Fintech Conta Simples, which offers financial management services for small and medium-sized businesses and corporate cards, hopes to obtain a direct credit company (SCD) licence by the end of the year, which will allow it to enter the credit supply segment. Even so, the move will be made very cautiously.
Founded in 2019 by Ricardo Gottschalk, Fernando Santos and Rodrigo Tognini, the fintech currently operates in three verticals: corporate cards, banking services (digital accounts) and expense management software. It has already opened almost 70,000 accounts and has around 30,000 active clients. Last year it issued more than 360,000 cards and this year it should reach 500,000 (almost 75 per cent of which are virtual).
Although it offers a digital account, the main focus is not on this, but on the card as an expense management tool, accompanied by software. The cards carry the Visa flag and, in terms of banking services, Conta Simples uses Dock's banking as a service services. But the fintech has already reached a volume of R$500 million and has therefore applied for a payment institution licence from the Central Bank.
Annualising the latest monthly data, Conta Simples already has a processed volume (TPV) of almost R$17 billion, considering both incoming and outgoing payments. For cards, the TPV is almost R$3.5 billion. Until last year, the fintech worked with prepaid cards, but at the beginning of this year it started issuing credit cards. In this case, the limit is flexible, based on collateral that the client builds up.
"With this collateralised limit scheme, we're able to mitigate a lot of the risk and scale the operation faster, you don't need as much funding. We even give an extra limit to part of the base, but it's still small," says Tognini. With the SCD licence, Conta Simples should enter more firmly into credit, but the founder and CEO says that everything will be done very cautiously.
SCD's initial capital will be R$2.6 million and the idea is to offer lines such as working capital, card revolving and advance receivables.
"As much as software is where we generate the most value for clients, having a credit offer will allow us to leverage companies' operations and also generate a huge potential line of business for us," says the executive.
Even so, everything will be done gradually. "Granting credit is something that needs people with experience, we're going to do it cautiously, building over time. I often say in meetings with potential investors that we want to grow this product, but not in the very short term. It's something for the medium and long term. It takes time, investment and patience. And our business model doesn't depend on that, so we're in no hurry."
Tognini says that Conta Simples should reach "breakeven" by the end of this year and that it has plenty of room to grow for a long time, without the need for new investment. The expectation is that in 2024 the TPV will continue to almost triple, as is currently the case.
The last round of the Simple Account was made in November 2021, for R$121 million.
"We have no need for capital, what we think is that we could use it for inorganic growth or for SCD's regulatory capital, to expand credit. But we're not going to do it if there's no clarity about where these funds are going, if it's not to attract a long-term investor who adds value, and obviously, if it's not on interesting terms," says Tognini. Its key investors include JAM, Valor Capital, Base10, Big Bets and Quartz.
In August last year, Conta Simples acquired Hackr Ads, an ad management platform, and Tognini says that further acquisitions may take place in other verticals. Conta Simples' client companies have concentrated spending in areas such as labour, travel, reimbursements, software subscriptions, among others, and acquisitions could come in these segments.
Fintech Conta Simples, which offers financial management services for small and medium-sized businesses and corporate cards, hopes to obtain a direct credit company (SCD) licence by the end of the year, which will allow it to enter the credit supply segment. Even so, the move will be made very cautiously.
Founded in 2019 by Ricardo Gottschalk, Fernando Santos and Rodrigo Tognini, the fintech currently operates in three verticals: corporate cards, banking services (digital accounts) and expense management software. It has already opened almost 70,000 accounts and has around 30,000 active clients. Last year it issued more than 360,000 cards and this year it should reach 500,000 (almost 75 per cent of which are virtual).
Although it offers a digital account, the main focus is not on this, but on the card as an expense management tool, accompanied by software. The cards carry the Visa flag and, in terms of banking services, Conta Simples uses Dock's banking as a service services. But the fintech has already reached a volume of R$500 million and has therefore applied for a payment institution licence from the Central Bank.
Annualising the latest monthly data, Conta Simples already has a processed volume (TPV) of almost R$17 billion, considering both incoming and outgoing payments. For cards, the TPV is almost R$3.5 billion. Until last year, the fintech worked with prepaid cards, but at the beginning of this year it started issuing credit cards. In this case, the limit is flexible, based on collateral that the client builds up.
"With this collateralised limit scheme, we're able to mitigate a lot of the risk and scale the operation faster, you don't need as much funding. We even give an extra limit to part of the base, but it's still small," says Tognini. With the SCD licence, Conta Simples should enter more firmly into credit, but the founder and CEO says that everything will be done very cautiously.
