Pretty cool - but why is it that so many people in LATAM don't have credit cards? Does the existence of neobanks (I'm thinking Revolut, N26, etc.) change much in your thinking about the market?
Lack of financial literacy and no acquisitive power + informal economy. Banks in Latam invest a lot in Credit Card penetration but they only can offer credit to people who are already embeded into the financial system through formalized payroll.
Many people in Latam aren't part of a payroll and make their living from the informal economy. Even if those people have the acquisitive power, Banks will never extend them a credit line because they don't have anything to demonstate a steady income besides their word.
Got it, that's interesting - also interesting to see Rappi, which definitely does have more data (for its users at least) on spending habits and earning, even in the informal economy launching a card. I wonder if there'll be more of that for companies like Uber/Taxify that specialize in informal labor but serve as a jobs market issuing their own local credit lines in partnership with financial institutions
Theres a company called Heru. They do all kinds of services for gig workers. It is definitely an interesting data-set to underwrite, you can connect to the apps APIs and pull a lot of data of these people and potentially create better financial products for them
There's a problem of access to credit, but also distrust for financial institutions. When we talk to users many don't even know that neobanks exist yet. A lot of users also don't like or don't understand credit cards because they are complex and they feel more in control with a time-defined installments program where everything is simple and clear.
Many people in Latam aren't part of a payroll and make their living from the informal economy. Even if those people have the acquisitive power, Banks will never extend them a credit line because they don't have anything to demonstate a steady income besides their word.