Scaling banQi’s accessible financial services to reach millions of underbanked customers in Latin America
Boston-based fintech startup Airfox is joining Via Varejo, the largest retailer in Brazil serving 60 million customers through popular nationwide retail chains Casas Bahia and PontoFrio. Publicly held Via Varejo is acquiring Airfox for an undisclosed amount. Airfox will continue to serve as a fintech innovation hub out of its current Boston-based headquarters, leveraging Via Varejo infrastructure to accelerate its mission of bringing more accessible financial services to the underbanked in Latin America.
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“We marked 1 million downloads of the banQi app, and saw a 300% increase in use of bill payments and 117% increase in use for Casas Bahia CDC carnês, which are in-store loans used to purchase large-ticket items like furniture, electronics, and appliances.”
Under the leadership of co-founder Victor Santos, Airfox has assembled an incredible collection of experienced financial and mobile industry veterans across offices spanning two continents. The Airfox team built and launched its free banQi digital “neobank” banking app in strategic partnership with Via Varejo in September 2018. banQi’s streamlined mobile platform extends transparent, no-cost digital transaction capabilities and access to banking services through thousands of Via Varejo retail locations in neighborhoods throughout Brazil with features for buying goods, paying bills, topping up cell phones, recharging public transit cards, and more.
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Designed to serve Brazil’s enormous population of consumers lacking traditional bank accounts or access to credit, banQi was named Best Consumer Bank and Best Mobile App in Brazil in World Finance Magazine’s 2019 Digital Banking Awards. Airfox was also honored as a finalist in the 2020 SXSW Innovation Awards and Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards. The company secured strategic partnerships with major companies such as MasterCard in 2019 and banQi has experienced rapid and impressive growth, further escalated by current pandemic conditions and consumer need for digital solutions that support physical distancing.
“In the first quarter of this year, we achieved a 100% increase in new banQi accounts,” said Andre Calabro, financial director of Via Varejo. “We marked 1 million downloads of the banQi app, and saw a 300% increase in use of bill payments and 117% increase in use for Casas Bahia CDC carnês, which are in-store loans used to purchase large-ticket items like furniture, electronics, and appliances.” Via Varejo issues hundreds of thousands of new CDCs each month.
