Not many of us are smart enough to realise that a life lived well means giving back. But Kat Budd does. As co-founder of NOW Money, Budd is bringing mobile money to the unbanked, including thousands of low-paid expat workers in the UAE for whom access to traditional banking services is too expensive. Through a free app, those workers can turn their smartphones into virtual banks and gain access to an account and debit card and remit money home.
NOW Money’s success was recognised in 2015 when it was accepted into start-up accelerator AstroLabs and in January, 2017, when it won the GCC title in Chivas’ The Venture, a global contest to find social enterprises with the ability to scale. The start-up is now pursuing plans to expand into Saudi Arabia.