CloudWalk is a unicorn and was valued at $2.15 billion in the latest round
In June this year, Cloudwalk founder and CEO Luis Silva anticipated to NeoFeed the payments fintech's project to launch its credit and debit card.
Behind this strategy was the intention to expand the financial services offered to small and medium-sized businesses and to go beyond the little machines, baptized InfinitePay, for which it became known.
Five months later, CloudWalk is advancing this plan by transforming itself into a digital bank. After receiving authorization from the Central Bank to operate as a payment institution, the fintech company launches InfiniteBank this Wednesday, November 23.
The new bet was created on top of InfinitePay. This way, users will still be able to use the platform to manage their cards, apply for loans, and also use their cell phones as a payment terminal instead of the traditional machines.
The difference is that now customers will be able to have digital bank accounts on the application and also make payments of bills and taxes within the platform.
"This launch is part of a rebranding of InfintePay and incorporating a digital account and new features," says Pablo de Mello, chief operating officer and partner at CloudWalk. "It's the condensation of several products into a single interface."
InfiniteBank is already born, automatically, with 300,000 registered users. CloudWalk does not disclose how many of those customers have already opened their digital accounts on the platform.
The launch comes a year after CloudWalk achieved unicorn status by raising $150 million in a funding round led by U.S. manager Coatue Management and being valued at $2.15 billion. In all, the company has received more than $345 million in capital injections.
Since then, the startup has strengthened its services and focused on creating its own blockchain. With the digital structure, the company launched earlier this month the digital card unveiled by Silva (full video below). The differentiator to other cards is that InfiniteCard generates a 1.5% cashback on digital currency purchases.
The digital currency in question is a stable coin that has parity with the Brazilian real and whose value does not fluctuate. Through InfiniteBank, users can use the balance to pay their card bills or make debit transactions. It is also possible to convert directly to Brazilian real.
Even though these new features may help the company bring in more clients, the fintech's revenue continues to be generated through the fees charged for the use of its card machine and online payment solution, where it competes against companies such as Cielo, Stone, and PagSeguro. Another source is the interest charged to customers who take out loans on the platform.
Now, with InfiniteBank, CloudWalk enters a new arena and starts trying to compete with other fintechs, in particular those that were born with the specialized offering of digital accounts for SMEs and that are also expanding their portfolios.
In the new segment, the company will have a lot of competition ahead of it. After an initial phase of fintechs focused on individuals, the last two years in particular have seen a wave of launches of banks and digital accounts aimed at this public, and CloudWalk will have the great challenge of showing that it is not just another name in this space.
One of the rivals is Cora, which has already raised more than $254 million in funding and has more than 500,000 companies as clients. Another example is Simple Account, which has raised $27 million since its founding in 2018. By the end of last year, the company had 35,000 clients.
CloudWalk is a unicorn and was valued at $2.15 billion in the latest round
In June this year, Cloudwalk founder and CEO Luis Silva anticipated to NeoFeed the payments fintech's project to launch its credit and debit card.
Behind this strategy was the intention to expand the financial services offered to small and medium-sized businesses and to go beyond the little machines, baptized InfinitePay, for which it became known.
Five months later, CloudWalk is advancing this plan by transforming itself into a digital bank. After receiving authorization from the Central Bank to operate as a payment institution, the fintech company launches InfiniteBank this Wednesday, November 23.
The new bet was created on top of InfinitePay. This way, users will still be able to use the platform to manage their cards, apply for loans, and also use their cell phones as a payment terminal instead of the traditional machines.
The difference is that now customers will be able to have digital bank accounts on the application and also make payments of bills and taxes within the platform.
"This launch is part of a rebranding of InfintePay and incorporating a digital account and new features," says Pablo de Mello, chief operating officer and partner at CloudWalk. "It's the condensation of several products into a single interface."
InfiniteBank is already born, automatically, with 300,000 registered users. CloudWalk does not disclose how many of those customers have already opened their digital accounts on the platform.
The launch comes a year after CloudWalk achieved unicorn status by raising $150 million in a funding round led by U.S. manager Coatue Management and being valued at $2.15 billion. In all, the company has received more than $345 million in capital injections.
Since then, the startup has strengthened its services and focused on creating its own blockchain. With the digital structure, the company launched earlier this month the digital card unveiled by Silva (full video below). The differentiator to other cards is that InfiniteCard generates a 1.5% cashback on digital currency purchases.
The digital currency in question is a stable coin that has parity with the Brazilian real and whose value does not fluctuate. Through InfiniteBank, users can use the balance to pay their card bills or make debit transactions. It is also possible to convert directly to Brazilian real.
Even though these new features may help the company bring in more clients, the fintech's revenue continues to be generated through the fees charged for the use of its card machine and online payment solution, where it competes against companies such as Cielo, Stone, and PagSeguro. Another source is the interest charged to customers who take out loans on the platform.
Now, with InfiniteBank, CloudWalk enters a new arena and starts trying to compete with other fintechs, in particular those that were born with the specialized offering of digital accounts for SMEs and that are also expanding their portfolios.
In the new segment, the company will have a lot of competition ahead of it. After an initial phase of fintechs focused on individuals, the last two years in particular have seen a wave of launches of banks and digital accounts aimed at this public, and CloudWalk will have the great challenge of showing that it is not just another name in this space.
One of the rivals is Cora, which has already raised more than $254 million in funding and has more than 500,000 companies as clients. Another example is Simple Account, which has raised $27 million since its founding in 2018. By the end of last year, the company had 35,000 clients.