In its fifth anniversary, the Argentine fintech Ualá announces a $150M investment for the next 18 months, focused on continuing to expand access to financial services in Latin America. The fintech – which has more than 5 million users in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia – continues to bet on its regional expansion efforts and aims to add more than 25 million users in the next five years.
“Ualá was born out of a vision to build more modern, transparent and inclusive financial services in Latin America. Having created a regional company that employs more than 1500 people and having been chosen by over 5 million users in Latin America is a dream come true but this is just the beginning. We are truly grateful with each person who gives us feedback -good and bad. Because we are even more ambitious about our next 5 years. We will invest $150M in our markets to contribute to a more accessible and inclusive financial system, because we firmly believe in enabling access to distinctive financial services through technology”, affirmed Pierpaolo Barbieri, Founder & CEO.
Since 2017, Ualá has strengthened its ecosystem to provide more and better financial services to its users. To that effect, its acquisition of Wilobank, the first Argentinian digital bank, was approved early this year by regulators. Similarly, in Mexico, Ualá is pending regulatory approval for the purchase of ABC Capital Bank, having begun operations in the country in 2020. In Colombia, Ualá launched in 2022 with a Financing Company license. These acquisitions and licenses are a key differential versus other players in the region, and allow Ualá to offer a distinctive value prop for everyone.
In Argentina, a market where Ualá has developed a robust ecosystem, the company has also acquired two key players: Ceibo Créditos, a ‘buy now, pay later’ solution specialized in providing credit and financial services, including “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) options that don’t require a credit score, and Empretienda, an e-commerce platform that helps entrepreneurs to create an online store through a simple, fast and user-friendly process, integrated with Ualá Bis,
Uala’s merchant acquiring vertical, which has reported an annual volume growth of 667%. Furthermore, and in order to expand financial inclusion in the region, Ualá promotes credit and investment solutions. In Argentina, the company has disbursed over 2 million credit products -including both personal loans and installments – while more than 1.8 million users invest monthly through the Money Market available in the app, the second largest fund in terms of users in the country. In addition, Ualá launched Ualintec Capital, a comprehensive broker dealer and asset management entity that enables users to purchase dollars through the bond market, to invest in and to trade depository receipts of U.S. shares known as CEDEARs.
Moreover, Ualá has launched a loyalty program (Ualá+) with benefits and promotions designed exclusively for Ualá users. Lastly, in its pursuit of more financial education, in early 2022, the fintech launched Aula Ualá, a free digital platform containing a robust set of financial education material, open to the public, for both users and non users of Ualá. Since its launch, Aula Ualá has registered over 300.000 visits and more than 10.000 newsletter subscriptions.
Currently, the company employs over 1.500 people from 17 distinct nationalities who work from 10 different countries. Recently, Ualá was recognized as a top employer by various rankings, including Great Place to Work (GPTW) in Argentina and Mexico.