Brazilian lender Creditas is raising $200 million and buying a bank and a mortgage startup in a move to bolster profitability, according to a Friday (July 8) press release.
In an interview with Reuters Friday, Creditas CEO Sergio Furio said his company, which runs an online consumer loan platform, is purchasing Andbank’s Brazilian banking license and plans to start accepting deposits.
“Getting retail deposits as a new alternative for funding will improve our margins,” Furio said.
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Reuters noted that until now, Creditas had just funded itself through the capital markets. With its deal with Andbank, the company will distribute products from its credit portfolio to the bank’s investors. Andorra-based Andbank will stay in Brazil as a broker-dealer and asset manager. The bank has $30 billion under management.
The deal, worth $100 million, still needs the green light of the Brazilian central bank, as well as from CADe, the country’s antitrust regulator.
Creditas has also purchased mortgage marketplace Kzas, a move that lets it provide home loans from other lenders beyond the ones it already offers. Creditas also specializes in auto loans, insurance and used car sales.
Furio said the new capital will also fund Creditas’ 150 million reals ($28 million) May investment in Voltz Motors.
Learn more: How Brazil Serves as a Payment Innovation Blueprint for Latin America
Creditas raised $260 million in January in a funding round that valued the firm at $4.8 billion.
“We want to continue growing fast,” Furio said at the time. “And that means that we need to invest in bringing in customers, so that over time, those customers generate the revenues in the recurring model we have.”
PYMNTS reported in April that digital payments have become more popular in Latin America, especially in Brazil, where 98% of banking customers use some form of digital banking.
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