Elizabeth Masi is a Customer Experience Assistant Manager at Verto in Kenya. She is an Accredited Customer Service Professional with 10 years of experience working in industries ranging from FinTech Start-Ups to Marketing Research. Interestingly, she started her career in the pharmaceutical sector before getting into the financial technology field, an initiative she is now proud to be pioneering as a female.
As a Customer Experience Assistant Manager at a financial technology firm, Elizabeth manages and leads the Customer Experience team, handles process improvement which involves identifying and addressing bottlenecks in the customer journey and works to streamline processes and improve efficiency. She is also responsible for consistently delivering top-notch customer service while representing the Verto brand and her mission is to earn customers’ trust and make them feel safe and secure using the Verto platform.
In celebration of Women’s Month, Elizabeth reflects on the current state of the fintech industry in Africa. “There has been an upward trend in the participation of women in the African fintech sector, which has influenced the current state of affairs for women in the industry. As the industry grows, more women are taking on roles as founders, executives, engineers, and contributors. However, I feel there’s still room for improvement to ensure equal opportunities for women in the sector.”
Elizabeth believes that it is essential to empower women to participate in shaping the fintech world as this ensures that the industry has an extensive range of opinions and expertise, leading to well-rounded decisions that benefit all stakeholders and ultimately increase economic growth for the continent.
“The fintech industry is perceived to be male-dominated, with careers restricted to coding, finance, software development and technology. These are just some of the misconceptions that have played a part in preventing women from entering the field, also adding to the challenge that the industry has few female role models. I believe the fintech field needs the visibility of female mentors as well as the training and education of women to attract young women in the field.”
“As digital transformation adoption in the world of finance grows, women are slowly taking up careers in the fintech sector, however, there are still challenges that women in the industry face.” A recent study by Ernst & Young found that some of the challenges women in fintech identified are the lack of industry recognition for their contribution as a barrier to progression. “It’s important for organisations to encourage women to take up networking opportunities such as participating in industry events and conferences that can expose women and their skills to more opportunities.”
As a young woman in fintech, Elizabeth encourages other women looking to have a successful career in fintech to “have a strong professional network, be inquisitive, committed and determined.Don’t be afraid to fail, rather, view it as a learning opportunity to keep growing”.
