Tembo

Tembo (temboplus.com) is a payment infrastructure provider for African markets. It exposes a single API and dashboard set that lets fintechs, platforms, merchants and enterprises collect, store and move money using direct integrations with commercial banks, telcos and mobile money providers. Its product line comprises wallets and programmable bank accounts held with regulated partner banks, payment collections across bank and mobile money channels (customer deposits, invoice payments, marketplace funds and recurring payments), payouts and disbursements (supplier payments, payroll, loan disbursements, agent commissions, customer withdrawals), virtual accounts that generate unique account numbers per user, business or transaction for traceable reconciliation, cross-border payments linking local rails to regional and international settlement workflows, and remittance termination that delivers last-mile payouts into local bank accounts and mobile money wallets.

Alongside the infrastructure business, Tembo operates a consumer digital banking and savings application distributed through the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Users create one or more named savings goals, fund them via mobile money (including TigoPesa, M-Pesa and Airtel Money) or Visa/Mastercard debit cards, automate periodic deposits, receive balance and progress notifications, and invest in money market funds. Balances are held in an interest-bearing bank account opened in the customer's own name with a partner bank regulated by the central bank; interest accrued is displayed in the app. Emergency borrowing against deposits is described as a forthcoming feature. Onboarding collects identity documents and photographs as required for bank account opening; card data is handled by a PCI DSS-compliant payment processor and mobile money PINs, passwords and card details are not stored.