Over 200,000 betPawa customers are set to receive $2 million worth of shares as part of an economic inclusion initiative being facilitated by regtech platform pawaPass in collaboration with Mchezo, a sports and technology brand. The shares are given to loyal customers for free.
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According to pawaPass, loyal customers of betPawa owned by Kigali-based Mchezo will be sent messages that confirms their eligibility and how to claim the shares. The shares by betPawa are placed in a trust managed by a pTSL (pawaPass trustee services limited). The company uses biometric software to verify the eligible customers and issue digital share certificates to them via a bespoke solution created for Mchezo.
Founded in 2022, pawaPass is an online fraud and abuse prevention platform that offers clients a unique combination of low-touch data points, non-ID-based user verification, and highly accurate and duplication technology. The company says the share distribution initiative which will start this month empowers end-users across 11 African markets. It has focused on solutions to seek to address economic inclusion within the African market.
“Conventionally, the process of onboarding investors and safeguarding assets in line with Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) standards is a costly and manual process that makes it impossible for micro-shareholders to own digital assets like shares,” Sylvia Brune, CEO of pawaPass said. “In our quest to make this process more efficient and scalable, we ended up embarking on the TCSP licensing journey to create a bespoke solution for Mchezo that both verifies those selected to become micro-shareholders and safeguard their shares.”
pawaPass recently acquired a Trust & Corporate Service Provider (TCSP) licence from the Rwandan Central Bank to ensure a secure and compliant execution of the mass share distribution. The licence was introduced in September 2022. Applications for licence undergo a rigorous review process, typically concluded within a month, ensuring companies that meet the criteria are granted the credential. Once granted, the licence offers companies like pawaPass the authority to safeguard and manage assets on behalf of third parties, an essential function in administering the share distribution for betPawa customers.
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“For years, we have wanted to make our loyal customers co-owners of the betPawa brand because they are the reason we exist. But doing this in a compliant, secure, and cost effective way has been very difficult so we are excited that pawaPass has provided us with a way to finally make this possible,” said Kresten Buch, a director at Mchezo.
