A Bank That Shaped Us, Then Broke Our Hearts (Part 1)

Nsano cut its teeth building mobile banking and ancillary solutions for financial institutions.

We had a standard "Money Merchant" proposal we shopped around. The price? 12,000 cedis flat.

After some success deploying for Adehyeman and Opportunity International Savings and Loans, we set our sights higher and approached Prudential Bank (PBL) in 2014.

Our team was directed to Frank Ankamah, Head of e-Business, who glanced through the proposal, laughed and asked who the CEO was.

“We’ll be in touch” he said.

But the laughter suggested otherwise

“He had an Ɔdadeɛ (PRESEC Old Boy) cup on his desk. You should call him”, the team said.

So, I did.

We met at Labone Coffee Shop, where Frank asked me a simple but devastating question:

"Did you do any market research to understand how the banking industry, and PBL specifically, works?"

I hadn't. We'd been sending the same proposal to everyone.

Market data is expensive where it exists, and costly to collect where it doesn’t. In emergent industries, historical data has limited use. What you need is an expert or insider. Frank became that for us.

He helped me see that while low pricing can sometimes give new entrants an edge, it can expose inexperience. Competitors were charging north of $100,000 for similar solutions.

I was stunned. I didn’t even think that price was possible. But the more I learned about banking systems and processes, the clearer it became: 12,000 cedis could never have covered what we were proposing to deliver.

Our pricing wasn’t just low. It was proof we didn’t fully understand what we proposed to build, nor its associated costs.

We rewrote and resubmitted the proposal.

This time, PBL invited us to present.

My team and I expected two or three executives. Instead, we walked into a boardroom of 20+ senior executives and department heads, all curious about our solution.

"What in God's name am I doing here?" I wondered.

Nsano had never integrated into a real core banking platform with multiple vendors, strict regulation and professional standards.

We braced ourselves and began. The session was controlled chaos. Questions flew from every angle. My lips went dry, and my words faltered but we fought to stay afloat.

Later, we realised: this was just how PBL worked. They were giving a local company a chance –something we’re still grateful for. If more banks gave local fintechs the platform PBL gave us, more of us would go global.

After months of presentations, we had a deal: $180,000. Everything signed and approved. The first tranche – $80,000 hit our account. We were over the moon.

Then I got a call. The MD wanted to see me.

In his office, he went straight to the point:

"Young man, the money is too much. We won't pay. What we've paid is the full and final amount. Take it or leave it. You can take us to court if you like. Go think about it. Off you go."

I walked out angry and heartbroken.

[To be continued...]

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