The neobank, planned to cover Angola, Mozambique, and Mauritius, will help users to fund a wallet, send money, pay for everyday needs like airtime, and hold balances in multiple currencies.

To know more about the initiative, International Finance caught up with Slava Ivashkin, founder and CEO of Velmie, who spoke in detail about what his company’s partnership with Preferta means for Africa’s digital banking industry, the role Velmie is playing in ensuring the success of Preferta’s mobile-first neobank, and the roadmap the company has prepared for expanding its fintech innovation across the continent.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

What is the vision behind Velmie’s partnership with Preferta, and what does it mean for digital banking in Angola, Mozambique, and Mauritius?
The vision is to establish a modern banking platform that Preferta can use to build a serious regional financial-services business, rather than launch a narrowly defined consumer application. Velmie is the lead technology vendor, providing the platform that will run the core operational processes, and customer experience.

For Angola, Mozambique and Mauritius, the significance is practical: financial institutions can bring well-designed digital services to market without inheriting the cost and limitations of legacy infrastructure.

Each market has its own regulatory and distribution model. So, the platform must combine a common technology foundation with local execution. Done properly, this creates a scalable business for Preferta and broader access to reliable financial services for consumers and businesses.

How is Velmie leveraging its fintech expertise to ensure the success of Preferta’s mobile-first neobank?
Success depends less on launching features than on building a platform that performs reliably as volumes and regulatory expectations grow. Velmie has spent more than a decade developing and operating banking technology, including projects across Africa serving multi-million customer bases.

The post Velmie and Preferta will offer digital services sans cost and infrastructure limitations: CEO Slava Ivashkin appeared first on International Finance.

Velmie was founded in 2010 as a software development company, initially delivering solutions across diverse industries including banking and fintech.

Over time, Velmie gained a profound insight into the technological landscape of finance and identified the significant challenges organisations face in meeting customer demands and staying competitive.

Motivated by this understanding, Velmie shifted our focus to developing products specifically designed to empower financial companies to innovate, maintain agility, and prioritise customer-centricity. Since 2018, the company’s dedication has been exclusively centred on fintech.

Slava has been instrumental in shaping Velmie’s growth trajectory, overseeing everything from strategic direction to hands-on involvement in sales, marketing, partnerships, product development, and customer support.

He is passionate about leveraging technology to revolutionise the financial sector, driving innovation and unlocking new opportunities for businesses and consumers alike.

In an exclusive interview with International Finance, Slava Ivashkin, Founder and CEO of Velmie, discusses the company’s digital banking platform, its recent partnership with Unlimit, advancements in the fintech industry, innovative initiatives, and much more.

How does Velmie’s modular cloud-native digital banking platform differentiate itself from traditional banking software solutions?

Our platform differentiates itself from traditional banking software solutions by being designed to serve next-generation products focused on delivering superior user experiences, maximising efficiency, and scaling through expanded partnerships. These principles have been the foundation of our product from the beginning and continue to guide us as we develop new versions of the software.

Additionally, we follow very different policies and procedures for software delivery and configuration. What used to take many months with legacy platforms due to their overall complexity now takes just days or weeks.

This makes Velmie the top choice for institutions and ambitious startups seeking to enter the market quickly and scale their products seamlessly.

Can you provide details about Velmie’s API orchestration layer? How does it facilitate streamlined access to payment services?

Bank-fintech partnerships are cumbersome nowadays, and we provide technology to facilitate this process. As part of our platform offering, the API orchestration technology allows streamlined access to leading banks and other service providers. Through our focused efforts in building and maintaining a robust partner ecosystem, our clients receive tremendous advantages when launching new products with us.

What are some key features of Velmie’s digital banking platform that contribute to its scalability and performance?

Our platform boasts a modular cloud-native architecture, guaranteeing consistent and efficient deployment across diverse environments while offering effortless customisation and scaling. Additionally, our advanced load-balancing and auto-scaling capabilities, combined with an API-first approach, ensure seamless integration and optimal performance, even under varying demands. This makes our platform the ideal choice for financial institutions seeking reliability and scalability.

Can you provide examples of the types of fintech solutions that Velmie has helped to build for established financial institutions?

There are primarily two types of solutions we offer. The first involves digital transformation as companies realise their current tech stack no longer meets their needs and is difficult to maintain. This is a very common problem, and we solve it by offering a solution that allows companies to start using a modern platform without requiring a complete migration, which is the most daunting prospect for any organisation. With us, both platforms can operate and evolve in parallel.
The second type of solution is for new projects we build for startups. Here, you will find a great variety of solutions, including neobanks, Web3 banks, microlending, remittance, savings and investments, private banking, and more.

In what ways does Velmie customise its banking software solutions to align with the unique requirements of ambitious startups?

There are endless customisation possibilities. Our portfolio showcases numerous projects that go beyond the scope of a typical banking app. Unlike many companies that offer customisation services reluctantly, we thrive on helping startups build unique and innovative solutions. We not only love this challenge, but we also excel at it, thanks to our extensive in-house team and vast experience. We reject the notion that one size fits all and instead focus on creating products that are easily customisable. Both our backend and frontend apps feature modularity, allowing us to implement even significant changes with ease and efficiency.

Additionally, we were among the first in our industry to adopt Flutter, a cross-platform mobile technology that simplifies and enhances the process of building new features, running trials, conducting A/B tests, and more—all without compromising security or performance. This approach ensures that we can quickly and effectively tailor our solutions to meet the unique requirements of ambitious startups.

Could you tell our readers about Velmie’s recent partnership with Unlimit?

We’re excited to commence our partnership with Unlimit, as many of our clients select it as their financial services provider. However, they often face challenges in finding a suitable technology partner to implement their product vision with the assistance of Unlimit BaaS.

This is where we step in. Collaborating with Unlimit, we offer a plug-and-play solution that significantly reduces time-to-market and streamlines the process of going live. Instead of attempting to develop apps and back-office systems independently, clients can access a ready-made technology solution that is proven, supported, and easily customisable.

In what ways does Velmie ensure that its platform remains secure and compliant with financial regulations?

At Velmie, we employ proven methods and solutions to ensure our platform remains secure and compliant with financial regulations. One of our key initiatives involves the successful implementation of ISO 27001 policies, which guarantees information security at every level of our operations. This framework allows us to establish and maintain robust security controls, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive data.

Furthermore, we adopt a single-tenant approach within our platform architecture. This approach allows us to isolate each client’s data, providing greater control over its security and minimising the risk of unauthorised access. By maintaining dedicated environments for each client, we can tailor security measures to their specific needs and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

How does Velmie stay ahead of the curve in terms of innovation and technological advancements in the fintech industry?

Staying ahead of the curve in innovation and technological advancements is ingrained in our approach. Our clients serve as the catalyst for our continuous innovation journey, as they often push the boundaries with their implementation of highly innovative solutions aimed at disrupting various sectors within financial services.

Thanks to their inspiration and feedback, we’ve expanded our offerings to include a diverse array of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, digital currencies, advanced biometric authentication methods and more.

However, our commitment to innovation extends beyond technology alone. We also recognise the importance of updating policies and processes to support our clients in achieving better efficiency and scalability. By constantly refining our operational frameworks and adapting to evolving regulatory landscapes, we ensure that our clients can leverage our solutions with confidence, knowing they are backed by robust governance and compliance measures.

In essence, our ability to anticipate and embrace emerging trends, coupled with our dedication to enhancing operational effectiveness, positions Velmie as a trusted partner for fintech innovation and advancement in the ever-evolving financial services landscape.

The post Velmie empowers startups with innovative solutions: CEO Slava Ivashkin appeared first on International Finance.