Lebanese start-up Purpl launches digital wallet offering powered by Mambu

Lebanese fintech Purpl has gone live on Mambu’s cloud-native banking tech, launching a new digital wallet offering built to boost financial inclusion in the region.

The firm selected banking tech vendor Mambu to power its products last year and recently secured its digital wallet licence from the Central Bank of Lebanon.

Purpl says its new app can currently be used for remittances and to withdraw cash from hundreds of ATMs across the country.

The start-up adds that Lebanese citizens will soon also be able to use the cloud-based wallet to “pay for goods and services, transfer funds or make online purchases from any mobile device”.

The company will look to leverage Mambu’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology to “add new functionalities and enhance existing features” as it aims to keep on top of shifting customer requirements.

Founded in September 2021 by Karl Naïm, Jean-Marie Khoueir and Wissam Ghorra, Purpl says it is targeting the Lebanese market as it is the “most in need of such a solution given the collapse of the banking sector” and the “high cost and inefficiencies of the current remittance network”.

“We are operating in a region with a large number of financially excluded people, and we exist to bridge this gap,” says Khoueir.

“Digital wallets provide a form of electronic money to those who otherwise cannot access traditional bank accounts, which is now the case for more than 80% of the Lebanese population.”