IT Consortium (ITC), one of Ghana’s premier Fintech companies, has launched an innovative new app to solve the challenges of group fund mobilisation and crowdfunding in Ghana.

The app called ‘Chango’ already has over 1000 groups formed and transacting.

With the launch of Chango, IT Consortium seeks to inject transparency, trust, and convenience into how groups contribute money towards a determined need.

At the same time, Chango is being positioned as a public crowdfunding platform that allows NGOs, churches, government, radio stations, etc., to set up public campaigns to raise funds from the general public for social causes, thereby building solid bridges between those in need and those who can help.

The launch, held at the ITC premises, drew a crowd of well-wishers and other stakeholders in a night which was also a thanksgiving concert to conclude the 20th-anniversary celebrations of the company. The event was exceptionally well organised, with seasoned musicians such as KODA, Bethel Revival Choir, Joyful Way Incorporated, Team Eternity Ghana, and Edwin Dadson driving patrons to their feet for most of the evening.

In an interview, Franklin Eleblu, the Chief Solutions Architect of IT Consortium, indicated that Chango is not merely an excellent option for group contributions but a necessity for any group that desires full transparency and control in how funds are received and disbursed.

He contrasted it with sending money to either an individual’s bank account or Momo wallet and the burden it places on the treasurers to keep accurate records for the group. In some cases, he said, disputes have arisen, resulting in broken or fragmented relationships. Chango eliminates this.

Ebow Anamuah-Mensah, the CTO of IT Consortium, in his keynote, explained that Chango has two types of groups: Private groups and public groups.  Private groups are groups formed between people who know each other, similar to WhatsApp groups, while public groups are formed by identified organisations to raise funds for a public cause.

Chango to make free heart surgeries for children possible

In his launch address, Dr. Ekow Entsua-Mensah, a heart surgeon at the Cardiothoracic Centre, underscored the importance of the Chango campaign as a critical initiative in helping to fund heart surgeries for children.

He lamented that some affected parents are heartbroken when they hear the cost of heart surgery. He was emphatic that even in more developed nations where individuals are better resourced than the average Ghanaian, heart surgery is not financed out of pocket but through systems set up to alleviate the burdens of these expensive procedures. To this end, he encouraged all Ghanaians to join the campaign.

“If one million Ghanaians contributed 1 cedi a month, which would make 1 million cedis every month, we would be able to perform an average of 30 to 35 heart surgeries a month, and that would be more than adequate for our current capacity.”

Winds of Change With Chango

Chango is an innovative new app redefining how we contribute money in groups or mobiliSe money from the public. Group contributions are reimagined from the ground up, with very well-thought-out features that answer the questions before they are asked.

Chango is changing group behaviours one group at a time and will lead the charge of fund mobilization transparency.

The app allows adding new members to a group by seamlessly sending group invite links via WhatsApp, Facebook, email, or other apps commonly used to share information. Also, once the app has been installed, users have the flexibility to add mobile money numbers or bank cards as sources of funds. These sources of funds are called “wallets” on Chango.

Chango Is Democratic - Sensible Steps That Protect Your Funds

Policies govern Chango groups. Significant actions in Chango require a vote by the people designated by the group's policy to undertake the vote. An example of an activity that requires a vote is paying money out of Chango to a wallet or a bank account. The authorised voters must vote to ensure that no single person can divert funds to unapproved destinations. Making a member, an admin also requires a vote to ensure that one rogue admin does not unilaterally add other rogue admins to influence votes. Groups can set the percentage of members needed to vote to make a decision, ranging from 25% to 100%

Borrowing From The Group

A group can be set up with a policy that allows members to borrow from the group.

Where Does Chango Keep The Money?

As a licensed Enhanced Payment Service Provider, ITC ensures all funds are lodged securely with a partner bank until the group decides to cash out.

Security

ITC was the first Ghanaian FinTech to obtain the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification in information security management. Additionally, ITC is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS). Thus security considerations were first-class citizens in the development of this platform.

Outlook

Chango is positioned as a Pan-African platform, currently live in Ghana and Kenya. Although cashout can only happen in these countries, contributions can be made from anywhere in the world. ITC expects to introduce additional compelling features to the app in the coming months.

The app is available for download on Apple and Google Play stores. Visit www.changoapp.com for more information.