Kingsley Ezeani is the CEO and co-founder of Boston-based CashEx, a startup directing global banking and payment services to African customers. He is based in Washington, D.C. and CashEx received startup funding from Google.

When I moved from Nigeria to Boston to attend graduate school, one of the hardest challenges was moving money safely and securely. Opening a bank account and transferring money was difficult and expensive. So, for several months, I had to move around with cash and pay high transfer fees when sending money to family.

One year later, my partner and I started a business to solve this problem. We created an app that simplifies international access to basic, but very important, U.S.-based financial services. We help people transfer their money into dollars before they arrive in America, and offer guidance on navigating the immigration and visa processes. Our mission is to help the next generation of African immigrants start a new life in America and not have to worry about hiding cash or personal safety.

One thing that confuses me is why some people and companies criticize the Google and Apple app platforms and stores. For a small startup, they are a dream partner that makes our app available to nearly 5 billion people! They make it easy for small companies and entrepreneurs, with multilingual tools, to build apps and launch globally, or in only one country. We chose Nigeria. Google and Apple also ensure data security and privacy protections for users, so consumers trust them and trust the apps in their stores, which is a huge benefit to newer and smaller companies still building their brands and reputations.

In the early days of mobile apps - only 15 years ago - every phone company and manufacturer had a unique, branded app store with different rules, payment terms and privacy standards. If we had to customize our app for every country in Africa, we would need to hire more developers and that would cost us much more money, and we would have to raise prices and slow our growth. 

Today, we use affordable Google ads to reach new customers all over Nigeria, and when they download our app it works perfectly with their phones. Immediately they can transfer savings into dollars before they arrive to start classes or a new job. 

It’s easy for giant app companies to pick fights with Apple and Google, but when billionaire companies fight about who gets richer, it’s usually the little guy that loses. Seriously, where would Match.com and Fortnite be without billions of Apple and Android devices and their app stores? And if the big companies’ app store fees go down, I know ours will likely go up.

The app platforms have helped me start a business from scratch, so now I can help people fulfill their American dreams. To those clamoring for changes, I ask, what system can you imagine that will work better for entrepreneurs and consumers?

There’s one important reason why the Apple and Google app stores are so big and successful. It’s because they work so well for consumers, and also for startups like mine. Let’s not mess with growth engines that work.