Okere Precious

WHITEPAPER #PowerUp #Natwest #Stipendium #FintekLabs P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d Table of Content 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Our Mission & Vision 1.2 Measuring Financial Inclusion 2.0 Key Industry Problems 3.0 Solutions offered by Stipendium 4.0 How the Stipendium App Works 5.0 Competition 6.0 Marketing Strategy 7.0 Tokenomics 7.1 Stipendium Coin 7.2 Token details 7.3 Distribution of Coin from ICO Raise 7.4 Usage of Funds Realized During ICO 8.0 Team 9.0 Roadmap 10. Web presence P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 1. Introduction Since the advent of blockchain technology and its disruptive effect hit virtually every world, including global finance, there has been a need to put an end to the notoriously vague and abysmal trends in the payment remittance niche of the industry. This reality arises from the fact that the world is evolving with new and emerging technologies. As such financial transactions and payment remittances must not be left to wallow in the backwardness, it is still stuck in. High transaction fees, slow payment remittance, cross-border payment inefficiencies, value lost in money translation, and many others are some of the numerous problems affecting the current payment gateways. This calls for an urgent and immediate solution that will ensure seamless P2P exchange of funds by leveraging the countless opportunities offered by blockchain technology and bring an end to the years of untold woes that have blemished the industry. With this in mind, STIPENDIUM was created as a blockchain-based payment remittance gateway that solves real-world payment problems and provides simple, effective, and secure payment solutions across borders. This solution is unique but straightforward; we are set to permanently address the numerous problems earlier mentioned using blockchain technology to facilitate a contactless payment that is safe, fast, highly secure, and accessible with a very low transaction fee. That is not all; we also have a Blockchain-powered currency that is the native currency of the Stipendium community with which transactions will be carried out between users. The Blockchain was ranked one of the top 5 emerging technologies in 2019 by the World Economic Forum, and it is speculated to hold 10% of worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025. Currently, it has already surpassed $1 billion in global investments. It has also been forecasted that every entity in the finance sector will be affected by it. Since many individuals outside of the cryptocurrency industry generally don't know how to utilize Blockchain, Stipendium has come up with an application that they can use as a mobile/web account to carry out transactions by simply scanning bar codes. Extensive research of the remittance and financial industry has revealed that as many as 2.5 billion people across the world do not have access to financial services. This shows that it is time for a solution from industry experts. This whitepaper is written to give the Stipendium users a deep insight and understanding of the network and product line built by the company. P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 1.1 Our Mission & Vision Stipendium’s mission is to leverage the blockchain technology with a new emerging ecosystem, to make remittance services accessible and to add value for more consumers’ auspicious use of digital assets. We envision a world where the Stipendium ecosystem is using the distributed ledger technology to provide affordable financial products and services that meet individual’s needs and delivered in a timely, responsible and sustainable way. P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 1.2 Measuring Financial Inclusion Changes and innovations in technology, especially the use of smartphones, have been driving financial access and inclusion. Smartphones and other devices with internet access have brought financial services to individuals instead of requiring an individual to travel long distances to traditional financial institutions. However, there is still a significant gap in financial inclusion worldwide. Stipendium will focus on extending financial access to everyone. The implementation of the Stipendium ecosystem unifies the internal and external operating system with our customer-centric approach to providing a seamless experience to our users. The Stipendium ecosystem is designed to deploy a futuristic financial service platform regarding an omnichannel and crossfunctional customer journey. P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 2. Key Industry Problems Current solutions are marred by several problems that should not be identified with a world that has seen an astronomical rise in technology and emerging tech. This is because the existing remittance and payment industry are built on an oldfashioned infrastructure, bonded with expensive fees and transaction delays, which no longer serves the interest of its sophisticated customer base. Highlighted and explained below are some of the problems: Slow payment: Sending money abroad is cost-intensive, due to price markups on transaction proceeds, by traditional remittance service providers and financial institutions. Besides the excessive fees, service providers offer next to no information about the journey of the transactions, which makes it hard for the sender and receiver to track their funds. High Fee: The existing remittance and