Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.25
By Sadraddin Aghjayev – Trend:
The BotBox startup project, which has been under development for one year, is being actively implemented in the B2B segment of Azerbaijan, Tariel Aghazade, program manager of the SUP.VC acceleration center told Trend on Dec.25.
According to Aghazade, the startup project is aimed at automating the conduct of correspondence through messengers, especially WhatsApp, and some others.
In turn, the technical manager of this project Elmir Aliyev said that the possibilities of automating business communication are aimed not only at the domestic market of Azerbaijan but also at the region as a whole.
"Today, the possibilities of our project are provided to the banking and insurance sectors of Azerbaijan. In the future, this circle will be expanded, again in the direction of B2B," noted Aliyev.
He pointed out that the BotBox services are provided to 15 local companies.
"Attracting as many clients as possible wasn’t the main goal at the stage of launching the project. For us, during its integration period, it was important to work with a narrow circle of sectors, and I believe that we have achieved this goal," the manager stressed. "Besides, up until now the project's year-on-year turnover has made up $140,000, the annual service fee was about $10,000, and investments exceeding $50,000 were attracted."
As Aliyev said, in parallel with the BotBox startup project, the team was working on a project called Bankoff.
"Payment cards under the Bankoff brand are now available for the Azerbaijani citizens. The banking system itself was registered in the US, but it allows conduct banking operations in our country. This system will soon be integrated into the markets of Kazakhstan and Turkey," he noted.
The Bankoff cards can be received without the need to visit any office. The process of issuing the card is carried out via a bot in WhatsApp. Registration of the card takes no more than 30 seconds and provides an opportunity for the Azerbaijani citizens to use the largest payment systems ApplePay, SamsungPay, and many others.
"The main differences between the Bankoff card and the standard cards of local banks are in the simplified form of its issuance, as well as the possibility of registering the card in systems such as Amazon, eBay as a seller and the ability to accept payments," he stressed.
Aliyev noted that all operations, including balance, payment history, receipt, and transfer of funds, are carried out through BankoffBot on the WhatsApp platform.
The issued cards of the Bankoff startup project are virtual. The cards are issued via a bot by WhatsApp number (+99499) 723-00-10.
-----
Follow the author on Twitter: @agdzhaev