History of Altery

Cross-border payments matter because of increased international mobility in goods and services. The space in which Altery operates is essential to economic growth and to making sure people have access to payment solutions. More on this later.

Giwa’s background is in law, she told me, but she made the switch to finance some years ago. “I transitioned from law to financial services around 20 years ago,” she explained. “My area of expertise is in financial crime and regulatory compliance. Now I’m privileged and honoured to be the Managing Director of Altery.”

Giwa is noteworthy in her own right: in addition to serving as Managing Director of Altery, she’s also a fellow of the International Compliance Association and a member of the Association of Professional Compliance Consultants.

“My transition to Altery has been very rewarding," said Giwa. "It was driven by a project I worked on with them, which underscored its strong commitment to doing things the right way. Altery has always prioritised building a solid foundation, with a particular focus on compliance, and my role has been to support and enhance that commitment.”

This point about financial compliance recurs in our interview and is a reflection of Giwa’s belief in the importance of compliance. Altery is certified by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates financial services firms and financial markets in the UK.

Disrupting the market

Altery has big ambitions, not only by looking to be the number one player in electronic money but also through making sure its offering satisfies its customers. “We want to have a strong commitment to innovation, efficiency and customer satisfaction,” said Giwa. “I know those words might sound cliché but they mean what they say for us.”

In acquiring an electronic money institution (EMI) approximately a year ago and applying for a change of control with the FCA, Altery was born. “We want to disrupt the market and make alternative payments,” she stressed. “For example, if our competitors are making payments to cards or payments to banks, we want to go that extra mile.”

One way in which the company seeks to “disrupt the market” is through the launch of its digital payment App, Altery Telegram App, on Telegram, a social media site. This represents a significant shift in mindset to how people can make and receive payments, from traditional banking to using social media platforms. In the announcement of its Telegram App launch, Telegram was contextualised as a platform engaged with by hundreds of millions of users – a database which Altery is seeking to engage with

“I can access my account via Telegram,” said Giwa. “I can open an account via Telegram. This is really cool for me because nobody else is doing that and that’s where the excitement comes in.”

“You have to remember that everything, the risk mitigation, compliance checks and due diligence, exactly as you would have in a traditional banking system, is happening behind the scenes,” she continued, referencing a glowing testimony from a customer that said, to keep it clean, ‘This is effing cool’. “They couldn’t believe that they were able to onboard Telegram within minutes,” she added.

Major milestones

The Altery Telegram App represented a significant milestone for the company. “Another milestone for us is putting in applications with regulatory bodies and forming strategic partnerships,” Giwa detailed. “We’re looking at forming partnerships in the United States. This is in the early stages, but it’s exciting for us.”

One partnership which was announced recently was with Uzum Bank, a digital bank based in Uzbekistan to offer money transfer solutions targeted at the Uzbek market and combining Altery’s payment solutions with Uzum Bank’s local expertise.

An advantage of this partnership is providing a fast alternative to traditional payment solutions so that residents of Uzbekistan can transfer funds to friends, family, customers and employees with ease.

Making payment solutions accessible to people globally was emphasised in our conversation, as Giwa demonstrated her own
passion for providing payment solutions, regardless of the individual’s situation.

“One of the biggest things that motivates us is the geopolitical shift, which I think started in 2020,” she said. “A lot of people have been displaced. There’s been a lot of movement across borders. People that would normally have access to payment services, haven’t had this access.

“What we find is traditional banks have been loath to offering services to some of these displaced people. Our vision is to be inclusive in the services we offer.”

At the risk of mentioning the C word (COVID), how we live, work, and pay has fundamentally changed. “People are coming up with innovative ways to provide their services online,” as Giwa put it. “Digital economy workers like freelancers need to be backed but in your traditional sense of banking or payment services they may not necessarily provide services to these kinds of people.”

Looking to the future

Although it sounds like Altery already has its hands full, Giwa said there is more it is looking at. “The world is our oyster,” she said. “We want to go into different markets and capture those markets. That’s what’s next for us."

In her closing comments, Giwa said: “Watch this space and dare I say it, download our app and go on it. Join the revolution.”

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2024 issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe