Tensaye Desalegn, a graduate of Addis Ababa University in Electrical and Computer Engineering, has emerged as a prominent figure in Ethiopia’s rapidly growing financial technology sector. With a robust background that includes eight years as General Manager of Zowitek Electrical Engineering Technology Company, where he managed over 15 major projects including popular taxi services and fuel management systems, Tensaye has demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation. Currently, as the CEO of SantimPay Financial Solution, he has been at the forefront of advancing digital payment systems in Ethiopia, collaborating with more than 10 banks and five mobile money companies. In this exclusive interview with Capital, Tensaye shares insights into SantimPay’s vision, challenges, and future plans, highlighting the company’s commitment to financial inclusion and digitalization in Ethiopia. Excerpts
Capital: Can you describe SantimPay’s vision and how it aligns with the broader goals of financial inclusion and digitalization in Ethiopia?
Tensaye Desalegn: To be one of the leading creators and providers of payment systems that are limited neither by time nor by international boundaries. Ethiopia is now working toward digitizing payments, and our national digital payment strategy for 2025 lays out a clear path forward. Santimpay is doing a fantastic job in this area to support this plan by offering the ecosystem a variety of payment options.
Capital: What are the key differentiators of SantimPay compared to other payment solutions available in the country?
Tensaye: Our payment solution is simple and custom made to our society.
Capital: How does you ensure that your payment solutions remain secure and reliable for its users?
Tensaye: National and international security firms regularly evaluate our platform, and we hold a PCI DSS security accreditation. In addition to dependability, our team constantly updates and modifies our platform based on feedback from businesses and customers.
Capital: Can you provide an example of a challenge SantimPay has faced in its journey and how it was overcome?
Tensaye: We have a trust challenge with banks and customers because we are local companies and everything was created here. However, eventually, everyone starts to utilize our payment method after they try it out and realize how easy and safe it is.
Capital: How do you measure the success and impact of its financial solutions on the Ethiopian economy and its users?
Tensaye: User base and transaction volume, in my opinion, can serve as the metrics.
Capital: Can you explain the technology behind SantimPay’s POS solutions and how it enhances transaction efficiency?
Tensaye: Our team in Ethiopia designs the hardware and software for our point-of-sale devices. It may therefore be integrated with various software systems and is scalable. Additionally, the devices’ network performance is 65% better than that of the similar devices now in use in Ethiopia.
Capital: How does SantimPay integrate Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and QR Codes into its platform, and what benefits do these features provide to users?
Tensaye: In order to assist the merchant in settling payments into a single bank account, we developed a unified QR that accepts payments from several banks and mobile money networks. The user-merchant transaction becomes more straightforward as a result. Additionally, the user merely needs to use their phone’s camera to pay using our QR platform. This helps both users and consumers by making the payment process straightforward and dependable.
Capital: Describe the process of implementing a new payment solution, such as Share Selling or School Fee Payments, within Santimpay ecosystem. What are the key considerations?
Tensaye: The demand from the client base and the inability of various software platforms to scale are the most important factors. We would like to interface with various educational systems, share sales platforms, and other platforms; however, both domestic and foreign suppliers are unwilling or unable to do so. We developed our platform in accordance with our preferred business scenario by integrating it with our payment solution. So, growing our payment platform is the main factor to take into account.
Capital: What are the main factors SantimPay considers when tailoring its payment platforms for different use cases like Remittance or Event Ticketing?
Tensaye: Problems are the primary causes. The fundamental elements of a business are problems, and a successful enterprise is one that finds a solution to its problems. Furthermore, the difficulties facing Ethiopia today are not just a platform; they are a platform that can precisely address societal issues. Considering this, we may expand our business by customizing our platforms to meet societal needs and the other factor is, as I indicated in the section above, the expansion of our payment system.
Capital: How does SantimPay handle scalability and performance issues to ensure its platforms can support a growing user base and transaction volume?
Tensaye: Our platforms will inevitably scale since our team develops and designs them. Keeping up with the expansion of transactions to expand our surroundings is our daily responsibility to ensure scalability.
Capital: How does SantimPay gather and incorporate user feedback to improve its payment solutions?
Tensaye: We gather feedback using internal and external feedback loops. These feedback loops involve gathering feedback from the development team and outside sources like customers or users through our call center and other means. These steps are important in identifying and fixing issues early on, increasing customer satisfaction, and improving overall quality of our payment solutions.
Capital: Can you discuss a specific feature or service that was developed in response to user needs or market demands?
Tensaye: I believe customers require your product or service to function in a manner that meets their needs and resolves their problems or desires. We have developed an Event Ticketing platform, which enables event attendees to conveniently purchase their tickets online through our secure gateway, thereby eliminating the inconvenience of manual ticket purchasing. This platform also simplifies the process for event organizers by streamlining the management of their events.
Capital: What strategies does SantimPay employ to educate and onboard new users to its various payment solutions?
Tensaye: We offer a range of payment options as our key value proposition. Our users can easily make payments using multiple convenient payment methods. This addresses the problem of limited payment options. In addition, our payment solutions are easy to integrate with any system and simple for users to navigate.
Capital: How does SantimPay address issues of accessibility and usability for users who may not be technologically savvy?
Tensaye: All of our products and services are designed to be easily accessible and usable for users. For instance, our QR code and payment gateway services provide simple, intuitive steps that are easy to follow. People with both basic and advanced smartphones can access these solutions. Our development team has considered the local context, ensuring that our solutions are locally relevant and cater to the needs of the Ethiopian market. This includes making our products and services easy to use, even for those with limited technological expertise.
Capital: What measures are in place to ensure customer support is effective and responsive across SantimPay’s diverse range of services?
Tensaye: We embrace an Omni channel approach to customer service. We create connected and consistent customer interactions across all touchpoints, from online customer service to 24/7 active Call Center Service. This allows us to meet our customers where they are and deliver personalized customer service.
Capital: What are SantimPay’s short-term and long-term goals, and how do they align with the company’s mission of promoting financial inclusion?
Tensaye: Our short-term goals are expand the availability of SantimPay’s digital payment services to underserved communities and populations with limited access to traditional banking and increase adoption and usage of SantimPay by partnering with more local merchants, small businesses, and service providers to accept the digital currency for payments.
Our long-term goal is to become a leading provider of Digital Financial Services (DFS) across emerging markets like Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), enabling more people to participate in the formal economy.
Capital: How does SantimPay plan to expand its offerings or enter new markets in the coming years?
Tensaye: Expanding into new markets can be an exciting challenge for any business. I believe the crucial thing is to figure out what that specific market needs which in return generates most value and leads to better offerings and growth.
Capital: What partnerships or collaborations does SantimPay seek to strengthen its position in the financial technology sector?
Tensaye: We aim to collaborate with businesses, governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders to integrate SantimPay into different programs and services, further extending financial inclusion.
