Leaf / BOSS Money Africa
Leaf is a digital wallet for mobile devices, enabling domestic and cross border value transfer.
Website: https://www.leafglobalfintech.com/
HQ: Lewes, Delaware, United States
Active Markets: Africa
Problem Addressed
The global displacement crisis forces millions of people to carry physical cash while moving across borders. Those who are unbanked or who don’t have smartphones are increasingly at risk by having to carry physical cash. Carrying cash exposes vulnerable communities to theft and exploitative exchange rates.
Project Description
Leaf’s digital wallet for smart phones, feature phones, and other mobile devices allows users to hold and transfer currencies domestically and across borders. Leaf’s app Boss Money Africa secures mobile money on the blockchain, allowing users to store, withdraw, send and receive, and exchange currencies securely and at lower costs than traditional methods. The application runs on a variety of device types, and is not limited to smart phones, which is especially important for Leaf’s user base of people with cross border financial needs, such as those sending remittances or displaced communities traveling across borders. Leaf leverages the Stellar network blockchain to hold all user value in fiat-backed stablecoins. By concentrating movement of assets mostly in the token layer, Leaf and Stellar are able to offer exchange services at greatly reduced costs and with increased efficiencies, off-ramping into local currencies.
In 2022, Leaf Global Fintech was acquired by IDT Corporation, a global fintech and communications services provider. BOSS Money is an international remittance service developed under IDT, which absorbed Leaf’s application under the name BOSS Money Africa.
Business Data
Status: Active
Constituency Served: historically excluded groups, underbanked, small business owners, immigrants, students, refugees
Networks: Stellar
Known Investors: National Science Foundation, UNICEF Innovation Fund, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, NSF Small Business Innovation Research, Catalyst Fund, IDT Corporation, TechStars, Stellar Development Foundation
Additional References: N/A
Progress to date
While anyone in the world can download and sign up for Leaf, initially cashing in and out of mobile money was only available in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. In July 2023 Leaf and BOSS Money Africa expanded to Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire. Leaf has been the recipient of awards from the United Nations, The Vatican, Cisco, and Fast Company, additionally being named in the global Inclusive Fintech 50 list and featured in a US House Financial Services Committee hearing.
Business Model
Leaf and Boss Money generate revenue through fees and spread on exchange rates.