Brass Banking: The Alternative is Hell!
You might find the article title a bit dramatic but I still stand by what I wrote; The alternative to Brass is actually hell.
Let’s take a little back story, a few years ago my partner and I were fundraising and we got a grant. One of the conditions for the grants was that we set up a corporate account and get the business registered. This was way back in 2018/19 when walking into a traditional commercial bank was the status quo and we had to come up with a couple of trustees/signatories who had current accounts and it took us about 3 days to complete the process. It was 3 days because we gave all our energy to running around and ensuring we got the requirements.
At the time, I thought about the fact that we had spent about 3 business days setting up an account when we should have been chasing customers or chilling instead we were chasing signatures from people with current accounts.
3 days!
Don’t get me started with the torturing process of closing these accounts or getting money out. It’s a hell loop of going back and forth wasting hours and not achieving anything at the bank. It’s no surprise that some people hire people just to go to the bank. I have concluded that if you see a banking hall in your dreams, then your village people are probably after you.
Then Came Brass
Brass offers entrepreneurs current accounts and other tools that will help them manage their finances. The beauty of brass can be found in 2 things.
The product comes with a current account targeted at individuals with small businesses and that current account is powered by a partnership with a commercial bank. Brass is a perfect example of what it means to improve a car by changing the wheels and giving it nitro on an already existing engine (I just watched the Fast and Furious movies).
Current accounts are also known as transaction account which means they are accessible to individuals who usually have a high transaction volume(an example is an entrepreneur). The point of current accounts in the past was to give the owners multiple and secure channels to withdraw and deposit money but anyone can have that now.
Brass is special because instead of entrepreneurs setting up corporate accounts, they can actually just set up a current account and it doesn’t stop at sending and receiving money, it helps customers manage money.
With Brass, you have a dashboard, add team members and get overdrafts (There’s more but these are my favourites).
In my last article about GetBumpa, I highlighted the significance of SMEs and how they make up a huge chunk of economic output and employment. It’s no surprise really seeing as there are always a few large corporations and a larger host of SMEs. With a thriving SME sector, we would have a low rate of unemployment and we would also have increased economic output. China and the UK are two economies that understand the assignment of supporting and promoting SMEs.
It is no surprise that China has alleviated over 800 million persons out of poverty since the 1970s. A lot of the reformation has been targeted at SMEs and building a conducive business environment.
BRASS SAVES BANKING:
Brass says they target growing business but, I think they will become a tool that drives business growth.
Money is the blood that drives a business and more importantly, it drives small businesses. Banks are supposed to be the blood bank but in today’s world, banks need to do a lot more; they need to provide the blood, aspirin and vitamins that businesses need to not just survive but also stay healthy.
Brass Banking has been effective in taking care of businesses and I look forward to the bank being the banker of several Unicorns. Brass simplifies the business of taking care of businesses, unlike the traditional system where banking is work, Brass is a bank that works for its customers by ensuring they can measure progress with analytics, the product ensures they can create business tools like invoices and it also helps them collaborate by adding team members and managing permissions.
Another wonderful thing about Brass is the speed at which you can get started, it’s businesses like Brass that will make more people easily implement their ideas. It’s even faster than a lot of solutions in more developed countries.
The Future:
I am a big advocate of globalizing local solutions because Nigerian products create the standards, we solve hard problems and we do it well. Brass solves a hard problem and if you think otherwise go open a bank account today in any traditional bank.
As a product person I’d ensure brass does the following :
- Brass would become the banking partner for any start-up or company looking to expand and operate in Nigeria. The goal would be to ensure Brass is the bank any tourist or company can trust to manage their businesses in Nigeria.
- Expansions to other African states: Brass has built its rails on an existing financial bank, it would be great to have that replicated in other African countries, this would also expand the possibility of my first point. This would make Brass the easiest entry point for business across Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Brass becomes the standard: It would also be great to have brass become the standard for business banking and by that I mean when applying for a grant a Brass bank should be accepted as a business account. This would mean identifying and being in talks with organizations that offer grants. This would also be useful for startup incubators and accelerators who need their startups to take their finances more seriously.
- Brass becomes the ultimate plug and play bank: There are a lot of business management tools and although they try to have some form of financial management feature they aren’t exactly a bank. Having Brass integrated into business management tools and even freelancing tools would be a big winner. The customer would basically be able to integrate their banks into every place on the internet that gets them money.
CONCLUSION:
As said before Brass would be the bank that supports businesses and contributes to the growth of these businesses. What makes them more interesting is that the product is replicable in almost any nation because they solve core problems caused by traditional, bureaucratic and inefficient systems. What I mean is that anyone who is used to walking into the hell loop that is a banking hall would definitely adopt Brass as their business bank.
If you are still using a savings account to manage your business, switch up and go get a Brass account.
