Fin, a South African financial services provider, has acquired housing finance provider Thuthukani to create Fin Home Loans.
Fin, a South African financial service provider, has acquired housing finance provider Thuthukani. Fin aims to become Africa’s first credit-led neobank and seeks to accelerate financial inclusion across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Fin – Closing the credit gap
Fin was founded in 2018 by co-founders and co-CEOs Timothy Nuy and Tonderai Mutesva and has developed a product offering that aims to create value for employers, employees and consumers while closing the credit gap. The company was previously known as Finclusion Group, but rebranded following a USD 2 million funding round last year.
Home loans: Incremental housing finance
South African firm Thuthukani, based in Pretoria, was acquired as part of Fin’s expansion into a wide range of finance offerings to individuals and SMEs. Thuthukani’s incremental housing finance offering has been renamed to Fin Home Loans and integrated into Fin’s South African portfolio. Fin Home Loans’ aim will be to give middle-to-lower income customers access to affordable finance. Supported projects range from new builds and renovations to fitting a kitchen, solar and backup systems, and more.
“The leadership of Thuthukani has done an excellent job in building up a needed development housing finance offering for the South African market. Under the product name Fin Home Loans and as part of our wide portfolio of consumer and SME finance products, we will expand the service’s distribution and options as we look to leverage and expand housing finance to other regions,” Nuy said. “I could not be more excited about integrating Thuthukani into Fin: this enables us to scale the business and bring our offering to many more people. I am also keen to explore all the synergies within the wider portfolio,” said Mark Seymour, founder of Thuthukani.
Fin’s products are designed to offer smart finance solutions to a wide range of clients and include credit, insurance and financial wellness offerings. The company’s goal is to provide simple, convenient and appropriate financial services. Fin aims to achieve this by creating an ecosystem where people and organizations can access financial solutions that will help them achieve their goals.
Leveraging experience, AI and machine learning
The company’s board is comprised of a team of fintech professionals and entrepreneurs with global experience of risk, credit and financial tech. The company aims to leverage machine learning and AI to make informed decisions on credit applications based on financial and psychometric data.
Last year, neobank Be Mobile Africa launched in South Africa with ambitions to serve the underbanked.