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.

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.

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.