Project Brief: Drop — Fintech Payment App

Project Brief: Drop — Fintech Payment App

Project: Drop — Remittance + QR Payments for Scandinavia Version: 1.0 Date: 2026-02-08 Author: John (AI Director) + product agent Status: Approved Reviewers: Alem Bašić (CEO)

Document History

1. Executive Summary

Drop is a fintech payment app for all residents in Norway/Scandinavia, offering remittance at 0.5% fee (vs Western Union 5-10%, Wise 0.7-1.5%) and QR merchant payments at 1% (vs Vipps 1.75-2.75%). Built on PSD2 Open Banking — Drop never holds customer money; payments are initiated directly from users' bank accounts via PISP. The Norwegian remittance market is worth 5.7 billion NOK annually, and no existing app combines both remittance and QR payments. ALAI Holding AS (org.nr 932 516 136), led by CEO Alem Bašić, is building Drop as an AI-native product with total startup costs of ~250K NOK, targeting break-even within 7-9 months of launch. Decision: GO.

2. Business Context & Market Opportunity

2.1 Business Context

Norway has ~1,000,000 immigrants (SSB data) who collectively send 5.7 billion NOK abroad annually. They are systematically overcharged by Western Union (5-10% fees), and underserved by Wise and Revolut (generic, not community-focused). At the same time, local immigrant-owned businesses are paying Vipps 1.75-2.75% per transaction — a significant cost for low-margin businesses (kebab shops, kiosks, bakeries, barbers). Alem Bašić identified this dual pain from personal experience as a community member.

2.2 Market Opportunity

2.3 Strategic Fit

This project directly supports:

• Strategic Goal: ALAI Holding AS establishing recurring revenue through own fintech product
• OKR / Initiative: Innovasjon Norge Oppstartstilskudd application — drop as flagship product
• Alignment with ALAI mission: "Build digital. You build business." — Drop demonstrates AI-native product delivery and generates recurring transaction fee revenue for ALAI

3. Problem Statement

3.1 Core Problem

Residents of Norway with international money transfer needs and local payment needs are served by fragmented, expensive, or poorly designed tools. No single app combines affordable international remittance (< 1% fee) with QR-based local merchant payments (< 1.5% fee) in the Norwegian market.

3.2 Pain Points

3.3 Current State Gaps

Current Process/System: Users use Western Union / MoneyGram for remittance and Vipps for local payments. Two separate apps, two fee structures, zero integration.

Key Gaps:

• No single app covers remittance + QR payments in Norway
• Existing remittance providers charge 5-10x more than technically necessary with Open Banking
• Vipps dominates local payments but has no international capability and charges merchants heavily
• No PSD2 pass-through model used by remittance apps — they all hold money (compliance risk for users)

Cost of Inaction: ALAI has no recurring product revenue. The window to enter before a major player copies the remittance + QR combo is estimated at 12-18 months.

4. Proposed Solution Overview

4.1 Solution Description

Drop is a mobile-first web app (PWA/React Native path) built on PSD2 Open Banking. Users link their Norwegian bank account via BankID. Remittances are initiated as PISP bank transfers directly from the user's account (no top-up, no wallet). QR payments work the same way — merchant generates a QR code, customer scans and confirms, payment goes directly from bank account to merchant settlement. Drop never holds funds. Revenue: 0.5% remittance fee + 1% merchant fee.

4.2 Key Capabilities

4.3 Solution Architecture (High Level)

graph LR
    A[User / Merchant] --> B[Drop Web App - Next.js]
    B --> C[Drop API - Next.js API Routes]
    C --> D[PostgreSQL Database]
    C --> E[BaaS Provider - Swan or SpareBank1]
    E --> F[Norwegian Banks via PSD2]
    E --> G[BankID - SCA]
    E --> H[KYC Provider - Sumsub]
    C --> I[Remittance Corridors - 30+ countries]

4.4 Platforms & Channels

• Web Application (Next.js — primary platform)
• iOS Mobile App (Expo React Native — Phase 2+)
• Android Mobile App (Expo React Native — Phase 2+)
• API / Backend Service (Next.js API Routes)
• Admin/Merchant Dashboard (included in web app)
• Other: Landing page at getdrop.no (Vercel, live)

5. Key Benefits & ROI Projection

5.1 Quantified Benefits

5.2 ROI Calculation

Assumptions: 200 merchants at 50K NOK/month average transaction volume; 3,000 consumers sending 1,000 NOK twice per month; 0.5% remittance fee; 1% merchant fee. Conservative projections per business case v2.1.

5.3 Qualitative Benefits

• Brand/Reputation: ALAI positioned as community-first fintech builder in Norway; trust from immigrant communities
• Competitive Advantage: Only app combining remittance + QR payments in Norway; 2-4x cheaper than alternatives
• Risk Reduction: PSD2 pass-through model eliminates e-money licence requirement; no money held = lower regulatory burden
• Employee/User Experience: BankID-native, Norwegian-language UX; designed for local community trust

6. High-Level Requirements

7. Competitive Landscape

Our Unique Value Proposition: Drop is the only app in Norway combining cheap remittance (0.5%) AND QR merchant payments (1%) in a single, BankID-native, community-trusted platform. No wallet. No top-up. Money stays in your bank.

8. Resource Requirements

8.1 Team

8.2 Budget Summary

8.3 Timeline

9. Go / No-Go Decision Criteria

9.1 Go Criteria (ALL must be met)

• Budget approved: 250,000 NOK (Innovasjon Norge + bootstrap)
• CEO aligned on scope and timeline
• MVP security hardening complete before demo
• Legal review completed (no "banking" in copy; pass-through model validated)
• AI-first development approach validated (10K NOK dev cost)

9.2 No-Go Triggers (ANY is sufficient to stop)

• BaaS partner unavailable and no alternative within 3 months of Phase 2 start
• Finanstilsynet identifies blocker to PISP/AISP registration
• Security breach before production hardening complete
• Budget overrun > 30% without revenue to cover

9.3 Decision

Approval