Somapay, a fintech company from Ceará focused on automating payroll, and Fortes Tecnologia, a software company for accountants also from Fortaleza (CE), are announcing a joint venture to integrate payroll management by HR and offer banking solutions to employees.
Until now, Fortes' solutions were responsible for processing and closing out employee payments, later transmitting the information to the government via eSocial, as well as management tools for companies. What was missing in this jigsaw was more efficient payment execution. Thus FortesPay was born.
"We've always seen payroll as a complicated, manual and time-consuming process. And there was a need for a more secure environment to improve the productivity of accountants and companies," says Denis Carvalho, CEO of FortesPay, in a conversation with Finsiders.
In practice, the new platform allows accounting professionals to close payments and create a file with the information to be passed on to clients - in this case, companies. At the other end, HR checks employees' salaries and can access the financial institution's internet banking (SomaPay) to make the payments. The system runs via APIs.
In addition, the solution offers the option of opening a digital account with SomaPay, free of charge. The integration also offers other services, such as payroll loans, insurance, transfers and a marketplace of services with access to apps such as Uber, iFood, Spotify and Netflix, as well as discounts at pharmacies.
Another benefit of the joint venture, according to the CEO, is the encrypted data on the platform, preventing confidential information such as salaries and CPFs from being transmitted over channels with low levels of security. This process includes an authentication token and a private access key for users.
"With manipulation, file exchange and manual entry into the system, there are risks related to information security. With the API, I stop manipulating the file and do everything in an automated way."
Currently, SomaPay has opened more than 150,000 accounts with more than 1,500 companies and has handled more than R$1.5 billion in the last 12 months. But, according to the executive, there is potential to go further: "We are just arriving and we have closed contracts at a very interesting level of acceleration. We hope to double our portfolio within two years," says Denis.
In order to achieve this result, FortesPay believes that there are other paths to follow besides financial or accounting services for HR. This is the case with flexible benefits.
At the beginning of 2024, the fintech wants employees with an open account with the digital bank to be able to use their benefits balance for fuel, pharmacy or food. In this way, the company will be competing with startups such as Caju, Flash and Swile, among others.
But FortesPay isn't the only one fighting in the also competitive payroll market. In 2020, Curitiba-based Employer created RHPIX, software that allows you to pay salary, severance, bonuses, 13th, holidays and other benefits from any account the employee has.
There's also Benup (formerly BenTech), an HR solutions and benefits company structured by Wiz and LG lugar de gente. Another example is wiipo, a fintech developed by Senior Sistemas, which works with management software.
Somapay, a fintech company from Ceará focused on automating payroll, and Fortes Tecnologia, a software company for accountants also from Fortaleza (CE), are announcing a joint venture to integrate payroll management by HR and offer banking solutions to employees.
Until now, Fortes' solutions were responsible for processing and closing out employee payments, later transmitting the information to the government via eSocial, as well as management tools for companies. What was missing in this jigsaw was more efficient payment execution. Thus FortesPay was born.
"We've always seen payroll as a complicated, manual and time-consuming process. And there was a need for a more secure environment to improve the productivity of accountants and companies," says Denis Carvalho, CEO of FortesPay, in a conversation with Finsiders.
In practice, the new platform allows accounting professionals to close payments and create a file with the information to be passed on to clients - in this case, companies. At the other end, HR checks employees' salaries and can access the financial institution's internet banking (SomaPay) to make the payments. The system runs via APIs.
In addition, the solution offers the option of opening a digital account with SomaPay, free of charge. The integration also offers other services, such as payroll loans, insurance, transfers and a marketplace of services with access to apps such as Uber, iFood, Spotify and Netflix, as well as discounts at pharmacies.
Another benefit of the joint venture, according to the CEO, is the encrypted data on the platform, preventing confidential information such as salaries and CPFs from being transmitted over channels with low levels of security. This process includes an authentication token and a private access key for users.
"With manipulation, file exchange and manual entry into the system, there are risks related to information security. With the API, I stop manipulating the file and do everything in an automated way."
Currently, SomaPay has opened more than 150,000 accounts with more than 1,500 companies and has handled more than R$1.5 billion in the last 12 months. But, according to the executive, there is potential to go further: "We are just arriving and we have closed contracts at a very interesting level of acceleration. We hope to double our portfolio within two years," says Denis.
In order to achieve this result, FortesPay believes that there are other paths to follow besides financial or accounting services for HR. This is the case with flexible benefits.
At the beginning of 2024, the fintech wants employees with an open account with the digital bank to be able to use their benefits balance for fuel, pharmacy or food. In this way, the company will be competing with startups such as Caju, Flash and Swile, among others.
But FortesPay isn't the only one fighting in the also competitive payroll market. In 2020, Curitiba-based Employer created RHPIX, software that allows you to pay salary, severance, bonuses, 13th, holidays and other benefits from any account the employee has.
There's also Benup (formerly BenTech), an HR solutions and benefits company structured by Wiz and LG lugar de gente. Another example is wiipo, a fintech developed by Senior Sistemas, which works with management software.