Singapore fintech startup Bank-Genie raises funding to help banks roll out virtual terminals

By Yon Heong Tung for e27

Singapore-based fintech startup Bank-Genie has secured an undisclosed Series A investment from SBI FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund (SBI-FMO Fund).

SBI-FMO Fund is a Singapore-based equity fund focussed on fintech and financial services. It was set up by The SBI Holdings Group, a financial services group that was spun out of SoftBank, and FMO, the Dutch development bank.

The new round of financing will allow Bank-Genie to ramp up the roll-out of its eponymous flagship product. Bank-Genie is a mobile native software that enables banks and financial institutions to create virtual retail branches.

Using a mobile device such as a tablet, POS terminal or smartphone, these financial institutions will be able to offer services such as bill payments, insurance premium payments, and other bank account management services.

This software can work with biometric, card base & PIN base, NFC and contactless payments interfaces.

The key benefit of Bank-Genie is that banks can send out agents (as long as they are equipped with GPRS devices) to help clients with financial transactions — without the need for a physical ATM or bank branch.

“We have customers across Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.Two-thirds of unbanked population lives in Africa and Asia and leveraging financial technology is the only effective way for institutions to access and service consumers” said Ram, Co-founder & CEO of Bank-Genie.

Established in 2016, the Company’s other products include Genie-Teller, which improves the efficiency of teller operations, and Genie-Mandate, which automates the cheque confirmation process.