Intro

Recently, we looked into CreditFins, a Cairo, Egypt-based “credit card management solution that helps customers optimize their usage, spend less, earn more rewards, and become more financially savvy.” The startup launched in 2020 and made it on the Wellfound (formerly AngelList) “Top Fintech Startups in 2023.”

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Product

CreditFins currently has an app called Alpha credit card manager that’s available for both iOS and Android. According to the website, the app has two levels of subscriptions, a basic offering which is free, and the premium offering which is 75 EGP/month. Through the app you: 

1. create a profile which includes setting personal financial goals/limits and linking your credit cards*
2. monitor your spending, credit card cycles and payment due dates, and see available rewards
3. use the app’s calculators to plan payments, minimize fees, and cash in on rewards

*Alpha users connect their credit cards to the app through BIN numbers, aka a traditional payments network route instead of through open banking.

CreditFins is also in the pre-launch phase for their Alpha debit card which works in tandem with the app. According to part of the FAQ section on the website (that unfortunately wasn’t super easy to find), the Alpha Card works like this:

1. at the start of each month users add additional funds to their Alpha Card through their connected Credit Cards
2. Then throughout the month users use something called Alpha Vouchers to spend money via their Alpha Card
3. At the end of the month, they use the remaining balance to pay back their linked credit cards, following the advice of the built-in financial advising feature

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Creativity

In our minds, the premise of CreditFins isn’t anything new. What makes it stand out, however, is that it’s the first fintech of its kind to be up and running in the Middle East and Northern Africa. 

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Website

The CreditFins website, which is in English, isn’t anything flashy or special. Although it explains the product pretty well and is relatively simple and easy to navigate, we would have liked more visuals and to have the product descriptions laid out in a way that was easier to digest. In conclusion, from our perspective as a potential consumer, the website structure and presentation of information could have been more appealing for us to want to take the next step to download and try out the app. 

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User Experience

In order to get started with Alpha, users must have a phone number with an Egyptian prefix, so we weren’t able to try out the app for ourselves. Although unfortunate for us (we were really hoping to be able to see how they had designed the app and its features), this requirement tells us that CreditFins is narrowly focused on a specific geographical location and the customers located there. 

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Overall Recommendation

Since we were unable to try out the app for ourselves, we can’t give this app a glowing review. We would have liked to be able to see the differences between the free version and paid version (although the paid subscription costs less than $2.50 USD/month, so it’s not very expensive). So time will tell regarding CreditFins and their app and debit card – if it’s truly a great product, it will last and hopefully expand to other countries as well.

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