CHALLENGE

Enhancing financial services accessibility and maintaining meaningful customer interactions

Mukuru, a leading financial services provider serving over 17 million users across over 70 countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia, faced the challenge of transitioning from cash reliance to digital wallet adoption across Africa. Serving the emerging African market and migrant workers, Mukuru needed to make its services more accessible over channels that customers prefer, while maintaining meaningful interactions.

Previously, customers accessed services through the Mukuru mobile site, app, and USSD. However, with a high volume of money transfers, Mukuru sought to optimize communication channels, enhance the customer journey, and reduce costs by providing an additional channel with better functionality than USSD.

Connecting with customers and driving digital adoption with WhatsApp Business chatbot

Mukuru identified WhatsApp as the ideal channel for customer transactions and communication, given its popularity in Africa and global reach. They developed a WhatsApp chatbot to facilitate faster money transfers without assistance from a live agent.

To use WhatsApp with Mukuru, customers start a WhatsApp chat with the company to sign up for the service. Once the chatbot responds, customers receive menu options from which they can choose what they want to do next, including:

• automatically creating a Mukuru account
• selecting from 10 language options
• transferring money across borders
• managing their digital stores of value (Mukuru Wallet or Mukuru Card)
• ordering groceries
• buying airtime or electricity
• paying for DSTV

Before sending WhatsApp notifications, Mukuru secured customer opt-ins through three methods: directing users to opt in via their Facebook page, offering the option to select WhatsApp during sign-up, or collecting consent during customer service calls. This process was streamlined with full support from our team during onboarding, technical implementation, chatbot logic development, and WhatsApp template registration.

Additionally, integration with the contact center allows customers to chat with an agent when needed, enhancing support.

In parallel, Mukuru implemented Infobip’s customer engagement solution, Moments. They launched a campaign in Zimbabwe that played a key role in encouraging customers to move from relying on cash to adopting digital wallets.

Over 3,000% increase in active customers and 92% read rates with WhatsApp, halving drop-off rates and cutting costs by 15%

Integrating WhatsApp and Infobip’s Moments has yielded impressive results for Mukuru. The shift from cash reliance to digital wallet adoption has been remarkable, with active customers increasing from just 4,000 in December to 129,000 by March. This allowed Mukuru to engage in meaningful two-way conversations with customers and reconnect with those who were previously disengaged. The effectiveness of this approach is highlighted by the success of WhatsApp campaigns, which consistently achieve read rates above 92%.

Moreover, the implementation of WhatsApp Flows has significantly enhanced the customer journey by reducing the process from 17 steps to just 2, halving the drop-off rate in Botswana. This streamlined experience has improved product usability and customer sentiment, providing an app-like feel with interactive elements. Mukuru’s strategic use of a multichannel approach, with a focus on WhatsApp, has not only optimized communication but also reduced costs, saving 15% on reverse billed USSD costs and 5% on transactional SMS costs.

These results underscore Mukuru’s commitment to leveraging technology to enhance customer satisfaction and operational efficiency, setting a strong foundation for future growth in the financial services sector.

Mukuru’s future goals include deepening their collaboration with Infobip to advance their AI strategy, focusing on delivering quick, accurate responses to common customer questions like “What is this?” or “How much does it cost?”

This kind of automation not only boosts operational efficiency but also empowers customers and supports financial inclusion, such as guiding someone through sending money to a family member in Nigeria via conversational AI.

However, implementing AI in banking is complex due to strict regulations and the need for absolute trust. That’s why Mukuru is taking an incremental, roadmap-driven approach and is confident that, with Infobip’s expertise, they can navigate these challenges while staying aligned with their core systems and delivering real value to their customers.