The unbankable are sometimes unbanked and sometimes underbanked. The underbanked have bank accounts but don’t have access to financing or remittance. The unbanked don’t have a bank account. Both the unbanked and the underbanked are unbankable people because the cost of administering their accounts is larger or similar to the revenues they generate for the bank. These customers cost the banks millions of dollars per year in administrative account handling. Normally, banking costs are offset by customer deposits that the bank lends to make a profit. However, for these customers earning under 2,000 dollars a month, the bank’s margins are very thin or operating at a loss. Many countries, therefore, open accounts for these unbankable customers in state owned banks or postal office savings accounts where profits are not always a consideration. While this arrangement may offer these customers financial inclusion, it can significantly reduce the banks’ profitability and hurt their ability to compete with commercial banks.

Banks: Sanctum is the bank’s Super Customer that relieves the bank of the burden of administering potentially millions of small accounts. This saves bank time and money. Exchange Offices: seek to modernize their system of payment and make it more secure and efficient. Especially Worker payment systems agents can benefit from our systems to automate their work. Our system provides economies of scale on remittance. For countries with Wage Protection System (WPS), our system is uniquely suited to automate the disbursement and payment confirmation process. Telecoms: a telecommunication company that wants to enter into the payment space can benefit from our core banking platform, experience, and service. We can be their engine with the edge of complete compliance that others don’t have. Postal offices in some countries may hold savings for depositors, we can be their engine to deliver financial inclusion.

The bank holding unbankable payee deposits contracts with our company to distribute payments through the prepaid cards we issue. The payer deposits the sum of the payments in a dedicated company account with the custodian bank. The list of payees are electronically and securely sent to us and through our close loop biometric solution, where monthly payments, e.g. social security payments, are paid via our own network ( specialized biometric POS terminals are an option to holders of biometric cards.) This solution ensures that funds reach the target individual while providing full transparency to the funding organization. Within 90 minutes, 2 million salaries are disbursed to the cards of the payees. The payees can shop at any place with standard POS machines and can take cash from affiliated Hawala offices. These transactions within a closed loop can cost a fraction of what a Mastercard and a bank account would cost. when using a service provider outside of our closed loop, a scheme card (Visa or MasterCard) will provide the service.

We are a Business to Business as a Service so we don’t tend to be in the limelight or need “retail” marketing. Many applications we use are supplied by well-known companies (e.g., Amazon Web Services, Oracle, GlobalPayments/TSYS). Sanctum made a decision to quietly invest in a sustainable business model and track record rather than market the business as something promising and unproven. Even with this achieved, we don’t see the need for broad marketing. New clients in new countries is a matter of conducting a strategic dialogue, which is a very targeted exercise. Nonetheless, companies who use our platform are recognized by industry insiders. For example, Sanctum supports the operations of QiCard (see media links below). QiCard is the defacto mobile and card banking platform in Iraq, set up to support the reconstruction effort after the war. QiCard has been featured in The Financial Times as a success story to increase financial inclusion. Winner of the Best Smart Card by International Finance. Featured in Fintech Times, Chatham House, and Cards International as a major Fintech success. Regional publishers such as Zawya, Alriyadi, and others have reported extensively on the success. QiCard has been compared to Mpesa by the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and in many categories found QiCard to be superior.

No, we are not a software vendor and there is no “system demo”. We operate a complete outsourcing turnkey financial services business. We operate like a retail bank except at a fraction of the cost with a specific focus on the unbanked and under-served. If need be, Sanctum can become the entire “digital bank” platform for a client who wants to set up a new financial services franchise regardless of the user segment. that is why we are “a bank within a bank”. Our focus on the unbanked is primarily due to the cost-efficiencies we offer that makes it attractive for clients to pursue this largely ignored segment.

Not normally. Sanctum operates as an outsourced turnkey business that serves our clients who are regulated entities such as banks, digital banks, and telecom companies, or exchange offices. The users of Sanctum’s platform belong to the regulated clients of Sanctum. We have extensive experience working with central bank regulators to ensure our business model fits within their regulatory regimes.

Because we operate within each country where there is a bank/government/telecom and other clients, Sanctum can operate under normal business operating licensing rules. This is usually set-up as a local company operating subsidiary of Sanctum’s head office in the U.S. It can be classified as a Fintech, or a technology service provider. Licenses for microfinance, Buy Now Pay Later, or Islamic finance may be required by the regulator.

Not normally. Sandboxes are normally applicable for fintech entities without a track record who require licensing. Sanctum does not need a financial services license and it has a 10 year track record with superior performance by setting industry standards.

Sanctum engages in revenue-sharing with our clients. Because Sanctum acts as the outsourcing provider we do all the work for our clients and collect revenues. After costs, we share the income with our clients. This means we are a revenue source to our clients, not a regular expense.