AI assistant simplifies finance on WhatsApp
Xara is transforming the finance industry with its AI assistant on WhatsApp, allowing customers to interact with a friendly assistant through simple messages, voice notes, or pictures. This approach aims to simplify financial tasks, such as sending money, paying bills, or checking spending, without the need to use complicated menus.
Sulaiman Adewale, the founder of Xara, highlights that building user trust has been a major hurdle in developing the product. The team had to redesign Xara multiple times to improve its reliability, primarily due to the complexities of human communication.
Users often do not express their needs clearly, and the assistant must understand the context to provide accurate help. For instance, a user might say “card,” which could refer to an airtime card or a gift card. The team needs to understand how language models can make mistakes and put safeguards in place to help Xara know when to act or ask for more information.
Understanding User Communication
Developers typically create systems that perform well in controlled tests because they understand the context, but real-world users bring diverse communication styles and assumptions. Xara’s team focuses on refining their system, writing traditional code, and studying communication patterns in Nigeria.
Users often switch between languages like English and Pidgin, prefer voice notes, or provide vague instructions. Xara aims to accurately interpret these requests while maintaining the security and integrity expected from financial services, which is key given the varied ways users communicate.
The startup has quickly gained attention with its innovative approach, processing over ₦22.6 billion in transactions and reaching 50,000 active users in its first year. Xara’s platform allows users to make money transfers, pay bills, purchase airtime and data, and analyze their spending habits, all through a user-friendly interface that accepts voice notes and images.
Xara’s Ambitions
Xara stands out due to its versatility, and the company’s ambitions do not stop at personal finance. Adewale highlights that the current public version of Xara is just a part of the team’s grander vision, which includes Xara Business, a tool designed to assist merchants in managing payments, issuing invoices, and tracking sales via WhatsApp.
Businesses testing Xara Business report handling approximately ₦6 million daily in transactions. The company plans to monetize through merchant services, premium subscriptions, and commissions on bill payments. Additionally, Xara is developing a ‘Pay with Xara’ feature for online merchants.
Xara’s growth relies on its ability to provide a reliable and user-friendly experience, and the company is committed to continuing its use of WhatsApp for the time being. Adewale expressed a clear commitment to staying on WhatsApp as long as it serves their customers well, but also revealed that they are in the process of developing something different.
Xara’s AI deletes general chat history after two hours but retains key details like beneficiaries and contacts to streamline repeat transactions. If users report issues, relevant conversation data is shared with support to resolve their concerns.
Xara’s increasing number of transactions indicates that people are open to managing their money through conversation. The company processes a significant volume of transactions, and Adewale envisions Xara evolving beyond just a financial assistant to integrate with various services, such as delivery companies and retailers.
Adewale is enthusiastic about expanding Xara into new markets, including the UAE, Zambia, and Ghana.
Xara offers specialized tools for businesses to efficiently manage transactions and invoices.
Xara’s Future Plans
The company is in the process of developing a “Pay with Xara” checkout option for online merchants. This feature will allow users to make payments directly from their Xara wallets.