payment industry are built on an old-fashioned infrastructure, bonded with expensive fees and transaction delays, which no longer serves the interest of its sophisticated customer base. The rise of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology has created a niche market, along with unserved customers demanding a more inclusive financial industry Complex interfaces: Scalability issues of platform systems maintain a series of problems like delay in transaction executions, deposits, withdrawals, and alternative transactional errors, which can result in price slippages. These delays have an enormous impact on transactions when speed is a mandatory factor for the inconsistency of costs. P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d Poor customer experience: Slow and weak customer support experience is one of the numerous problems rocking the boat of the current remittance gateways - especially the conventional banking system. Long wait period and queues to resolve issues that shouldn't have occurred in the first place, such as systematic errors with account transactions, workflow friction, disparate systems, inconsistent data, disconnected channels, and limited self-service capabilities, to name a few. Limited access to financial services: Approximately 2.5 billion, or nearly 40%, of the global adult population, do not have a formal bank account or access to affordable financial services. These individuals are facing more significant risks and higher costs in their day-to-day life. They are forced to rely on cash and informal financial markets, which also undermines the government’s ability to collect taxes. These problems have rendered the current system archaic and obsolete. They are convincing pieces of evidence that the current remittance options are ripe for disruption. P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 3. Solutions offered by Stipendium As earlier mentioned, Stipendium is an innovative solution to the conventional payment remittance gateways. We must also mention the benefits of using our blockchain-based payment ecosystem. Some of these benefits include: Faster Transaction Time: Using Stipendium, you get 4X speedier processing time on transactions than you get using the conventional payment methods. This is brought about by one of the core values of blockchain technology in facilitating faster transaction terms due to internode speed. Ease of setup and use: Stipendium's app was carefully designed with great user experience and user interface (UI/UX) in mind. Such that the least tech-savvy user can set up an account and start a contactless transaction that only requires the scanning of bar code in less than 1hr. This will facilitate inclusivity so that no one is left behind in this new financial utopia. P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d Reduced Transaction Fee: High transaction fee due to the numerous intermediaries in conventional bank transaction is a huge turn-off and one of the major problems of the current remittance options available. Cross-border payments continue to be expensive. It is difficult to assess and deduce charges incurred through multiple correspondent banks, and the identity of the involved banks is not always known between the sender and beneficiary bank and hence, the lack of transparency. With Stipendium, the transaction fee is reduced to the barest minimum for platform users. Merchants also pay zero fees for using the platform, which helps them save the cost of running their businesses. Zero Hardware Required: Other than your smartphone with the Stipendium app; you don’t need to visit any location before you can be able to carry out any transactions like in the conventional banking system. Transaction on our platform is contactless, requires zero hardware or infrastructure, and can be carried out from the comfort of your location. We have currently completed our unique blockchain-backed Stipendium mobile application for iOS and Android, partnered with British Super Bike Racing Team (Kawasaki FS3) and Visa for the creation of a new Stipendium pre-paid debit card. All these are done to facilitate seamless operation so that we can hit the ground running as soon as financial resources permit. P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 4. How the Stipendium App Works After the correct setup of the application – which is easy for even the least techsavvy user, transaction processing on the Stipendium app works in two easy steps: Step Step 01 02 A QR code is generated for a Vendor that is presented to the client to scan. The client scans the code on the vendor’s device and confirms payment. . No conventional remittance gateway has its process as easy as this, thanks to blockchain technology that provides this enabling environment P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 5. Competition There are several direct and indirect competitors globally. In a broader sense, we will be competing with multiple companies around the world that offer payment remittance services. The major ones include traditional and centralized remittance platforms such as Conventional Banks, industry giants like PayPal, and Regular card payment platforms. The difference, however, is that we will be coming into the market with an entirely new technology that will ensure seamless payment transfers without delay, low transaction fee, zero chargeback error and a highly secure platform that is accessible everywhere and by