When friends and colleagues gather for a meal, the joyous atmosphere normally
dims when the waiter presents a single aggregated bill. In that moment, mental
calculations take center stage for bill-splitting.
In an instant, calculators are out, brows furrow, lips tighten and there are brief
glances exchanged between friends. The absence of change for large bills or a
miscalculation can strain even the closest bonds.
This scenario is a snapshot of a larger reality experienced by countless groups
worldwide, where the process of splitting bills often becomes an unintended
obstacle course.
Be it a meal among friends, a collective gift purchase, or splitting expenses during
a trip, the challenges remain persistent—fairness, transparency, and the hassle of
dealing with physical cash.
It’s this ordeal that Agile Engineers—comprising Brian Amanya, Arnold Kiirya and
Yvette Wambi Nerima—encountered firsthand.
This trio, amidst their bustling lives and shared experiences, recognized the
nuances and intricacies inherent in managing shared expenses.
This planted the seed for their brainchild, SharePay.
Their innovation at the MTN MoMo Hackathon 2023 clinched third spot at the
MoMo Hackathon and a $2,000 prize.
The MTN MoMo Hackathon 2023 was the third edition and was held under the
theme “Innovative Financial and Transactional Applications”. The hackathon is an
innovative platform designed by MTN Mobile Money (U) Limited to bring together
visionary web developers and entrepreneurs from across Africa.
The hackathon aims to harness the power of technology and creativity to
accelerate financial inclusion and drive the digitization of payments on the
continent.
SharePay provides a seamless, secure, and fair method for individuals to share
expenses, eliminating the inherent hassles and conflicts often associated with
such transactions.
Brian Amanya, the Agile Engineers team leader shed light on the genesis of
SharePay, he said that: “Conflicts arise in instances of shared bills, be it colleagues
dining together or friends celebrating a birthday where a single bill is presented.
SharePay steps in to simplify this by offering a unified platform where multiple
groups can be created, enabling transparent tracking of contributions using MTN
Mobile Money.”
A key feature of the hackathon was that all developers and entrepreneurs created
groundbreaking mobile applications that leverage the MTN Mobile Money
Application Programming Interface (APIs).
Consequently, these applications all utilize modern capabilities of V2.1 apps such
as the ability to make notifications, carry out Know Your Customer (KYC)
operations, KYC, and authorization among other things.
The apps also enjoy V2.2 (Channel as a Service) capabilities to cover use cases
beyond payments, thereby fostering a comprehensive and inclusive digital
financial ecosystem.
Amanya explained that the SharePay’s core functionality revolved around
creating groups for various purposes, whether it’s contributing to a wedding fund
or sharing school fees payments.
He emphasized the traditional methods of splitting group bills where disparate
individuals send money separately are rife with inefficiencies and make
individuals incurring high charges.
Amanya said that SharePay aims to mitigate these inefficiencies by centralizing
contributions, reducing individual transaction charges, and fostering
transparency in expense sharing.
He pointed out that the platform’s features are designed to ensure security and
transparency.
He said: “We prioritize security by verifying users through OTP (One Time
Password) confirmation tied to their phone numbers. Moreover, individuals have
the autonomy to accept or decline group invitations, ensuring a secure and
consent-based environment.”
The platform’s central concept lies in providing a single, secure space where
group members can view individual contributions, track total group contributions
against predefined goals, and execute payments seamlessly through MTN mobile
money.
This streamlined approach eliminates the need for constant change searches
during group payments, ultimately reducing discrepancies and conflicts.
“SharePay aims to be a transparent and secure platform that offers a holistic view
of contributions vis-à-vis predefined goals. By harnessing the power of mobile
money, we aim to minimize individual charges incurred during multiple
transactions,” Amanya elucidated.
Beyond its convenience, SharePay’s impact is multifaceted. It not only simplifies
expense sharing but also minimizes financial disparities caused by varying
charges incurred through individual transactions.
The platform’s collaborative nature ensures that costs are equitably distributed
among group members, thereby reducing the financial burden on individuals.
“By aggregating contributions within a single platform, SharePay aims to
promote financial transparency and fairness among group members. Our vision
is to minimize the financial burden on individuals while fostering a sense of
financial inclusivity within groups,” Amanya said.
As SharePay charts its course in the realm of shared expenses management, its
legacy appears to be rooted in pioneering a shift toward equitable and
transparent financial practices within groups.
Beyond the competitive spirit, MTN MoMo Hackathon 2023 fostered an
environment ripe for creativity, collaboration, and the exchange of transformative
ideas.
The hackathon itself wasn’t just about pitting projects against each other in a
race for recognition and rewards. It served as a melting pot of aspirations, where
technologically savvy minds converged to transform everyday inconveniences
into opportunities for innovation.