Boom, a new social commerce ecosystem that enables the unbanked, as well as those seeking a safe e-commerce alternative, to buy, sell and pay for everything online without a bank account was recently launched in Lagos.
The platform consists of the Boom Marketplace where consumers discover products and services from merchants; Boom Wallet for payments and Boom Messaging for communication.
The Boom platform provides merchants with access to 1.7 billion new consumers that have never shopped online because they do not have bank accounts. The platform also enables consumers to shop online without needing a bank account or credit/debit cards.
Therefore, to shop on the Boom marketplace, shoppers will simply top up their Boom wallet with Multicoins, which can be purchased over-the-counter with cash at certified Multicoin resellers worldwide.
“BOOM is the universe of the unbanked, and its medium-of-exchange is the Multicoin (MTCN) cryptocurrency. The Multicoin is an ERC-20 crypto-currency that can be purchased from resellers globally with cash, over-the-counter. BOOM comes with its own built-in secure wallet that simplifies the sending and receiving of Multicoins,” Peter Alfred-Adekeye, founder & CEO, Boom, said at the official launch of the platform in Lagos.
Alfred-Adekeye, who joined the launch via Zoom said there is no fee of any kind on all transactions carried out on Boom. According to him, the Multicoin ERC-20 token resides within the Ethereum blockchain technology, hence it is secured by Ethereum’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism.
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Speaking further on measures taken to safeguard consumers on the platform, Alfred-Adekeye said all users on the Boom platform are KYC (know your customer) at sign up. “This ensures compliance with EU and other regulations and eliminates spam, scam and online abuse. All communication and transactions on Boom are secured with bank-grade features that harden all correspondence with strong cryptography”.
According to him, Boom breaks down geographic and economic barriers by enabling everybody to sell online without needing a website nor having to integrate payment processing. “With Boom, financial inclusion is guaranteed for all,” he said.
Alfred-Adekeye further disclosed that Boom will be available in Q2 of 2022 on IOS and Android in a select number of pilot countries with a number of premium merchants.
Gabsy Villarroel, the acting chief marketing officer of Boom, said the platform launched first in Nigeria because the founder is a Nigerian. “So, it means a lot to us to be present here today to launch Boom for the first time, from here and then to the world”.
According to the Venezuelan, Boom is an ecosystem that allows consumers to buy anything on the global e-commerce channel without having to use their credit or debit card. “Whether because you don’t have a credit card or you don’t have a bank account; whether because you are like me tired of paying the fees that are associated with their credit card,” she added.
