Vanilla Swift - Capital One

Who are we?
App

Inspiration

Inspired by the issues our country is facing, we identified a severe challenge: 55% of the Mexican workforce lacks job security and a stable income, with informal work accounting for 25% of the nation’s GDP. A key barrier is the resistance to formal banking due to the complexity of procedures and extensive documentation required. Informal businesses rely heavily on cash, limiting their growth potential and excluding them from the digital economy. However, with nearly 78 million people now opting for digital payments, the reliance on cash has begun to stratify our society, leaving small businesses behind. Determined to make a positive impact, we see a significant opportunity in helping informal businesses transition to electronic payments, fostering financial inclusion and bridging the gap between the informal and formal economies.

What it does

Our app seeks to eliminate the friction of traditional transactions and promote inclusive finance. Consumers will be able to transfer money after creating an account. MoBi is an alternative to fees and form filling present in traditional wire transfers and payment terminals. Now customers can use a readily available app to transfer money using the seller’s phone number.

Through NFC and Siri technology, consumers can order a transference and fill the data needed. It is important to mention that sellers won’t need to register with any bank to use the service, making it more accessible. The money from each transaction is transferred to MoBi via SPEI, a system developed by Mexico's national bank. SPEI allows users to send and receive money electronically between bank accounts instantly, with no additional cost. Transactions are managed through WhatsApp, so sellers can monitor their balance through WhatsApp. To withdraw their funds, sellers simply need to visit the nearest corner store and provide the cashier a single-use MoBi code, generated through a PIN protected WhatsApp message.

In addition to its efficiency, MoBi also has a social impact by generating a personal income history that banks can use to facilitate credit approvals. The process doesn’t stop there. We offer a service of microcredit approval powered by a machine learning algorithm, personalized with the bank’s terms and financial analysis of the applicant.

How we built it

We built the app using SwiftUI for a seamless and intuitive user interface that adapts to all Apple devices. To provide personalized experiences, we integrated CreateML, allowing us to develop machine learning models tailored to user preferences and behavior. Communication within the app is enhanced by a WhatsApp chatbot, enabling users to interact with the system through familiar messaging. For real-time data, we utilized the Nessi API, ensuring the app remains responsive and up-to-date with external information. This combination of technologies allows us to deliver a powerful, user-friendly application.

Challenges we ran into

We encountered several challenges in our experience. First, sensitizing American judges to Mexico’s socio-economic issues, particularly the informal economy and resistance to formal banking. Understanding why so many people remain outside formal banking was also complex, as we had to dive deeply into the barriers posed by documentation requirements and unfamiliarity with digital tools. Experimenting with app intents was a new strategy for us, pushing us to explore innovative ways to engage users. Additionally, adapting the Nessie API model to our project involved technical hurdles, as we had to customize it to fit the needs of informal businesses. Finally, refining the specific definition of our idea, and ensuring it aligned with both local needs and broader financial systems, demanded constant iteration and focus.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are very proud of the accomplishments we've achieved throughout this project. By integrating various ideas into a cohesive app, we developed a solution that addresses a common and severe problem in our country, bringing informal businesses closer to formal banking systems. Not only does this app have the potential to transform lives, but it also allows us to make a positive impact on our community. Working together, we complemented each other's strengths, allowing us to build a complex app in a remarkably short time. This collaboration and shared purpose are key to the success we've seen so far.

What we learned

Throughout this project, we have learned valuable lessons in multiple areas. We deepened our understanding of financial inclusion, recognizing how critical it is to provide accessible financial services to the 55% of the Mexican workforce that operates informally. We saw the significant impact of informal work on the country’s economy and how its reliance on cash creates barriers to broader economic participation. As a team, we developed strong collaboration skills, learning how to build ideas collectively, which was essential for developing innovative solutions. We also mastered the use of APIs, specifically adapting them to our needs, and experimented with creating app intents, which allowed us to enhance user engagement. Finally, we explored the potential of v-card technology to integrate secure, digital payment methods.

What's next for MoBi

Next for MoBi is a continued journey of growth and improvement. We plan to explore more sophisticated technology, enhancing our platform’s capabilities to better serve the needs of informal workers. Conducting a market research on informal workers will be essential to deeply understand their behaviors, needs, and pain points, allowing us to tune our app based on real-world insights. With this data, we will focus on adapting the app to align with our discoveries, ensuring it offers the most relevant and impactful solutions. Finally, we are eager to test the functionality of the app in real scenarios, gathering feedback from users to iterate and refine, making MoBi a practical and powerful tool for financial inclusion in the informal economy.