumers. Without smartphones, many consumers cannot self-onboard on some fintech platforms, and reaching them with agents also increases the costs of service production.
How important is collaboration between tech companies and traditional financial institutions for fostering innovation in fintech?
This relationship cannot be overemphasized. Traditional financial institutions are the custodians of cash that reflects on all our E-wallets. Collaboration in key areas such as AML best practices saves each a regulatory burden. But more importantly, tech companies are enablers of financial institutions. I think that is why we are now talking about fintech. Tech companies provide technology solutions that enable banks to move this money securely and bring access channels closer to banks’ customers through enabling digital banking.
This relationship was birthed with the advent of ATMs and networked, branch banking and sealed with the introduction of mobile and online banking. It is not to be severed anytime soon.
Can you walk us through your typical process for developing a new digital product? What methodologies do you prefer?
First, any product must satisfy a user’s needs. In fintech, the need is financial in nature or enables a financial product to be offered. So, the typical journey starts with ideation, basically brainstorming about the best ideas, then goes through persona targeting and customization. All this is on paper and helps develop unique selling features for the product. Use cases and customer journeys are then mapped and technology solutions are developed and documented.
Software development is activated, followed by internal testing, user acceptability, and usability testing, and then the product is moved to production. Of course, that is high level, but there are some nitty-gritty I didn’t mention. After production, different business functions activate product monitoring and maintenance tasks, but the product must be monitored for maturity progress.
How do you prioritize features during the product development cycle, especially when resources are limited?
Quite honestly, in many cases, budgets are constrained —but a combination of lean and MVP methods is helpful. Products are developed for certain users and only they can be authoritative regarding what is most important for them. In cases where users can’t be reached individually, such as in mass consumer products like WENDI, data is utilized to identify probable high-volume journeys depending on user behavioral insights extracted. Additionally, strategic objectives, competitor direction, and market demands can help you prioritize.
What role does user feedback play in your product development process, and how do you gather it effectively?
User feedback is very important in product development. Products are built for users, and they must be involved from inception. This is the most effective means to get user feedback. An MVP product is an effective tool as users have a near real-world experience of the product.
To further incorporate this feedback, agile methodologies are key in the development process.
Are there any innovative technologies or approaches that you believe will revolutionize the fintech sector in the near future?
Agility will enable fintechs to bring working products to the market faster. Also, people-centered innovation will be key in innovating and building cutting-edge products “by people and for the people.” Additionally, strategic relationships with key stakeholders and more importantly, the traditional banking institutions, will provide much-needed synergies in the sector. Lastly, cloud computing and AI will enable even small innovators to cut out a segment in the industry.
See also: Fintech and bank partnerships will deepen financial inclusion — Stephen Mutana
What advice would you give to startups looking to enter the fintech space today?
Follow people-centered innovation and don’t go all in. Use lean and MVP principles, as well as proven frameworks like AIDA during product development. Remember, you can’t buy your way to the market with a bad product.
Written in collaboration with Douglas Kikonyogo (X, @doug_kikonyogo)
