Clave drives financial inclusion, from Argentina to the rest of the region

The fintech offers digital banking products to SMEs and individuals in Latin America and chose Argentina and Colombia as its starting points

Despite significant progress, Latin America continues to be a region where financial services are not available to everyone. Conscious of this problem, Clave has initiated operations in Argentina with the goal of simplifying access to banking solutions, including credit, from its digital wallet.

“With our app, people can interact with a comprehensive financial ecosystem, often for the first time," says Pablo Pizzimbono, the company’s co-founder and CEO.

Although the growth of digital accounts — the main financial product for most Latin Americans — has advanced in the region, there is still a long way to go in terms of payments and access to credit, according to World Bank figures.

Between 2017 and 2021, the proportion of adults with bank accounts in Latin America increased by 18 points to reach a total of 73%. However, only 40% used digital payments to make purchases at stores, according to the multilateral lender.

Clave offers a digital wallet linked to a prepaid card, which also allows shoppers to make payments with their smartphone using QR code captures. In addition, it has set up a rewards program called Clave Tokens, under which customers can collect, save and earn interest on tokens that are held on blockchain technology and backed by Polygon, a decentralized finance platform (DeFi).

This program is a channel for more people to join the wallet, not only in the countries where it is already operating but also in the next stops on its roadmap. The platform also offers products specifically for public workers in Argentina, who can apply for digital loans that are disbursed upon request via the Clave Créditos website created for this purpose.

The fintech chose Argentina as its first stop in Latam on its mission to democratize access to financial products. The next destination will be Colombia.

To develop its application, Clave drew on Veritran's knowledge and the benefits of working with a technology partner with a global presence.

"It is very important to participate in projects focused on improving people's lives," said Marcelo Fondacaro, CCO of Veritran. He added: "Clave has a very clear vision of where it is going, what it wants to offer and how to do it. The wallet's current capabilities are just the beginning.”

CLAVE’S PLANS FOR LOAN DIGITALIZATION

Clave also has a Business to Business (B2B) strategy focused on the digitalization of loans through its DLP (Digital Loan Platform).

This vertical is designed to promote access to flexible loans for Argentine workers. It is another example of its commitment to financial inclusion and aims to help entities and originators in Argentina to provide greater coverage and a better service to their users.

The fintech launched operations officially at the start of this year with a fundraising of US$6 million and invested the resources in technological capabilities and in building a solid business infrastructure. Now, it is focused on continued innovation, the CEO assures.

"At Clave we believe innovation is essential and, therefore, we constantly challenge ourselves to provide real and differential value to our customers," says Pizzimbono.

Creativity, excellence and service are the fundamental triad that Clave prioritizes in order to bring its solutions to the rest of Latin America, with the ultimate goal of contributing to financial inclusion.