SimpliFi: Instant card issuance in MENA

THE CHALLENGE

Tapping into financial technology with CAAS

Based in Dubai, UAE, SimpliFi is a startup providing instant card-issuing solutions. One of the first in the MENA region, SimpliFi, was founded in 2021 and required an expert team for end-to-end software deployment on their card issuance program. With the surge of digital and virtual cards as the de facto medium for digital payments, SimpliFi sought to gain a first-mover advantage in the MENA region by developing software that enables them to work as issuer processors. 

Since fintech is gaining much traction on a global scale, and with numerous companies investing in digitizing their payment processes, the Middle East is rapidly becoming a hub for next-gen technologies. As such, SimpliFi saw immense potential in the region and directed its efforts towards augmenting fintech services by introducing a card issuing platform. SimpliFi is composed of talent from companies like Uber, PayPal, Careem, Mastercard, Facebook, and Marqeta (a card issuance platform). The company received $5.1 million in funding to expand across the MENA region following its beta launch in August 2021.

Through mutuals at Careem, SimpliFi connected with VentureDive late in 2020 and laid out their vision and requirements. They were seeking an entire team consisting of skilled talent that could turn their vision into a practical solution. With our team augmentation service, we successfully rendered their vision a successful product.

SCALING EFFECTIVELY WITH IT STAFF AUGMENTATION

Providing access to skilled IT resources to turn SimpliFi’s vision into a solution

Most individuals and organizations rely on banks for issuing physical cards that can help them perform digital transactions. Though entirely electronic, the traditional method of issuing cards is still archaic if we compare it to the changing fintech standards. In this era, many regions have come up with digital solutions that help them issue cards instantly, such as for online shopping. Similarly, SimpliFi wanted to help organizations in the Middle East partake in this innovation.

Considering the project’s scope, they were on the hunt for a software development partner with expertise in the financial services domain pertaining to emerging fintech trends. Thanks to our referral by Careem, SimpliFi came to us with their project idea and opted for a complete tech advisory.

While SimpliFi had the concept in mind and had done their share in the ideation process, we assisted them in refining their idea to turn it into a viable solution that accurately aligned with their business goals. Since fintech is an industry that is constantly subject to technological advancements, it was essential to prepare a proposal that factored in the changing landscape of it too.

Once both VentureDive and SimpliFi were in agreement on how to proceed, VentureDive dedicated a chunk of the team to work on the CAAS platform. In addition to a product manager and software architect, this team augmentation model comprised a total of six resources: one front-end developer, two JAVA developers, one for data processing, and one DevOps. The tech stack we utilized was Java, Kubernetes, React, Python, Hadoop, Nifi, HBase, Kafka, and Superset. Overall, the project was wrapped in less than a year, and our team kept on suggesting and implementing updates and improvements where necessary.

Enabling SimpliFi to succeed with robust technology

Everything that we built for SimpliFi, from the administrative portal to the backend platform, and the complete infrastructure, was developed from scratch. Not only did we help bring the concept of SimpliFi into reality, but our team was also involved in its quality control and monitoring until the product was successfully launched and well-received by the market. Considering this product is B2B and its functionality depends on how well the backend is managed, the developed solution needed a robust backend platform.

VentureDive built & added value to the following aspects of the platform:

• Designed the entire software architecture
• Developed a cloud-independent infrastructure using our Platform resource
• Implemented scalable data processing pipelines with our DevOps resource
• Implemented event-driven backend for scalability and compliance using our JAVA resources
• Created an administrative portal so SimpliFi’s partners could access the cards easily. 

THE RESULT

How we created an impact

After the project was successfully delivered from our end, SimpliFi moved their team in-house and concluded the affiliation with VentureDive on a cordial note, profoundly impressed by our professionalism and expertise. 

The company launched its product officially in August 2021  and shortly after,  began receiving positive responses from many organizations, including $5.1 million in funding to expand across the MENA region.  By signing partnerships with banks, processors, and other providers, SimpliFi managed to cement itself in the MENA region as a well-known Cards-as-a-Service platform.

SimpliFi envisioned providing tools to help any type of business run its cards program and now the company continues to grow and leave a positive mark in the Fintech ecosystem by joining hands with enterprises in Jordan, Egypt, and, most recently, Pakistan.