Welcome to the Proof of Usefulness Hackathon spotlight, curated by HackerNoon’s editors to showcase noteworthy tech solutions to real-world problems. Whether you’re a solopreneur, part of an early-stage startup, or a developer building something that truly matters, the Proof of Usefulness Hackathon is your chance to test your product’s utility, get featured on HackerNoon, and compete for $150k+ in prizes. Submit your project to get started! Welcome to the Proof of Usefulness Hackathon spotlight, curated by HackerNoon’s editors to showcase noteworthy tech solutions to real-world problems. Whether you’re a solopreneur, part of an early-stage startup, or a developer building something that truly matters, the Proof of Usefulness Hackathon is your chance to test your product’s utility, get featured on HackerNoon, and compete for $150k+ in prizes. Submit your project to get started! Proof of Usefulness Hackathon spotlight Proof of Usefulness Hackathon spotlight Proof of Usefulness Hackathon Proof of Usefulness Hackathon $150k+ Submit your project to get started Submit your project to get started Today we are catching up with Michael Charming Adeyinka, the creator of Charmpay. Charmpay is a mobile application designed to bridge the trust gap in online commerce through secure escrow services. In this interview, we discuss the rampant issue of transaction fraud in Nigeria, the journey of building a fintech solution for students and small businesses, and the roadmap for expanding trust in the digital marketplace. Charmpay What does Charmpay do? And why is now the time for it to exist? Charmpay is a mobile app that provides secure escrow-based payments for online transactions, ensuring trust between buyers and sellers. Users fund the platform, and funds are only released when both parties confirm satisfaction, reducing fraud and building confidence in digital commerce. Now’s a good time for Charmpay to exist because the prevalence of online scams in emerging markets has created a desperate need for a neutral middleman that can guarantee safety for both parties involved in a transaction. What is your traction to date? How many people does Charmpay reach? Over 167 active users during beta testing Who does your Charmpay serve? What’s exciting about your users and customers? Charmpay solves the problem of mistrust in online transactions, especially in university markets and small online businesses in Nigeria. Sellers receive guaranteed payment, and buyers are protected from scams, creating real financial and social utility. What technologies were used in the making of Charmpay? And why did you choose ones most essential to your techstack? The platform is primarily delivered as a mobile application available on Android via the Google Play Store. By focusing on a mobile-first approach, the technology ensures accessibility for the vast majority of users in the target Nigerian market, where mobile devices are the primary gateway to the internet. What is traction to date for Charmpay? Around the web, who’s been noticing? Charmpay has successfully launched its application on the Google Play Store, making its escrow services publicly available to Android users. Additionally, the project is building a community presence through social media channels like Instagram, where it engages directly with its user base to foster the trust necessary for a fintech utility. Charmpay scored a 53 proof of usefulness score(proofofusefulness.com/report/charmpay) - how do you feel about that? Needs to be reassessed or just right? proofofusefulness.com/report/charmpay I’m encouraged by Charmpay’s 53 Proof of Usefulness score, as it validates that the platform is already delivering tangible value to users. While the score reflects meaningful adoption and engagement, I see it as an opportunity to reassess and refine features to improve usability, expand reach, and further increase impact. The score is a solid starting point, and with targeted improvements, Charmpay can achieve even higher adoption and usefulness. 53 Proof of Usefulness score already delivering tangible value to users reassess and refine features even higher adoption and usefulness What excites you about this Charmpay's potential usefulness? What excites me most about Charmpay’s potential usefulness is its ability to solve real-world trust issues in online transactions, especially for students and small online businesses. By providing a secure escrow system, it ensures buyers and sellers are protected, reduces disputes, and builds confidence in digital commerce. I’m inspired by the idea that even a small platform like Charmpay can have a big social and financial impact, empowering users, creating jobs, and fostering safer online communities. The potential to scale this solution nationally and internationally, while continuously improving usability, makes it a project that’s both practical and meaningful, and that people will actually use every day. Walk us through your most concrete evidence of usefulness. Not vanity metrics or projections - what's the one data point that proves people genuinely need what you've built? People are actively testing Charmpay by funding their accounts and transferring money out, using the app as intended. So far, we’ve had hundreds of such real transactions, proving that users trust the platform and that it fulfills a genuine need for secure digital payments. testing Charmpay by funding their accounts and transferring money out hundreds of such real transactions How do you measure genuine user adoption versus "tourists" who sign up but never return? What's your retention story? We measure genuine user adoption by tracking active transactions rather than just sign-ups. Users who fund their accounts, initiate transfers, and withdraw funds demonstrate real engagement. Unlike “tourists” who sign up and never return, our data shows that a significant portion of users repeat transactions weekly or monthly, reflecting trust and reliance on Charmpay. Our retention story is clear: hundreds of recurring transactions indicate that users not only try the app but continue to use it because it solves a real problem in digital payments. active transactions rather than just sign-ups real engagement repeat transactions weekly or monthly hundreds of recurring transactions solves a real problem in digital payments If we re-score your project in 12 months, which criterion will show the biggest improvement, and what are you doing right now to make that happen? If Charmpay were re-scored in 12 months, the “adoption and retention” criterion would show the biggest improvement. Right now, we are actively expanding user acquisition, onboarding