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How Innovify Collaborated with Umoja on a Global DeFi Credit & Payment Platform

Umoja — Decentralized Credit & Global Payment Innovation

Case Study

Client Overview

Umoja is a decentralized credit marketplace designed to crowdsource capital from global investors and channel it to MSMEs in emerging markets. The platform aims to reduce financing costs and increase access to credit across Africa and Latin America through a secure, transparent DeFi ecosystem. To accelerate its global expansion plans, Umoja needed a high-velocity engineering partner capable of strengthening its payment infrastructure and scaling product delivery.

Client:
Umoja
Country:
Global (Africa, Latin America, Worldwide Investors)
Platforms:
Web / Mobile
Industry:
FinTech / DeFi / Digital Payments

Challenge

Zilch set an ambitious goal: launch a fully compliant digital wallet in just four months. Innovify was tasked with building the platform from the ground up, fast, secure, and ready for scale.

The project came with critical technical and compliance requirements:

  • PCI DSS certification and FCA approval, ensuring full regulatory compliance
  • Ultra-low latency transactions under 250 milliseconds, delivering a seamless user experience.
  • Successful integration of multiple third-party APIs, including GPS, Xero, and CashFlows

The solution is cloud-native, API-first, and built for scalability, enabling Zilch to launch confidently and expand across the UK market. With compliance-by-design and optimized architecture, the product is ready for rapid growth.

Umoja was preparing for expansion into multiple global markets. The mission was ambitious: build a secure, accessible payment gateway while developing a decentralized credit platform capable of attracting investors worldwide. The roadmap existed, but timelines had tightened. The platform needed:

  • a seamless payment system for global investor participation
  • a decentralized credit engine to onboard MSMEs
  • infrastructure to complete the “last mile” of a global payment ecosystem
  • a faster, more reliable development cycle

Umoja required rapid scaling, stability, and engineering support to reach their next milestone.

Key Objectives

Deliver a fully functional digital wallet within four months

  • Build a secure, user-friendly global payment gateway
  • Develop a decentralized credit platform for MSMEs
  • Strengthen the underlying payment ecosystem for cross-border transactions
  • Minimize bugs, delays, and process inefficiencies
  • Accelerate delivery cycles for faster market expansion
  • Maintain customer-focused UX across web and mobile

Solution

Innovify began with a comprehensive discovery workshop to define scope, align stakeholders, and anticipate technical challenges. A dedicated delivery team was assembled to ensure speed and precision throughout the build.

Innovify began with a comprehensive discovery workshop to define scope, align stakeholders, and anticipate technical challenges. A dedicated delivery team was assembled to ensure speed and precision throughout the build.

Innovify began with a comprehensive discovery workshop to define scope, align stakeholders, and anticipate technical challenges. A dedicated delivery team was assembled to ensure speed and precision throughout the build.

Innovify began with a comprehensive discovery workshop to define scope, align stakeholders, and anticipate technical challenges. A dedicated delivery team was assembled to ensure speed and precision throughout the build.

A high-performance engineering team was deployed to accelerate development and create a resilient payment and credit platform.

  • Identified technical gaps, bottlenecks, and process inefficiencies
  • Engineered web and mobile applications to strengthen payment flows
  • Implemented rigorous QA processes to reduce bugs and increase reliability
  • Built customer-focused interfaces optimized for investor and MSME onboarding
  • Enhanced backend and frontend systems with secure processing logic
  • Supported global payment pathways for African and Latin American markets

Technology stack included Node.js, Python, React, and React Native, chosen for scalability and rapid iteration.

The team worked alongside Umoja’s internal engineers to complete a major pilot rollout in Africa — a key milestone toward global expansion.

Technology Used

No items found.

Results

Zilch set an ambitious goal: launch a fully compliant digital wallet in just four months. Innovify was tasked with building the platform from the ground up, fast, secure, and ready for scale.

The project came with critical technical and compliance requirements:

  • PCI DSS certification and FCA approval, ensuring full regulatory compliance
  • Ultra-low latency transactions under 250 milliseconds, delivering a seamless user experience.
  • Successful integration of multiple third-party APIs, including GPS, Xero, and CashFlows

The solution is cloud-native, API-first, and built for scalability, enabling Zilch to launch confidently and expand across the UK market. With compliance-by-design and optimized architecture, the product is ready for rapid growth.

  • Successful pilot deployment in African markets
  • Foundation established for expansion into global regions
  • mproved quality, reduced bugs, and streamlined processes
  • Faster product releases via elastic engineering teams
  • Strengthened DeFi payment and credit infrastructure for MSMEs
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