SCD's initial capital will be R$2.6 million and the idea is to offer lines such as working capital, card revolving and advance receivables.
"As much as software is where we generate the most value for clients, having a credit offer will allow us to leverage companies' operations and also generate a huge potential line of business for us," says the executive.
Even so, everything will be done gradually. "Granting credit is something that needs people with experience, we're going to do it cautiously, building over time. I often say in meetings with potential investors that we want to grow this product, but not in the very short term. It's something for the medium and long term. It takes time, investment and patience. And our business model doesn't depend on that, so we're in no hurry."
Tognini says that Conta Simples should reach "breakeven" by the end of this year and that it has plenty of room to grow for a long time, without the need for new investment. The expectation is that in 2024 the TPV will continue to almost triple, as is currently the case.
The last round of the Simple Account was made in November 2021, for R$121 million.
"We have no need for capital, what we think is that we could use it for inorganic growth or for SCD's regulatory capital, to expand credit. But we're not going to do it if there's no clarity about where these funds are going, if it's not to attract a long-term investor who adds value, and obviously, if it's not on interesting terms," says Tognini. Its key investors include JAM, Valor Capital, Base10, Big Bets and Quartz.
In August last year, Conta Simples acquired Hackr Ads, an ad management platform, and Tognini says that further acquisitions may take place in other verticals. Conta Simples' client companies have concentrated spending in areas such as labour, travel, reimbursements, software subscriptions, among others, and acquisitions could come in these segments.
Fintech Conta Simples, which offers financial management services for small and medium-sized businesses and corporate cards, hopes to obtain a direct credit company (SCD) licence by the end of the year, which will allow it to enter the credit supply segment. Even so, the move will be made very cautiously.
Founded in 2019 by Ricardo Gottschalk, Fernando Santos and Rodrigo Tognini, the fintech currently operates in three verticals: corporate cards, banking services (digital accounts) and expense management software. It has already opened almost 70,000 accounts and has around 30,000 active clients. Last year it issued more than 360,000 cards and this year it should reach 500,000 (almost 75 per cent of which are virtual).
Although it offers a digital account, the main focus is not on this, but on the card as an expense management tool, accompanied by software. The cards carry the Visa flag and, in terms of banking services, Conta Simples uses Dock's banking as a service services. But the fintech has already reached a volume of R$500 million and has therefore applied for a payment institution licence from the Central Bank.
Annualising the latest monthly data, Conta Simples already has a processed volume (TPV) of almost R$17 billion, considering both incoming and outgoing payments. For cards, the TPV is almost R$3.5 billion. Until last year, the fintech worked with prepaid cards, but at the beginning of this year it started issuing credit cards. In this case, the limit is flexible, based on collateral that the client builds up.
"With this collateralised limit scheme, we're able to mitigate a lot of the risk and scale the operation faster, you don't need as much funding. We even give an extra limit to part of the base, but it's still small," says Tognini. With the SCD licence, Conta Simples should enter more firmly into credit, but the founder and CEO says that everything will be done very cautiously.
SCD's initial capital will be R$2.6 million and the idea is to offer lines such as working capital, card revolving and advance receivables.
"As much as software is where we generate the most value for clients, having a credit offer will allow us to leverage companies' operations and also generate a huge potential line of business for us," says the executive.
Even so, everything will be done gradually. "Granting credit is something that needs people with experience, we're going to do it cautiously, building over time. I often say in meetings with potential investors that we want to grow this product, but not in the very short term. It's something for the medium and long term. It takes time, investment and patience. And our business model doesn't depend on that, so we're in no hurry."
Tognini says that Conta Simples should reach "breakeven" by the end of this year and that it has plenty of room to grow for a long time, without the need for new investment. The expectation is that in 2024 the TPV will continue to almost triple, as is currently the case.
The last round of the Simple Account was made in November 2021, for R$121 million.
"We have no need for capital, what we think is that we could use it for inorganic growth or for SCD's regulatory capital, to expand credit. But we're not going to do it if there's no clarity about where these funds are going, if it's not to attract a long-term investor who adds value, and obviously, if it's not on interesting terms," says Tognini. Its key investors include JAM, Valor Capital, Base10, Big Bets and Quartz.
In August last year, Conta Simples acquired Hackr Ads, an ad management platform, and Tognini says that further acquisitions may take place in other verticals. Conta Simples' client companies have concentrated spending in areas such as labour, travel, reimbursements, software subscriptions, among others, and acquisitions could come in these segments.
🤩 Forma parte del único programa de entrenamiento en Neobanking de Latam. Más información aquí
