The AUN campus was abuzz with excitement on Friday, November 4, 2021, following the launch of Zinger Wallet by software Engineering senior and budding entrepreneur David Edijala.
President Ensign led senior management to the highly anticipated launch in the library auditorium, where dozens of students and other community members converged to witness the official introduction of a financial transaction app created by one of our own.
The launch, which was live-streamed on all AUN social media platforms by the Marketing and Communications Department, was keenly followed by AUN parents and alums from around the world.
Zinger Wallet is a payment platform that allows businesses receive payments in a reliable, quick, and cheap manner while providing easy management of staff, departments, and customers. At the same time, Zinger gives customers an easy and innovative way of making payments and managing finances.
The app was developed by Mr. Edijala, CEO of Zinger and Honor Society in January 2021.
The app was created to address problems with payment methods in Nigeria, especially with cash, bank transfers, and POS machines. Cash transfers require payments to be transferred to the bank, raising security issues and the possibility of human error. Bank transfers are inconvenient for medium and large businesses since someone is not always around to verify transactions, such as in supermarkets where hundreds of people frequent the stores daily. Additionally, the network can fail, and transactions can take hours or days to complete. With POS machines, network problems arise and cash is not always readily available.
Zinger Wallet provides a speedy payment experience for both business owners and customers. Transactions are made securely by selecting the username of the person receiving the payment and scanning a QR code to complete the transaction. Zinger Wallet is currently available to the AUN community and will soon be available to many small businesses and shops in Yola. The app can be downloaded on Google Play Store and Apple Store.
Both President Ensign and David explained that the word "zinger" means an outstanding person or thing, hence the app's name.
The President was impressed with David's creativity & innovation, echoing the sentiment of members of the Community who cheered the young and articulate innovator-entrepreneur as he explained how Zinger Wallet works.
"There are a lot of things that struck me about you," President Ensign said to David. "Your creativity and your desire to be an entrepreneur. But then you started talking about AUN. You said AUN is problem solving Community. You've captured the AUN mission."
The Dean of SBE, Professor Leo Ukpong, who represented the Provost, Professor Attahir Yusuf, was also full of praises for the young developer.
"What you have done is what people call leapfrogging, because some financial service technology we have today is lagging behind. When I heard your presentation, the first competitor I thought of was the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) with their e-naira and e-wallet. So you jumped to compete with the largest competitor and regulator of that industry. That tells you what AUN students are made of."
David and Anas are a source of inspiration to other AUN students, an example of how education transforms students into innovative thinkers and solution providers. We hope to see more successes with the Zinger Wallet app.
Reported by Miracle Idorenyin-Akpan, Presidential Intern with the Marketing and Communications Department