InnBucks reports 125pc surge in loans, advances

A LOCAL fintech solutions platform, InnBucks, has reported a 125 percent increase in loans and advances to ZWG767,78 million for the half-year ended December 31, 2024, driven by increased lending to business banking customers and payroll-based lending.

During the review period, total assets surged by 180 percent to ZWG1,67 billion, demonstrating strong growth in the company’s ability to attract customer deposits for funding.

Customer deposits also saw a significant rise, growing by 230 percent to ZWG859,0 million, primarily driven by business banking customers.

Net interest income increased by an impressive 526 percent to ZWG86,1 million, boosted by the expansion of the loan book and investments in Treasury assets.

Zimbabwe Gold

However, non-interest income declined by 29 percent to ZWG85,4 million, aligning with an anticipated drop in fee income under the KaOne US$1 subscription model.

Outgoing InnBucks chief executive officer, Ms Daisy Zinyemba, outlined the company’s strategic priorities saying as the bank moves forward it will focus on increasing customer activity within the InnBucks Wallet, broadening the ecosystem of merchants, individuals, businesses, agents and billers on the InnBucks platform and growing a profitable lending book across business banking and retail banking.

She added that key focus areas would be enhancing domestic and international remittances and delivering tech-based solutions to meet customer needs.

Since commencing operations in 2022, the microbank has gained widespread market acceptance, leveraging its convenience and extensive availability to expand its footprint nationwide.

Its geographically distributed credit agent model enables the bank to meet individual customers’ and economic sectors’ credit needs, contributing to strong performance growth.

In the second half of the 2024 financial year, the entity rolled out several products such as payroll processing, structured finance, and international banking while bolstering the existing wallet services.

According to InnBucks, this deliberate spending is meant to position the microfinance entity strongly in the market in its pursuit of growing transactional revenue.

ZiG and coins

On business performance, Ms Zinyemba said: “The Bank’s profit before tax for the year ended December 31, 2024 amounted to ZWG42,5 million, 12 percent lower than ZWG48,2 million posted in the corresponding prior year period.

“The decrease in profit was due to lower fee income on the wallet following the business decision to charge $1 per month for unlimited transactions under the KaOne subscription model. The model yielded growth in monthly active users.”
InnBucks chairman, Mr Ralph Watungwa, noted that the core capital position closed at ZWG248,04 million as of December 31, 2024.

This was well above the minimum regulatory requirement of ZWG111,14 million, or US$5 million equivalent, maintaining a healthy safety margin.

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio remained strong at 17,2 percent, exceeding the regulatory minimum of 15 percent.
Mr Watungwa added: “With a liquid assets ratio of 58 percent, the Bank carried a comfortable buffer above the regulatory minimum of 30 percent, representing capacity to underwrite more business.”

Looking ahead, Ms Zinyemba, emphasised the bank’s commitment to serving diverse customer segments across retail and business banking.

“Strategic partnerships that deliver value for our customers will be a key enabler as the Bank pursues growth, innovation and improving quality of service,” she said.

“In addition to our business model being sustainable into the long term, it also positively impacts the lives of customers, which is a key thrust for us going forward.”-chroncile

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