more students and small business users, and enhancing app features to make funding, transferring, and withdrawing even smoother. By providing better support, referral incentives, and education on escrow usage, we expect both the number of transactions and repeat usage to increase significantly, demonstrating stronger real-world adoption and proving even more usefulness. “adoption and retention” criterion actively expanding user acquisition enhancing app features better support, referral incentives, and education on escrow usage number of transactions and repeat usage How Did You Hear About HackerNoon? Share With Us About Your Experience With HackerNoon. I first heard about HackerNoon while researching platforms for tech writers and startup founders to share insights on digital innovation and fintech. My experience so far has been very positive — the platform is intuitive, the audience is highly engaged, and I appreciate how it values real-world impact and useful content over vanity metrics. I’m excited to contribute articles that share practical insights, startup experiences, and fintech solutions, while learning from the HackerNoon community of innovators and tech enthusiasts. very positive values real-world impact and useful content share practical insights, startup experiences, and fintech solutions With 167 active users already testing the waters during your beta phase, what specific feedback have they provided that is currently shaping your roadmap for the public launch? During the beta phase, our 167 active users have provided feedback that is actively shaping Charmpay’s public launch. Key insights include requests for faster fund transfers, clearer transaction notifications, and a more intuitive user interface. We are implementing these improvements, along with enhanced customer support and tutorial guides, to ensure a smoother onboarding experience. This user-driven feedback is helping us prioritize features that matter most, increase trust, and drive higher adoption when we scale publicly. 167 active users faster fund transfers, clearer transaction notifications, and a more intuitive user interface enhanced customer support and tutorial guides prioritize features that matter most Given that you are targeting university markets and small businesses, how do you plan to scale your user acquisition beyond these initial niches to reach a national audience? Beyond university markets and small businesses, we plan to scale Charmpay nationally through strategic partnerships with e-commerce platforms, fintech communities, and payment processors, as well as referral programs and campus ambassador campaigns. We will leverage digital marketing, social media engagement, and targeted outreach to replicate our trust-based model across new regions. By continuously improving the app based on user feedback and providing educational content on secure digital payments, we aim to expand adoption, build credibility, and reach a broader national audience while maintaining high retention and engagement. strategic partnerships with e-commerce platforms, fintech communities, and payment processors referral programs and campus ambassador campaigns digital marketing, social media engagement, and targeted outreach educational content on secure digital payments broader national audience Trust is the currency of any escrow service. Beyond the technical transaction hold, what mechanisms or support systems are you implementing to mediate disputes if a buyer and seller disagree on the quality of goods delivered? At Charmpay, trust goes beyond holding funds in escrow. We implement a dedicated support system where users can submit disputes with evidence, such as photos, receipts, or messages. Our customer support team mediates these disputes, evaluating claims and facilitating fair resolutions. Additionally, we provide clear guidelines for transaction expectations and encourage users to communicate openly before escalation. These mechanisms ensure that both buyers and sellers feel protected and confident, reinforcing trust and reliability in the platform. dedicated support system where users can submit disputes with evidence customer support team mediates these disputes clear guidelines for transaction expectations protected and confident Meet our sponsors Meet our sponsors Meet our sponsors Bright Data: Bright Data is the leading web data infrastructure company, empowering over 20,000 organizations with ethical, scalable access to real-time public web information. From startups to industry leaders, we deliver the datasets that fuel AI innovation and real-world impact. Ready to unlock the web? Learn more at brightdata.com. Bright Data: Bright Data is the leading web data infrastructure company, empowering over 20,000 organizations with ethical, scalable access to real-time public web information. From startups to industry leaders, we deliver the datasets that fuel AI innovation and real-world impact. Ready to unlock the web? Learn more at brightdata.com. Bright Data: brightdata.com Neo4j: GraphRAG combines retrieval-augmented generation with graph-native context, allowing LLMs to reason over structured relationships instead of just documents. With Neo4j, you can build GraphRAG pipelines that connect your data and surface clearer insights. Learn more. Neo4j: GraphRAG combines retrieval-augmented generation with graph-native context, allowing LLMs to reason over structured relationships instead of just documents. With Neo4j, you can build GraphRAG pipelines that connect your data and surface clearer insights. Learn more. Neo4j: more Storyblok: Storyblok is a headless CMS built for developers who want clean architecture and full control. Structure your content once, connect it anywhere, and keep your front end truly independent. API-first. AI-ready. Framework-agnostic. Future-proof. Start for free. Storyblok: Storyblok is a headless CMS built for developers who want clean architecture and full control. Structure your content once, connect it anywhere, and keep your front end truly independent. API-first. AI-ready. Framework-agnostic. Future-proof. Start for free. Storyblok: Start for free Algolia: Algolia provides a managed retrieval layer that lets developers quickly build web search and intelligent AI agents. Learn more. Algolia: Algolia provides a managed retrieval layer that lets developers quickly build web search and intelligent AI agents. Learn more. Algolia: Learn more

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Charmpay Earns a 53 Proof of Usefulness Score by Building Secure Escrow-Based Payments for Online Transactions

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