anyone. P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 6. Marketing Strategy The Stipendium ecosystem will use different marketing strategies to promote the platform and get the word about its novel solution out there. Some of the proposed methods of marketing include: We will be using the service of influencers with massive followers on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. We will also invest in content marketing strategies using platforms like Medium and Quora. We understand how far digital PR can go, so we’ll be using PR agencies with a proven track record of success and leverage their expertise and experience to market the platform to get the word out there. We will be providing competitions, videos, and information on our Social media platforms such as Twitter, and Telegram, as well as the implementation of a Referral System. Below is a summary of our proposed methods of marketing: Traditional ad - QR Code displays at Vendor's POS and lots more. Brand partnerships Social media/ Influencer marketing Industry events/ exhibition SEO/ Content Marketing Referral programs/ Affiliate marketing P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d TOKENOMICS #PowerUp #Natwest #Stipendium #FintekLabs P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 7.1 Stipendium Coin Stipendium coin is the native currency of the Stipendium platform. It is a mineable coin that will be used to carry out transactions on the platform and also incentivize platform members and shareholders through dividends. The coin is technically advanced as it incorporates Blockchain, giving it a high level of security, functionality, and versatility. We’ve created a total of 1,550,000,000 coins, of which 25,000,000 will be put up for sale during ICO and run for 45 Days so that investors can have a fair share of the coin. The Premine amount for 500,000,000 is for distribution to merchants, promotional events, exchanges (for liquidity), ICO or IEO and OTC desks. It is important to note that the Stipendium coin has its Blockchain (and it is fully compatible with other Blockchains, such as the Ethereum ERC20 token standard). This means that it can also be used in Ethereum-based smart contracts), allowing a wider user base for future scaling. This is something we will upgrade the Blockchain to possibly do in the future, although the board will decide later most likely after 2022. 7.2 Token details Token name: Stipendium Coins Total created: 1,550,000,000 coins Soft cap: £500,000 Hard cap: £5,000,000 Presale availability: Yes - presale will be at £0.45/per coin, and the main sale will be at £0.80/per coin Mineable: Yes Acceptable payment options to purchase coin: BTC and ETH Others: card payment gateway and bank transfers in GBP P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 7.3 Distribution of Coin from ICO Raise The Pre-mine amount for 500,000,000 is for distribution to merchants, promotional events, exchanges (for liquidity), ICO or IEO and OTC desks. Token Distribution 9% 26% 43% Merchants Promotional Events Exchange (for Liquidity) ICO/IEO and OTC decks 22% P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 7.4 Usage of Funds Realized During ICO Fund Allocation 5% 10% Software Development 45% 20% Business Development Marketing Legal & Administration Contingency 20% Software Development: 45% of the budget will be allocated to our core development team, to fund the creation of the platform and other projects that will be using our Stipendium token as well as necessary improvements to achieve significant adoption. This also includes costs for independent security audits. Business development: 20% of the budget will go to business development to attract investors. Marketing: 20% of the budget will go to driving awareness of the Stipendium platform. This will help to raise awareness and build the community around the project. Legal and administration: 10% - most of which will be allocated for developing a solid legal framework for the Stipendium platform. This will include our legal consultant's fees, company incorporations, etc. a minor part of that will go to administration/accounting Contingency: 5% - set aside for unforeseen costs P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 8. Team We understand that having a strong team and proven strategy is key to the success of this project. We are driven by our focus on the industry as a whole, which is why the leading industry experts have come together, intent on achieving this feat. The Stipendium team consists of experts in the financial and Blockchain industry, as well as several businesses and tech enthusiasts. RICHARD Bohan JAMIE Recker CEO/Founder CTO JOE Dakwa CHRO A D V I S O R S PAM Sheemar DREW Currie Board Advisor P o w e r e d Board Advisor b y F i n t e k L a b s YIANNIS Maos Board Advisor L i m i t e d 9. Roadmap March 2020 – Conception of Idea March 2020 – Setup Business (concept) March 2020 – Blockchain/Platform Development April 2020 – Accepted onto Natwest Fintech Accelerator April 2020 – Development of mobile apps and Whitepaper May 2020 – Beta testing of the payment network May 2020 – Launch of Mobile apps on respective app stores June 1 2020 – ICO starts June 30 2020 – ICO ends July 2 - Platform launches August 2020, partnerships launch (pending quarantine ends) P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d 10. Web Presence: Telegram: Twitter: Facebook: Linkedin: #PowerUp #Natwest #Stipendium #FintekLabs P o w e r e d b y F i n t e k L a b s L i m i t e d