Scaling financial inclusion for the unbanked in Ghana
Affinity Ghana partnered with Mambu to transition from a microfinance lender to a full digital banking provider, after securing a critical licence upgrade to serve the unbanked. With a decade-long partnership and a composable foundation, it has scaled to over 100,000 customers while tripling its loan and doubling its deposit portfolios.
- active customers by end of 2025
- growth in loan portfolio in 2025
- growth in deposits portfolio in 2025
AFFINITY GHANA
About the customer
Affinity Ghana is a digital-first financial institution dedicated to banking the unbanked and underbanked population in Sub-Saharan Africa. Operating on a branchless model, they focus on providing affordable, accessible financial services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and individuals who have traditionally been excluded from the formal economy. With no monthly fees and low transaction charges, Affinity is among the most affordable and cost-effective players.
The company is part of the wider Affinity Africa group and has become a vital driver of economic progress in the region. Their customer base reflects this mission: 65% are new to formal banking and over 60% are women working in the informal sector. By leveraging technology to lower the cost of banking, Affinity Ghana is creating a pathway for financial independence for hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians.
The challenge
Escaping legacy contraints
In 2015, Affinity Africa Finance Limited acquired Microfinance institution Payflex, initiating a bold strategic shift to future-proof the business and transition from a legacy system to a modern cloud-native core banking platform.
To navigate the changing financial landscape and avoid the complexity and costs of traditional core banking, they specifically sought a solution that would not place heavy IT infrastructure, security, or operational burdens on their team.
In a first phase, Affinity Ghana’s scope was strictly defined around Microfinance (Tier 2 licence), focusing on loans and simple deposit management for the unbanked and underbanked. However, this scope shifted significantly around 2021 when they received their Savings and Loans licence (Tier 1), which enabled them to broaden their product portfolio, requiring a core banking platform to handle far greater complexity than their original microfinance remit.
The solution
Building a resilient, cloud-native foundation
To realise its digital-first banking vision, the company selected Mambu’s cloud-native core banking platform in 2015 to power its transformation. Recognising the need for agility early on, Affinity kicked off the implementation project and successfully went live in 2016, just a year later. Underpinned by the security and global scalability of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Mambu provided the resilient cloud-native foundation necessary for Affinity to launch and operate with confidence from day one.
To navigate the complexities of the 2021 licence upgrade, the relationship evolved into a deep strategic partnership. Affinity and Mambu engaged in a series of intensive, collaborative weekly sessions to map out critical issues and optimise the platform for this next stage of growth.
Mambu’s team worked alongside Affinity’s IT experts to scope their use of the platform, resolving technical roadblocks and ensuring the system met the high standards of a regulated Savings and Loans institution.
The improved stability and mapped-out scalability were instrumental in Affinity obtaining their licence upgrade in early 2022.
Following a 5-year contract renewal signed that same year, Affinity leveraged Mambu’s composable architecture to launch their full rebrand and introduce new and innovative digital products including personal and SME accounts, savings, payments, transfers to banks and mobile money wallets, investments, and loans.
“From the start we knew that a strong and scalable technology foundation was necessary to achieve our goals. With Mambu, we have reinforced our product-market fit to grow our customer base by more than 3.3 times. This partnership has positioned us as a significant player in providing affordable and accessible financial services to unbanked individuals and MSMEs in the region.”
- Abdul-Jaleel Hussein, CEO, Affinity Ghana
The result
A decade of growth and recognition
Now celebrating 10 years on the Mambu platform, Affinity Ghana has established itself as a recognised leader in digital banking.
In 2025 alone, their customer base grew by 3.3 times, their loan portfolio almost tripled, and they successfully launched the 'Affinity Boost' goal-based savings account. Crucially, the introduction of their rapid, industry-leading "KYC-light" onboarding process has transformed customer sentiment, receiving very positive reviews and driving their Net Promoter Score (NPS )to 70 in just one year.
Their success has also garnered international acclaim, including the 2025 Fintech for Financial Inclusion Award at the Ghana Fintech Awards and a spot on the Global CB Insights Top 100 Fintech list.
Affinity was also elected winner of the AFI Inclusive Fintech Award.
Looking ahead, Affinity is expanding its footprint across the country and leveraging smart data to customise products for their users' financial needs.
By utilising Mambu’s composable architecture, they plan to scale their Instant Loan product, which currently averages 1,000 new loans per month, and commercialise their API capabilities to support open banking initiatives.
“Our focus is on further creating value for our customers throughout their journey with Affinity. We are leveraging smart data and insights from our core platform to understand customer behaviour and preferences. This allows us to customise our products for their financial needs, ensuring we remain the partner of choice for their growth.”
- Abdul-Jaleel Hussein, CEO, Affinity Ghana
Build the future of banking
Mambu helps 260+ banks, lenders and fintechs across 65 countries make more possible. Modernise your core, scale deposits, lending and payments and deliver the modern financial experiences your customers expect.
