“So far we have disbursed more than US$10 million in customer loans”

2023-07-14 11:32:58

Combating credit informality is one of the main objectives of fintechs, as is the case with Monet, an application that, after having completed two years in Colombia in June, hopes to continue reaching more people with formal credits, as explained by its COO, Miguel Londoño, who spoke about the trajectory they have had in the country and their plans for the future.

How have you been in the last two years?

Monet is a company that started operations in Colombia two years ago. We have always had responsible financial inclusion for our users as our main objective. So far we have disbursed more than US$10 million in loans. We have delivered more than 520,000 credits to people in the country. We have more than 300,000 registered users, and also, a topic that I like to highlight is that we have made more than 70,000 positive reports to risk centers.

How important are these positive reports?

This is very important, because it is aligned with our principles of responsible financial inclusion. We are not only giving access to credit to people who were excluded from the traditional financial systemtoday more than 68% of our users are people who were reported negatively in risk centersor who had no credit history, so what we do is give them a loan to make responsible use of the money, and also, the opportunity to improve their credit score.

How is the alliance with Bancolombia going?

With them we launched MonetPay last year, which is the first wallet that uses the banking as a service technology of a traditional bank.. So, through this wallet, Monet users are able to receive deposits and make transfers. We are about to launch a service, where the user from Monet will be able to make purchases with the QR codes of Bancolombia and Nequi nationwide.

So when will this launch be?

We do not have an exact date at this time, we are still undergoing technological tests on Monet’s side, but in an estimated one or two months it would begin with pilot tests.

Do you have expansion plans?

Yes, by the end of this year we have different interesting plans, the first is expansion in Central America, we already have an entity established in Mexico and one in Panamawhere we hope to start operations before the end of 2023.

Do you have new releases for these two years?

We are building a series of additional products for our users, including Monet as a means of payment, not only with Bancolombia QR codes, but also with the possibility of making credit payments directly in allied businesses. We are also close to finishing the development of our marketplace, which will allow users to purchase goods or services within Monet with its credit quota, and we are in the pilot phase to launch long-term loans and offer them more tailored to microenterprises and SMEs, so that they can also access these credit products.

How do you see the panorama of ‘drop by drop’?

We are seeing that the ‘drop by drop’ is innovating and becoming those digital applications or web pages that pose as secure and unfortunately end up offering those same traditional drip services, affecting the end user.

What solutions do you offer in this regard?

We did a study and more than 51%-52% of our users reported having used the drip before Monetthen we are really being a replacement for that product and giving the user a solution that helps improve their financial life and their credit score in the future.

What goals do you have for the end of the year?

The opening of new markets by the region, there is potential. We hope to make at least 150,000 loans in both countries in the first months of operationand at the Colombian level we are expecting to exceed one million loans granted and 150,000 positive reports to credit bureaus.