After seeing a dramatic increase in pet product purchases on its app, Rappi's financial arm, RappiBank, made a decision on which product should be next on its shelf. The chosen one was insurance for pets. The move is a first step towards extending the offer of financial services coupled with the application, always keeping an eye on consumer behavior. The idea is to extend the services little by little, culminating in the launch of a digital account in 2022.
The tendency to bring different types of services is common to “superapps” and is far from being an exclusive feature of the Colombian startup, which has its large market in Brazil. This has been, for example, the path taken by giants such as the Argentinean Mercado Livre, the American Amazon, the Chinese Alibaba and the Brazilian Magazine Luiza.
According to João Felix, from RappiBank, fintech was born to serve the main busines.
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This observation of people's daily lives, however, can bring advantages, making apps that are not specialized in finance advance along the edges, working in niches little explored by large banks. In addition to pet insurance, the platform will offer a life policy – whose general coverage is still low in the country – and other more specific services, such as protection for electronic devices (cell phones) and credit cards.
“We are Rappi's bank for Rappi”, says RappiBank president João Felix, highlighting the “bank's” mission to serve the core business. For the launch of insurance, a partnership was signed with W2.digital, the arm of Wiz Seguros. Other modalities are being analyzed to complement the operation, says the executive.
This is not the young fintech's first release, which was officially launched earlier this year. From the start, she decided to act on one of the pandemic pains. In January, given the context of financial difficulties at the restaurants (an important base connected to Rappi), Rappibank launched a working capital line. The volume of credit granted is not disclosed, but it is around a few “millions of reais”, according to Felix.
In June, fintech took another step by launching a credit card for app users, something that made the frequency of this consumer on the platform increase in double digits, according to the president of fintech. Also for this year, the launch of prepayment of receivables, demand from restaurants and retailers connected to the application, is on the schedule.
New level
Since March, fintech has been applying to become a Director Credit Society (SCD) with the Central Bank. The endorsement is necessary to increase the range of services offered. In addition to the digital account, the idea for 2022 is also to offer credit. To complete the system, there are already plans to launch investment products through Rappi. One of the ideas, which is still embryonic, is to allow users to transfer money between Latin American countries, says Felix. In addition to Brazil, Rappi is in eight other countries in the region.
And Rappi is capitalized to follow an aggressive growth trajectory. In July, the startup, which already had the Japanese giant Softbank as a partner, carried out a new round of funding, in which it raised US$ 500 million, an operation that raised its valuation to US$ 5.25 billion (or almost R$ 30 billion ).
For Bruno Diniz, partner at Spiralem, an innovation consultancy for the financial market, the Rappibank movement with insurance is a global trend – closely following a launch that Amazon made in India, a country that, like Brazil, has low use of insurance among the population. "Incorporating insurance, in addition to creating specific products that can make sense to users, addresses an issue in Brazil."
After seeing a dramatic increase in pet product purchases on its app, Rappi's financial arm, RappiBank, made a decision on which product should be next on its shelf. The chosen one was insurance for pets. The move is a first step towards extending the offer of financial services coupled with the application, always keeping an eye on consumer behavior. The idea is to extend the services little by little, culminating in the launch of a digital account in 2022.
The tendency to bring different types of services is common to “superapps” and is far from being an exclusive feature of the Colombian startup, which has its large market in Brazil. This has been, for example, the path taken by giants such as the Argentinean Mercado Livre, the American Amazon, the Chinese Alibaba and the Brazilian Magazine Luiza.
According to João Felix, from RappiBank, fintech was born to serve the main busines.
This observation of people's daily lives, however, can bring advantages, making apps that are not specialized in finance advance along the edges, working in niches little explored by large banks. In addition to pet insurance, the platform will offer a life policy – whose general coverage is still low in the country – and other more specific services, such as protection for electronic devices (cell phones) and credit cards.
“We are Rappi's bank for Rappi”, says RappiBank president João Felix, highlighting the “bank's” mission to serve the core business. For the launch of insurance, a partnership was signed with W2.digital, the arm of Wiz Seguros. Other modalities are being analyzed to complement the operation, says the executive.
This is not the young fintech's first release, which was officially launched earlier this year. From the start, she decided to act on one of the pandemic pains. In January, given the context of financial difficulties at the restaurants (an important base connected to Rappi), Rappibank launched a working capital line. The volume of credit granted is not disclosed, but it is around a few “millions of reais”, according to Felix.
In June, fintech took another step by launching a credit card for app users, something that made the frequency of this consumer on the platform increase in double digits, according to the president of fintech. Also for this year, the launch of prepayment of receivables, demand from restaurants and retailers connected to the application, is on the schedule.
New level
Since March, fintech has been applying to become a Director Credit Society (SCD) with the Central Bank. The endorsement is necessary to increase the range of services offered. In addition to the digital account, the idea for 2022 is also to offer credit. To complete the system, there are already plans to launch investment products through Rappi. One of the ideas, which is still embryonic, is to allow users to transfer money between Latin American countries, says Felix. In addition to Brazil, Rappi is in eight other countries in the region.
And Rappi is capitalized to follow an aggressive growth trajectory. In July, the startup, which already had the Japanese giant Softbank as a partner, carried out a new round of funding, in which it raised US$ 500 million, an operation that raised its valuation to US$ 5.25 billion (or almost R$ 30 billion ).
For Bruno Diniz, partner at Spiralem, an innovation consultancy for the financial market, the Rappibank movement with insurance is a global trend – closely following a launch that Amazon made in India, a country that, like Brazil, has low use of insurance among the population. "Incorporating insurance, in addition to creating specific products that can make sense to users, addresses an issue in Brazil."