Interview with Vincent Rajoo CEO of Monaize
In a nutshell, what is Monaize?
Monaize, at its core, is a current account and Business Mastercard for small businesses and freelancers. It is also a platform in to which 3r party insurance providers, payment solution providers (mPOS etc) and finance providers are able to plug their services in order to make them available to our clients.
What are the three key advantages of Monaize over its peers?
- We are banking and financial service partner agnostic. This means that we plug in the best partners depending on the region we are penetrating. This makes Monaize very scalable.
- We have no investment from outside institutional investors. This means that we are able to focus on our core values of collaboration, innovation and ethics, without being constrained by traditional VCs.
- Monaize is the only “challenger bank” of its kind to possess its own blockchain. It has become common consensus that blockchain is the future of Fintech. This, coupled with the fact that we are partnered with a leading cryptocurrency project (Komodo) puts Monaize way ahead of the curve.
Is Monaize a bank or does it aspire to be one in the future?
Monaize is not a bank and does not plan to be one. We work with the best banking partners in the industry in order to ensure that we are able to focus on technology and innovation, whilst they focus on the more financial aspect.
What will be the primary revenue streams for Monaize?
Account signups ($100/year) + commissions on 3rd party integrated solutions including insurance, payment solutions and finance.
Will Monaize operate its own lending service or will this business go through BitBond?
No. This will go through Bitbond and others like it. We will favour P2P and blockchain based lending.
How much exposure will Monaize clients have to the crypto side of Monaize?
Clients will have a lot of exposure to the crypto side of Monaize. We are integrating a crypto wallet into the app in Q2 of 2018. Clients are also encouraged to adopt cryptocurrency and blockchain technology through the various different partners that we work with and through Monaize sponsored educational material.
What is the difference between the Monaize shareholders and token-holders, how are the interests of both parties balanced?
Monaize shareholders will not have any fixed loyalty rewards based on the number of monthly account sign-ups on the Monaize platform. Dividends to shareholders will only come through annual company benefits – if any at all. Monaize token holders benefit from fixed loyalty rewards based on the number of users – regardless of the weather the company makes a profit.
Do MNZ holders need to interact with a smart contract to receive dividends?
The only thing MNZ token holders need to do is keep their tokens on a wallet to which they control their private key. Tokens need to be held for a minimum of 16 days in the previous month in order for rewards to be distributed in the following month.
Do MNZ holders need to undergo the KYC process in order participate in the ICO and to receive a share of signups?
No. This is a decentralised ICO through a decentralised exchange. A KYC process, therefore, doesn’t make any sense. Anybody is able to purchase our tokens. We have put a disclaimer in our ICO documentation concerning certain regions including the United States, to ensure that people there are aware that our ICO is not intended for them.
Will there be an online wallet for Monaize tokens?
Yes. There is already a local client available and our mobile app wallet will be web-based.
What is the price of a MNZ ico?
1 BTC = 15 000 MNZ
When does the ICO start?
Friday 10th November 12pm (GMT)
We thank Vincent Rajoo for the interview.
