Everex Sets Mobile Blockchain Microfinance Service
Blockchain company Everex is expanding its operations, aiming towards micro-credit and fiat remittance services as it targets the unbanked and under-banked market.
The company’s mobile fiat transactions are based on its Cryptocash service and mobile ethereum wallet. Cryptocash, an ethereum ERC20 token family, is pegged to fiat currencies and tradable on the Everex Wallet, as well as on third-party applications and exchanges. With the new product launch, the company said users will be able to redeem Cryptocash against its fiat counterpart at ATMs, currency exchangers, and mobile service providers, thereby transferring fiat money instantaneously anywhere at extremely low costs.
The remittance system will also allow users to request micro-loans in any currency. This can also be done directly from their mobile phone. Credit scores will be generated on the fly based on social data, spending patterns, and user behavior. This gives the unbanked and under-banked population access to affordable credit.
Everex tested the new service last year, allowing hundreds of migrant workers to transfer an aggregate amount of 850,000 Thai baht, or around $24,000 USD, from Myanmar back to Thailand.
The company will also host an initial coin offering (ICO) this summer. The money raised will be used as seed capital to launch the micro-lending operation. Profits will be used to buy tokens back from the market over time.
“Generating credit scores on the basis of mobile data will allow us to serve the microfinancing needs of many unbanked and under-banked individuals which, due to the often deficient documentation and track records in the developing world, had until now no access to affordable credit,” said Everex CEO and co-founder Alexi Lane. “Affordable credit is a key element of entrepreneurship and economic empowerment, and we’re proud to be able to provide this service.”
