Brazil’s Unicorn FinTech EBANX Pilots Digital Wallet

Brazil’s unicorn FinTech and payments startup EBANX is trialing a digital wallet, called Ebanx Go, with 10,000 consumers on a test basis, the company announced on Wednesday (Jan. 15).

The digital wallet offering is intended to solidify the FinTech’s reach in the Brazilian payments market.

“Providing access has always been the great mission of EBANX. We started with Latin American payment solutions for international websites, which helped popularize global products and services such as Airbnb, Spotify and AliExpress in Brazil and in seven other Latin American countries,” said Wagner Ruiz, co-founder and CFO of EBANX.

Founded in 2012, EBANX originally processed payments for Brazilian clients of global websites and recently expanded to offer services to Brazilian eCommerce platforms.

With an EBANX account, customers will get a card with 5 percent cash-back rewards and app-based payments features.

The company is also considering a savings account product and other services, with possible rollouts to more Latin American countries. Beyond Brazil, EBANX operates in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.

“In 18 months, I see [the] EBANX wallet reaching one million clients,” Ruiz told Reuters.

Customers were invited to try EBANX Go by invitation only, and there is now a waiting list. The app was launched in association with Dock (of the Conductor Group) and Visa of Brazil. EBANX is hoping for a full launch in Brazil at the beginning of the second half of 2020.

EBANX became a unicorn – valued in excess of $1 billion – last year following a second-round investment by FTV Capital.

“We are very happy to support EBANX in the construction of this solution. Partnering with such a disruptive and innovative product is strategic for our commitment to accelerate the transformation behind the increased use of electronic payments in Brazil, ” said Fernando Teles, country manager of Visa Brazil.

One in three people in Brazil do not have access to a bank account. EBANX Go offers thousands of consumers affordable access to financial services.

Brazil is the largest country in South America and one of the biggest emerging economies in the world. FinTech is on the rise in Brazil, which will bring more credit and other financial services to both businesses and consumers.