App founders pledge to empower retailers through new banking tech
Voilo, the business payments app, has pledged to revolutionise transactions by giving SMEs and charities a streamlined, secure and cost-effective way of accepting cashless payments, whilst saving up to 90 per cent on every transaction.
Voilo was founded by the young entrepreneurial duo Ronan Hynes and Ravi Ranjan. One of them born and raised in Birmingham, the other relocating to the city from the small Indian town of Gaya, Bihar in 2019, the pair came together to create an app that would help bring the UK high street back to life by giving local shops equal digital power and outreach.
Studies from NatWest have shown that only 20 per cent of British businesses regard themselves as 'tech savvy ' - even though those organisations who embrace digital transformation are 2.5 times more likely to see their revenues grow 20 per cent or more.
Furthermore, it has been found that 40 per cent of micro-businesses don 't accept any type of card payments, despite accounting for 60 per cent of the UK 's employment and half of its financial turnover. Thus, smaller businesses are at risk of falling behind.
Building on Ronan 's experience in app development, a degree in Computer Science and front-end development with professional services agency GuyKat, in addition to Ravi 's experience as an IT product manager for employee reward platform Xoxoday and an MBA from Aston University, the duo sought to bridge this apparent tech gap for retailers.
Voilo aims to bring the best of banking technology to those who are often overlooked, and is designed to ease transactions between companies, clients and customers through the use of innovative QR code technology.
By generating QR codes that can be scanned by smartphones at the time of payment, businesses of any size can easily download the app and connect their banking provider without having to give their account details to the customer. Likewise, buyers never need to share their own account data.
Co-founder Ronan Hynes said: “Technology should be accessible for all. Voilo exists not only to attract new customers to local independents, but to retain them as proactive members of the community and encourage sustainable, local economic growth."
Alongside its payment solution, Voilo features a built-in loyalty system that enables businesses to bring savings, incentives and targeted loyalty drivers directly to the palms of their customers ' hands.
This innovation is at the heart of Voilo, to help the app empower businesses to reach their potential in a way that allows the best of tech to shine, without the need for any demanding know-how.
Ravi Ranjan said: “'After working several years in the IT industry, mainly in the customer loyalty and reward sector, I gained insights into the impact it had on local communities. I founded Voilo in response to various pain points that would assist local businesses in unlocking their true potential with equal digital power and outreach. ”
Voilo has won a number of awards, including 'New Business of the Year ' at Birmingham Live Business Awards, 'Company of the Year ' at the Midlands Service Awards and 'Highly Commended ' at the Signature Awards, as well as individual accolades for Ronan as 'Young Talent of the Year 2021 ' at the West Midlands Tech Awards and 'Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 ' for Ravi at the Asian Business Chamber Awards.
For more information visit https://voilo.co.uk/
Pictured (left to right): Voilo founders, Ronan Hynes and Ravi Ranjan