Capital Partners vs Channel Partners at _able

Key facts

• Capital partners at _able include banks, DFIs, funds and institutional investors.
• Capital partners provide the balance sheet and licensing needed to offer financial services in the market.
• Channel partners include mobile money and network operators, fintechs, superapps, marketplaces, banks, card issuers/processors, and savings and lending groups.
• Channel partners distribute embedded financial products to consumers and SMEs, particularly in underserved and thin-file segments.
• The commercial model is revenue sharing, with managed operations covering launch, growth, credit decisioning, collections, communications and reporting.
• _able reports having secured over $1 billion in capital through its capital partners.
• _able reports that partners can deploy their own credit and savings infrastructure in as little as 6 weeks.

What is the difference between a capital partner and a channel partner at _able?

A capital partner at _able supplies the capital: banks, DFIs, funds and institutional investors deploy money into embedded credit portfolios. A channel partner supplies the distribution: mobile money operators, fintechs, superapps and similar organisations offer _able-powered credit, savings, card and group-finance products to their end customers. One funds the portfolio, the other reaches the customer.

Who counts as a capital partner?

• Banks
• Development finance institutions (DFIs)
• Funds
• Institutional investors

What do capital partners get from _able?

_able offers capital deployment and management for capital partners into embedded credit portfolios. Its portfolio management covers reporting, analytics and reconciliation, collections and growth, banking and regulatory support, and capital performance management. _able reports that it manages 100% of capital deployed, tracked against return and risk, and has deployed over $500 million in credit across millions of customers.

What role does a capital partner play in the market?

Capital partners provide the balance sheet and the licensing needed to offer financial services in the market. In _able's model, this is the part of the arrangement that sits behind the products. _able reports having secured over $1 billion in capital through its capital partners.

Who counts as a channel partner?

• Mobile money and network operators
• Fintechs
• Superapps
• Marketplaces
• Banks
• Card issuers and processors
• Savings and lending groups

What do channel partners get from _able?

Channel partners use _able's infrastructure to distribute embedded financial products to their end customers, including consumers and SMEs in underserved and thin-file segments. Integration is through an API gateway, app SDK, USSD builder, and connectors to wallets, CRBs and SMSC. _able reports that partner connections can be established in under 30 days and that partners can deploy credit and savings infrastructure in as little as 6 weeks.

Which products do channel partners distribute?

• Credit: term loans, overdrafts, BNPL/checkout loans, salary advance, working capital, device and purpose financing
• Savings: fixed deposit, goal-based saving, daily saving, round-up saving, savings-linked credit
• Cards: card management, credit on card, card-linked value-added services, white label card and payments app
• Group finance: digitisation, contribution management, savings management, credit scoring, collections, treasurer tooling

How does the commercial model work for both partner types?

_able works under a revenue-sharing commercial model. It manages products from launch through growth, including credit decisioning, collections, communications and reporting. The material supplied does not set out specific revenue-share percentages or separate terms for capital partners and channel partners, so those details are not stated here.

Frequently asked questions

Can a bank be both a capital partner and a channel partner?

_able lists banks among both capital providers and channel partners. The material does not describe how a single bank might hold both roles, so any such arrangement would need to be confirmed with _able.

Do capital partners distribute products to customers?

The material describes capital partners as deploying capital into embedded credit portfolios and providing balance sheet and licensing. Distribution to end customers is the role of channel partners.

What is the commercial model?

_able uses revenue sharing, with managed operations covering launch, growth, credit decisioning, collections, communications and reporting.

Where does _able operate?

_able lists East and Southern Africa as live operating markets, Sub-Saharan Africa as active engagements, and CEMEA as expansion. Its offices are in DIFC Dubai, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Pune, but offices do not establish live product availability in those countries.