Tintra to set up banking hub in Rwanda for new emerging markets bank
UK fintech Tintra is set to establish a banking hub in Rwanda as part of its offering designed to link emerging market clients with global financial opportunities.
Tintra to set up banking hub in Rwanda
Following talks with Rwanda’s central bank and the country’s development board, Tintra says both have shown “enthusiastic support” for the project.
Tintra says it is now in the process of establishing a local subsidiary and applying for a licence with the National Bank of Rwanda.
Establishing a banking hub on the continent forms part of the fintech’s “hub and spoke” banking model, designed to boost trade and financial inclusion in emerging markets by securing a network of bank licences across four continents.
The company has already secured a Fintech Services Licence to operate in the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and a Payment Intermediary Service Licence in Mauritius. The firm is also applying for regulatory licenses from the UK, Puerto Rico and Singapore.
Constantine Chikosi, Tintra’s newly appointed director of strategic initiatives for Africa, says the firm’s first foray into Africa via Rwanda “will enable us to serve customers in East Africa’s dynamic economies from that base”.
Rwanda will act as a regional hub using Tintra’s Qatar base as a correspondent through which “customers can remove the friction they face from the current banking practices and challenges faced in the region”, Tintra CEO Richard Shearer explains.
The firm recently tapped Temenos for its core banking platform and will also utilise the vendor’s payments and Financial Crime Mitigation solutions.
