A couple of weeks ago, Carbon, your favourite neobank, sent an email to all its debit card holders announcing that we would be discontinuing all card operations on the 19th of June. We weren’t hiding this fact and even followed up with a few reminders. So I was surprised to find out that a member of the 4th estate had gone deep into our Engineering department to ask one of my colleagues whom they had never met for more information. Apparently, they “got a scoop” that we were discontinuing our card operations and wanted to know i) the kind of “traction” we were experiencing with cards and ii) if this was a signal that Carbon was ‘scaling down’. This “I got a scoop” approach to life has existed too long in our ecosystem and needs to stop. And whilst it can get some quick thrills, its impact is not long-lasting. Like a dosage of viagra that …..Ngozi stop; there may be children reading. Begging your pardon, dear reader, I have been taking writing classes and practising the use of analogies to ram home (oops 😳) a point. Let me elaborate.
While i enjoyed the narrative, I wish this writeup addressed the three key points you would have wanted to read from a 4th Estate (see sub-header 'better approach'). A summary of what I picked up regarding why Carbon is shutting down the debit card is:
1. You incur bills in USD
2. Your users do not use debit card frequently
Maybe in future you can write more on the unit economics and the distribution aspect of running a card business.
Thank you for passing on your knowledge. I would love to hear more from you. I enjoyed your inputs on the Flip Africa Podcast too🙌
I enjoyed reading this because somehow it felt really genuine. I think the problem with "scoop driven" journalism is laziness (I'm so sorry if you're a journalist reading this) because I watch interviews where the onus of telling the story is on the interviewee and I see alot of great detailing, analysis, nuance and stuff but when it's written stories, everyone (not everyone, but you know what I'm saying) just resorts to scoops. Anyway, I think it's still day 1 for media and journalism, the only way to go is up!
I can’t access my savings again on this account and my main balance don’t let me send money and the card is not working also. Have been dealing with this since two days now and your customer support can’t find solution to it.
Awesome read again boss.
Your writing is as much about good writing as it is about a topic. I appreciate it in these days of AI generated stories.
Many thanks - appreciate the kind words.
While i enjoyed the narrative, I wish this writeup addressed the three key points you would have wanted to read from a 4th Estate (see sub-header 'better approach'). A summary of what I picked up regarding why Carbon is shutting down the debit card is:
1. You incur bills in USD
2. Your users do not use debit card frequently
Maybe in future you can write more on the unit economics and the distribution aspect of running a card business.
Thank you for passing on your knowledge. I would love to hear more from you. I enjoyed your inputs on the Flip Africa Podcast too🙌
Hi Kwame , you might find the answers you are looking for on this series we did on the Business of Payment Cards about a year ago -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ET9vNb5ovE&list=PLAz5Fah_O1dQa3CCs48ca55LFdH_KFt3L
Thank you very much🙌. This is highly useful
A refreshingly honest article detailing sensible decisioning vs current market trends.
I enjoyed reading this because somehow it felt really genuine. I think the problem with "scoop driven" journalism is laziness (I'm so sorry if you're a journalist reading this) because I watch interviews where the onus of telling the story is on the interviewee and I see alot of great detailing, analysis, nuance and stuff but when it's written stories, everyone (not everyone, but you know what I'm saying) just resorts to scoops. Anyway, I think it's still day 1 for media and journalism, the only way to go is up!
I can’t access my savings again on this account and my main balance don’t let me send money and the card is not working also. Have been dealing with this since two days now and your customer support can’t find solution to it.
This is insightful 👏
This was very introspective.
Great read!