GreyChat is a laid-back series where Grey users share their experiences with Grey. Here, we discuss their relationship with money, tips for financial freedom, and other fun anecdotes. Want to get featured? Contact us here

#GreyChat: Conversation with Precious

Precious Karibo is a Nigerian product manager with over three years of leading Fintech and payment products across Africa. He’s currently the product lead at Kwara, a seamless digital banking platform that provides a solution for convenient credit transactions. 

In this chat, he tells us about how he got stranded while receiving foreign payments the traditional way, his experience with Grey, and his journey in finding the perfect solution for his needs. 

Hi, Precious can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Precious Karibo. I am a product marketer currently a product lead at Kwara. What I do is basically help build a product that provides core banking solutions via customer-facing applications.

For now, it’s helping people carry out credit transactions without having ever to visit a physical branch. Our primary markets are Kenyans and South Africans.

That’s quite interesting. What would you say was your most difficult experience in sending foreign currencies?

Unfortunately, I don’t send a lot of money. However, my challenges have been more on the receiving end. Kwara where I currently work is a German-based firm with a market in Kenya. This means I earn in Euro and have to spend in Naira and/or Shillings. 

Initially, I tried to receive my salary with a domiciliary account I have with a Nigerian bank. However, most Nigerian banks don’t process transactions directly. They use a corresponding bank to receive the funds before remitting. So I had to share both accounts with my company to avoid payment delays. 

I didn’t get paid for the first three months due to the back and forth with the domiciliary bank account. Well, until I switched to Grey. 

Grey to the rescue! Speaking of which, how did you find out about us? 

I honestly can’t remember. Since I’m a product guy, I love signing up for many products. I had opened a Grey account much earlier, but I wasn’t using it then. At that time, I was curious. So it was just to observe the user experience and flow. Out of frustration, though, I reactivated the account and tried it. Guess what? I got paid six days later. 

Yay! Do you remember when you created your Grey account?

I think it was late October or early November. I’m sure it was in the 3rd quarter of 2021, though. And when I opened the account, Grey was still in beta mode. 

Ha Ha! So you’re an OG user. I’d like to ask, since you started earning a foreign currency, have you experienced any issues with other fintech apps?

Since I’m very curious about products, I’ve tried a lot. One seemed poorly built. I ran some test transactions and what I saw was not just it. I also used a competitor. But asides from the long conversion process, something happened to them, and it wasn’t functional anymore.

I’ve even used the regular exchange guys. But even that wasn’t stable. Then I tried Grey and it’s just stuck. 

Awww. What would you say is the biggest value you’ve gotten from creating a Grey account?

The biggest value would be that it just works. My payments come in early without any hassle. Another thing I value is customer support. When I started using Grey, I was skeptical. Especially around reconciliations or slightly delayed transactions. I’d panic. 

But I have to commend the support team. They were so helpful and responsive. I honestly think they should be proud of what they do because it’s great work.

We’ll be sure to give our support team this feedback. They’ll love it. Do you have the Grey app installed or do you still use the web app?

To be honest, I just got the app, no transactions yet. Out of curiosity, I downloaded the iOS app but I don’t think I’m not used to it yet haha. Because I checked my balance on the app two days ago when I got paid. Afterward, I just went to my PC by default to make a transaction.

It might need some getting used to for me. 

You’d definitely get a reminder this month's end. Meanwhile, have you referred anyone to Grey so far? 

Ah yes o. I’ve made about six referrals. I’m sure of two because they are my employees and get paid. One guy tried to use his Nigeria account but didn’t get paid for two months before using Grey. The other guy listened to me from the start, so he didn’t experience any challenges.

I also referred a friend that works for your competitor. Ironically, they don’t do wire transfers, so he has to use Grey to get foreign payments.

We love to hear it. Do you have a favorite Grey feature?

There’s no specific feature that I can say is my favorite. Grey is very straightforward, so nothing particular stands out for me. It just really makes my life easier. 

That’s alright. Is there any way we can make your Grey experience better? 

Yes! Bring spending closer to users. When I receive my funds, I usually have to transfer them out of Grey to spend. I would like to be able to spend directly from the platform. For example, using a virtual card.