MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UK-based Humaniq Harnesses Blockchain, Biometrics To Launch Mobile Money Service in Ghana, Asia, South America

Humaniq, a London-based technology company, recently announced the launch of its “blockchain-powered financial inclusion app,” which allows users to send and receive money. Humaniq has introduced the app in Ghana and plans to pilot the service in Asia and South America during September.

The app allows users to “hold HMQ tokens… [which] will be exchangable into bitcoins, and then into dollars, euros, or other standard currencies.” The app also includes chat functionality and a referral system. The firm plans to release a “Pro” version of the app later in 2017 that offers “additional functionality for Fintech developers.”

The co-founder and CEO of Humaniq, Dinis Guarda, stated that “…there is a study showing approximately 1 billion people who do not exist in terms of documentation; so we want to make sure through biometrics that we can integrate people in the digital economy.” This includes making “the service…available to anyone anywhere, facilitating an exchange between the developed world and developing countries.”

Humaniq, which was established in 2016, held an “initial coin offering” of its HMQ token in April 2017, which “attracted 12,000 investors and netted close to USD 5.2 million.”

By Matthew O’Neill, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources:

About Humaniq:
https://humaniq.com/

Humaniq offers mobile money service:
http://news.sap.com/humaniq-financial-inclusion-two-billion-unbanked/

Humaniq’s financial inclusion app:
https://blog.humaniq.co/humaniq-reveals-functionality-of-new-financial-inclusion-app-d53def9b046a

More about Humaniq:
https://blog.humaniq.co/why-humaniq-should-interest-you-b43cf3caa630

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