Latvian fintech take on the Middle Eastern lending market

*Republished from Nordic Fintech Magazine by Chris Crespo

InGain provided Money for Finance (also known as Money.jo) with a loan management system to test their lending product in Jordan in December of 2020, and just over a year later, the company is now the leading consumer loan provider and has expanded its offering in the local market. The successful partnership shows how through fast and lightweight product market fit testing, Latvian fintechs can easily introduce their product not just to European, but also global finance markets. Money.Jo is a joint venture established by founders of international finance companies Creamfinance and Esketit.

“We required a quick time to market and a scalable loan management system to support our product and adhere to the specifics of the Jordanian market. InGain was able to quickly adapt their LMS system to fit our business needs, which meant that we could focus on marketing and sales. The strategy was highly successful and we now have a foothold in both in-person and online lending sectors in the country,” said Matiss Ansviesulis, Co-Founder of Money.Jo.

Money.jo entered the Jordanian market at a time when the local banking sector was very much dominated by traditional banks. According to the European Investment Bank, the five largest banks accounted for 50% of branches and 54.1% of total assets at the end of 2020. However, fast and easy bank loans weren’t widely accessible by the general public. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Money.jo was able to launch and conduct market testing with the InGain loan management system within two months, revealing the potential for in-person alternative lending through storefront branch offices.

“Not all loan management systems have the ability to cater to in-person, cash lending operations. Our existing system already covered over 90% of Money.jo’s needs, but we also added additional features to accommodate their specific requirements, such as cash and branch office management. After proving the viability of the initial product, we were able to quickly adapt and enable Money.jo to expand further into the market through an online lending product and mobile application,” said Armands Liseks, CEO of InGain.

Since its launch in December 2020, Money.jo has become the leading consumer loan provider in Jordan. In addition to the company’s own capital, it also relies on private investors that finance loans through P2P platform Esketit.com. Latvian-founded Money.jo is one of the first pioneers in the Jordanian non-bank consumer lending industry, once again reinforcing Latvia as a global fintech centre.