York to provide strategic guidance on business initiatives and brand awareness, seek capital investment for B2B SaaS platform, drive greater access to cashless economies
ATLANTA, April 26, 2021 – York Public Relations, the nation’s top brand awareness and crisis PR firm dedicated exclusively to financial institutions and fintechs, announced that CEO Mary York has joined the Advisory Board for BetaBuilds Technologies™, a fintech startup providing last-mile connectivity to the masses even if the Internet-infrastructure is not present.
A disruptive technology enabler, BetaBuilds™ is on a mission to “Bridge the Digital Divide” and solve the problem of failed payment transaction across the globe. Its patent granted technology platform, OffWallet™, addresses the many challenges faced by rural and suburban communities and those without adequate Internet or cell service and especially for those still using feature phones.
“At BetaBuilds™, our goal is to provide disruptive solutions that enable enterprises and individuals globally, like Bank Apps, Digital Wallets, Android-based PoS terminals, Micro ATMs and Payment Gateways, to empower their end users to transact money through mobile devices safely and seamlessly without the need of the Internet and with a rich user experience,” said Nirmesh Rajyaguru, Co-founder of BetaBuilds™. “Apart from the infrastructural and demographic challenges faced in many regions, even parts of the United States, there are other barriers to establishing a true digital economy, such as low digital literacy rates. Without greater access to smartphones and Internet, purchasing power is significantly impacted, which further underscores the need for radical innovation. OffWallet™ solves for this, enabling users to transact on feature phones as well without Internet or cellular network.”
Rajyaguru continued, “To support our initiative and expand access to our platform, we’re pleased to welcome Mary to our Advisory Board. In this role, she will assist in strategic business initiatives, engagement and branding, as well as collaborate with banks and other financial institutions in the North American markets and globally. We look forward to working with her. Welcome aboard!”
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), approximately 19 million Americans still lack access to fixed broadband service at threshold speeds. In rural areas, nearly one-fourth of the population – 14.5 million people – lack access to this service. In tribal areas, nearly one-third of the population lacks access. Even in areas where broadband is available, approximately 100 million Americans still do not subscribe. Additionally, while the vast majority of Americans own a smartphone, 15% of the U.S. population either have a feature phone or have no mobile phone at all, according to a 2021 report from Pew Research Center.
From a global perspective, the numbers are substantially different. As of January 2021, there were 4.66 billion active Internet users worldwide – 59.5% of the global population. Of this total, 92.6% (4.32 billion) accessed the internet via mobile devices. However, as of this year, only 3.8 billion – less than half of the global population – own a smartphone. Fifty-two percent of the world either have a feature phone or no phone at all, limiting their access.
The Federal Reserve also estimated there are 55 million unbanked or underbanked adult Americans in 2018, which account for 22% of U.S. households. Globally, more than 28% of the world adult population is unbanked – approximately 2 billion individuals – according to the World Bank. These individuals tend to use cash more frequently, however, the recent COVID pandemic lead to a massive decline in cash transactions.
To address digital literacy challenges, BetaBuilds™ created its patent granted novel solution “OffWallet™, which will be implemented as a middleware (Integrated Technology) in the mobile applications of Banks and Wallet companies to enable offline transactions, thereby giving a larger platform to the digitally under-served. The B2B SaaS technology platform can also be scaled to work with the existing mobile payment systems, digital wallets and payment gateways to enable them to carry out transactions without the Internet in a secure way while keeping the existing transaction experience for the user seamless.
“In many parts of the world, one of the major challenges faced by both governments and financial institutions in setting up a cashless-economy is the lack of Internet infrastructure for providing access to digital banking and digital wallets,” said Mary York, CEO of York Public Relations. “OffWallet™ solves this challenge and breaks down the barriers to digital access for many individuals either without smartphones, adequate service or Internet at all. I look forward to working more with BetaBuilds™ and driving greater visibility to a much-needed solution.”
For more information about BetaBuilds™ and OffWallet™, contact Nirmesh Rajyaguru at nirmesh@betabuilds.com.
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