44
STARTUP OF THE MONTH
Block by block to the middle class Airfox serves the unbanked
We venture into the financial jungles of Brazil, where Airfox is helping the poorer sectors of society with a lending solution based around blockchain. Victor Santos, CEO and co-founder, tells us about his mobile approach to helping the unbanked
Tell us about your company – how was it founded?
My co-founder, Sarah Choi, and I met while working at Google in the AdWords division, where we saw first-hand the power of free search. As immigrants ourselves, we knew how expensive and time consuming it is to stay in contact and send money to relatives abroad. We founded Airfox to take the business model of free search and apply it to mobile data by using interactions with advertisements to offset the cost of expensive mobile data. After delving deeper into the industry, I realised that to truly combat the issue of valuable mobile data, Airfox needed to help these individuals incrementally build wealth.
Airfox is now on a mission to bring financial solutions to the unbanked in emerging markets. With two billion individuals unable to access financial and banking systems due to poor infrastructure, archaic systems and high costs, much of the developing world is deprived of the educational, commercial and social benefits associated with traditional financial institutions, such as being able to apply for a loan and earn a credit score.
Without banks or loans, how can these people rise into the middle class? That’s where Airfox comes in. Powered by blockchain technology, the free Airfox app gives unbanked individuals unprecedented access to financial services and improves the lives of those in the underserved, lower socioeconomic classes. With the Airfox app, now available on Android in Brazil, users can make
“
www.ibsintelligence.com | © IBS Intelligence 2018
purchases and apply for and receive microloans – all without a bank account or credit history. As the first market Airfox is serving, the Airfox app grants Brazilians an enormous amount of economic mobility and added control over their finances. More than 44% of Brazil’s population is unbanked, another 30-44% lack sufficient access to mainstream financial services and those with credit cards face interest rates upwards of 200%, according to World Bank and Bloomberg.
This financial situation makes it difficult for the majority of Brazilians to rise into the middle class. With Airfox, the millions of people in Brazil with smartphones can skip the bank and instead use our app to make purchases and apply for and receive microloans. Setting up an Airfox account takes a few minutes, and most users receive a decision on their loan application within days. Brazilians can easily deposit cash into the app via Boleto Bancário at more than 40,000 locations countrywide.
Our goal is to help the poor incrementally build wealth to help break the cycle of poverty, and we want to bring that mission to as many people as possible
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
